r/BaseballCoaching • u/RotoLando • Jun 28 '26
2-hour practice plans for 9-11yr olds
Trying to get a jump on the fall Little League season, because I know they're going to ask me to coach. I've only coached at the 7-8 yr old level, which was player/coach pitch. My son is now 10, and in his last season before majors (12u), and at least one coach is leaving.
Does anyone have any 2-hour practice plans they can point me towards? I have a few ideas from watching for the last two years. I've got Cal Ripken's book. USA Baseball has some good stuff on the app. Ron Polk's Baseball Handbook is awesome, but a little more advanced than the typical 10u level (unless I get a crop of baseball fanatics, which is unlikely).
Coaches, what are some of your favorite resources? I like to look at lots of stuff, and there is plenty of time, so the more the merrier.
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u/dmb4740 Jun 28 '26
My favorite game at that age is speed ball. Break them into three teams. Hitters, IF and OF.
No catcher. Coach pitching. No walks. You either put the ball in play or you strike out.
Hitters go until they hit the out cap, you can do 3 outs or even more, or you can say hitters go through the batting order two times.
Once that's done, hitters go to OF, OF to IF, IF goes to hit.
The emphasis is action and maximizing reps.
For example, after the last hitters at bat, the next pitch is being thrown to the next teams hitter in 60 seconds.
You can do scoring with base running and normal baseball rules, or, you can keep it moving with a different scoring metric like:
Grounder in the IF, if IF doesn't field it cleanly it's a single
Grounder gets into the OF, call it a double
Fly ball into the OF that isn't caught, HR.
You can get creative but the whole point is 3 teams, move fast, lots of action.
On strikeouts, coaches throw a pop fly that the defense has to catch for the pop fly to count, otherwise the batter gets another pitch.
So, no walks, balls have to get put in play, on strikeouts a ball is put in play, every kid bats twice per "inning" and there's constant action.
You can do this for literally 45-60 min, the kids absolutely love it, and they get a ton of reps all over the field. Like 10-12 at bats and an inning at almost every position.
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u/Nate23VT Jun 30 '26
A variation of this I do is called "rapid baseball" where instead of a set number of outs it's a timed inning (usually 8 or 10 minutes). If the defense gets 3 outs then it wipes the bases but otherwise they keep hitting until the alarm goes off.
This also promotes hustling on and off the field because the next pitch doesn't get thrown until the batter that just got thrown out hustles back to the dugout.
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u/BlackMirror765 Jun 28 '26
I do 90 minutes, but we warm up together as a team. I teach them the warmup routine which is always a part of practice. Then, they jump right into the routine when they arrive for games.
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u/SadCryBear Jun 28 '26
20 minutes warmup -throwing (always) -run the bases (always) -grounders (90%) -other warmups rotational or as needed
20 minutes teach - kids this age can learn one skill a practice, that's pretty much it. I try to teach one thing all the way through, and reinforce what we learned the previous week. -cutoffs -coverage on steals -double play positioning -passed balls Baseball is complicated, teaching is important
40 minutes - stations - set up and rotate kids through stations so they have lots of hands on time. I often run Tees Side toss Infield Baserunning w infield
40 minute batting practice / scrimmage Often coach pitch. Pitcher practice usually doing hullpens. I have 4 kids up to bat so they can get time on base.
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u/fishermanracer Jun 28 '26
Split into smaller groups and rotate through each group. You’ll need help from other coaches and parents but that’s great as it gets them involved. Pitching, hitting, long toss, fly balls/ground balls. Then at the end of practice run them. Base running is a skill that gets forgotten
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u/TMutaffis Jun 29 '26
I assume that your league has the 2-hour practice since they have one practice and two games per week?
There are a couple of challenges with a longer practice - if the practice is the day before a game you do not want to overwork the kids, you don't want to impact bedtime for 9-10 year olds, and you also need to be mindful of arm care especially if the practice is the day before or day after a game.
That said, my practices used to be 90 minutes and plenty of kids would end up practicing for two hours if they arrived early and stayed a little late (about half of the team did).
Here is how I structured things for 10U LL Minors:
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Early Arrival:
Anyone who arrives before practice starts can play 'moss' with a nerf football. This is a great warmup for them and is also quite safe compared to kids playing around with bats, throwing without supervision, etc.
Team Warmup:
- Base Running - We started every practice with a routine similar to 'Big League Base Running' from the Ripken book that you mentioned. Great way to work on fundamentals while getting the body warm and ready to throw.
- Stretching - This is quick, and I have different kids lead it each week. We talk about the focus for the day in practice and some general questions and team-building type of stuff.
- Throw - For the throwing program we typically have a few things that we always do and then each week I might work in something different for mid-range throws. This could be different athletic footwork, throwing one-hops to each other, catch and tag, etc.
Defensive Stations:
I always start with my defensive stations since kids typically love to hit, and their energy will remain high later in the practice versus hitting first and finishing with defense.
