10U Baseball Practice Plan (90 Minutes)
- By Julien Levadoux
At 9 and 10, kids start pitching to each other, so practice adds pitchers' work, catching and simple game situations to throwing, fielding, hitting and baserunning. Ninety minutes in short blocks, with stations so nobody waits.
What 10U players can do
Ten-year-olds can field and throw a ball across the infield, catch routine fly balls and handle simple situations (“runner on first, where’s the throw?”). In most leagues it’s also the first year of kid pitch, which brings walks, wild pitches and, for the first time, pitch counts. Little League limits league age 9–10 to 75 pitches a day. See the Little League pitch count rules.
The plan
| Time | Block | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00 | Warm-up | Dynamic warm-up |
| 0:08 | Throwing | Throwing progression out to 60 feet |
| 0:20 | Infield | Short hops, then grounders with a throw to first |
| 0:32 | Outfield | Fly balls with a drop step |
| 0:40 | Water break | |
| 0:43 | Stations (3 × 8 min) | Hitting: tee and soft toss. Pitchers: flat ground. Catchers: blocking |
| 1