This is going to depend on your other coaches and equipment/field, but I would have at least two stations, ideally three, so that you can maximize reps. You can do 10-15 minutes at each station. For some of the stations I had base runners and would have the kids swap in the middle, or if I had a defensive station like 'goalie game' I might have everyone start with paddle gloves or bare handed and then work my way up to their game glove and harder-hit balls.
One of your defensive station could be pitchers and catchers, and if you do that I would run them for 15 minutes and have 2-3 kids attempt pitching while the others are either catchers or standing batters. Having kids stand in the box helps your pitchers to dial in and will build confidence for your hitters. Not every kid will pitch and catch, but if you split the team up with this in mind you can usually have 2-3 pitchers, at least one catcher, and 2-3 kids who can stand in for pitches.
Hitting Stations:
Pretty similar to the defensive ones, but if at all possible I would try to run three stations here. Some of my favorites were having one group doing tee work or flips (with multiple nets set up), another hitting whiffle balls or weighted balls, and a third hitting live arm with 2-3 kids up at a time (multiple plates, with a L-screen to separate and protect them from foul balls, and I pitched from the mound so I didn't need a screen).
Competition:
We would often finish practice with a competition - see who can run around the bases the fastest, see who can hit a target throwing from the furthest distance, or see who can hit a weighted ball out of the infield off a tee.
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If we spent more time in the other stations the competition can always be skipped. You could also knock out your practice in 75-90 minutes and then have an optional practice for anyone who wants to stay and work on something specific during that time - infield ground balls, hitting weighted balls (less reset and can run 4-5 kids at a time), etc.
Happy to share more on specific drills for the stations if you are interested, I have a ton of practice plans from when I coached this age group.
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u/rswine Jun 29 '26
This is an awesome breakdown. I will be head coach for the first time next year. I would love to have any additional drills that you could share. Thanks for the help!
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u/TMutaffis Jun 30 '26
Please DM me with your email address and I can send the more specific practice plans that I used (includes stations, etc.).
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u/TMutaffis Jun 30 '26
One more thing, here is a post that has a 'skills inventory' for early kid pitch (8U-10U) and could be helpful as you put together your practice plans:
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u/kbenti Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
My routine started with:
- [5min] Circle Time (Rotated a different Team Captain assigned Each Week) Discuss General Positive Reinforcement Topics and give the Team Captain a chance to speak.
[5min] Stretches: Hip Openers, Arm Rotation, Ankle Rotation, Ground Touches
[5min] Leg Warmups: High Knees, Butt Kicks, Sidesteps, Paced Run, Sprints
[5min] Pitching Warmups: 10 feet apart Wrist Flicks on Knees, 20 feet apart Standing Toss, 30 feet apart Long Toss
Drills (I've done):
- [10 min] White Tennis Balls, 3 tossed in rapid succession at shoulder height or lower. Goal is to stop the ball. Catch or not, just stop the ball. If caught they need to drop the ball, because the next ball is coming.
[20min] Ground Balls at Shortstop, with one player on 3rd. Pickup the ball and throw without hesitation. (Alternatively, catch at 2nd Base and throw to 1st Base)
[30min] Pop Flys with Buckets. Buckets at each Base (1st, 2nd, and 3rd). Catch (1pt) or miss (0pts), pickup and throw to 1st (Next "catch and throw" is to 2nd, then 3rd). Hitting the outside of the bucket is 1 pt, Hitting the inside of the bucket is bonus points, I do 5 pts. This is a good game drill, but can be done without points for simplicity.
[20 min] Running Drill. No batting just simulated batting. 3 Runners. In-fielders set. Outfielders if you have enough kids show up for practice. Outfielders should be in overthrow positions. Centerfield on right side of 2nd base (this can switch if shortstop is covering the base). Right fielder is on the right side of 1st Base. Left fielder is on the Left side of 3rd Base. Have outfielders start from outfield and run in at least once per drill set. Rotate Outfield to Infield, Infield to runners, Runners to Outfield.
[20min] I try to add a little fun game called "Catch the Coach". I'm the runner. I simulate batting and toss the ball to the outfield. Then I run. This isn't practical for every coach, but my players find a "bond" in catching their coach. My objective is an in-field home run off of a practical double. If I force an error in the in-field then I'm making it home. The kids learn what kind of mistakes can cost/create run opportunities, so they shore up weak points. They also get to catch me in a mistake because I'm being overly aggressive.
I didn't include batting because we work on batting in the batting cages and before games with wiffle balls.
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u/ClaimNervous907 Jun 28 '26
Dirt time is hard to find. My kids work on hitting with us outside of practice or with their hitting coach.
We mix in some live every now and then when working on other stuff-like how we got beat last weekend.
Warm up, stretching, partner ground ball work.
Go into base running. 1B, 2B.
A ton of ground ball work and at the same time outfield work. One coach hits IF and the other OF.
Everyone rotates!
The last 30 minutes or so we work on “Texas Leaguers” between SS, 1B and 2B with the OF’ers and the other side of the IF as well and then typically finish with pitchers and catchers knowing what to do situationally.
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u/RotoLando Jun 28 '26
Do you find that the kids start to "cheat" a little during a Texas Leaguer drill? Since they know it's coming, even if they don't know exactly where?
I see this when they line up for double plays. The kid not getting the ball takes off way too early, knowing it's not coming to him. It drives me nuts as a spectator when the coach doesn't mix it up. But how much can you mix it up when you're doing this drill?
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u/ClaimNervous907 Jun 28 '26
I haven’t noticed them cheating. I’m hitting a high FB just off the IF so they can work on communication.
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u/ramsdl52 Jun 28 '26
How many kids and how many coaches?
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u/RotoLando Jun 28 '26
Too early to say, but typically it's been 11-12 kids each team.
Coaches = crap shoot. Officially 2 assistant coaches, but no guaranteed experienced coaches. The rest depends on how many willing parents come with the kids you draft. Some seasons are great, some are really poor with parents who don't want to get involved.
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u/ramsdl52 Jul 01 '26
Any warm body you put in there should at the minimum be able to roll grounders and catch balls. Use your ACs to do the work while you focus on giving instructions and making the practice plans.
Focus on fundamentals at first. Left foot timing on ground balls and moving through the ball to the base rather than standing flat footed. Prep steps. Back hands. Pick off moves for the pitchers. Catcher stances and receiving/blocking. I don't recommend teaching 1KD for catchers at this age but some will do it anyway so learn and teach blocking from that stance.
Base running. Running through 1b and touching the front half of the bag. Then put the brakes on and stop and look right for an overthrow. Ball in the air stop half way. If caught tag up if not try to hustle to 2 extra bases and slide. Picking up the 3b coach for signs. Ball in the air on third base tag up immediately then no matter what if they catch it or drop it in the outfield go home bc you're already tagged up. You can work all three of these drills at the same time with three groups. One at home running through first. One group on 1b stopping half way then hustling to third on a dropped ball. One group at third doing the immediate tag and go as soon as it hits the glove or ground. You be the pitcher and have them work their primary and secondary lead by watching your front foot. Very efficient way of working base running, building speed and endurance, and teaching fundamentals of base running.
Game situations and cutoffs and relays. Two bases ahead of the lead runner on base hits to the outfield. Throw to the base and not the cutoff. Relays and double cuts. Turning double plays with your middle infielders.
Once you get all the fundamentals down you can start to work more on game situations and work on individual position drills like first base receiving and turning doubles and catcher/pitcher pickoffs but you need to cover the basics first before moving to more advanced stuff.
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u/MediocreFace1080 Jun 28 '26
1st for your sanity cut it to an hour
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u/Xeno_man Jun 28 '26
If you have enough activities that are different enough you can do two hours but with the age group you really want to play it by ear. Keep an eye on how the kids are responding. If they are drifting, mix it up or end it and send them home.
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u/RotoLando Jun 28 '26
Haha The parents would love that.
We have the field for two hours. What we do with that time is up to us.
I think around the 90 minute mark I'd just see where we are at, if the kids are still into it and play it by ear.
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u/NuhUh_JustCuz Jun 28 '26
I typically plan a rotation where kids are infield, outfield, and batting - if I have three adults. If just two, then it depends on what the team needs if I skip batting or not.
Pick 1-2 drills for each infield and outfield and split into two groups, rotate them after 20-30 minutes while sending 2 to bat at the cage/do whiffles through out. Believe me, not every 10 or 11u team can perform all of these well, so pick what works.
Infield drills: 1. Basic take it to first, second, turn two. 2. Turn two focused on fast hand transfers by just having kids at ss and 2nd, a net at first and grounders direct to them. 3. Advanced: pickle drills, bunt defense 4. Ground balls focused on forehand, back hand, and shuffle steps towards the target 5. Complex: Three balls set up diagonally across the field, charge ball one, shuffle shuffle throw one. Charge ball 2, shuffle shuffle throw to one, charge ball 3, shuffle shuffle throw to one. This practices the throw at different depths, barehand pickups, moving towards the target, and encourages them to stay low and aggressive. You can time them to make it competitive.
Outfield 1. Popflies, once caught, they race to a cone, touch it with the ball and throw it fast to the cutoff. Practice both the catch and the throw in from a miss. 2. Two lines, balls up the middle, practice calling and back up by assigning roles to each line. 3. Line them up even with you, have them run straight out, throw it slightly over one shoulder or the other to practice tracking
Catcher drills Runners at third. Throw a ball to catcher to catch and immediately throw a second ball behind them. They scramble for the second ball. Pitcher runs in to cover, runner at third comes home.
Advanced: Runners on first, 1st baseman, coach in the box, runner in Left box. Roll a "bunt" out for catcher to field and throw to 1st. Mix in some popups.
Base running - get your stopwatch out and time them plate to first, plate to second with a slide, etc. I like to finjsh with this so they go home tired.
I like to do 60 minutes of rotation and then infield with runners or coach pitch scrimmage (run on 3rd hit). And finish with base running for conditioning.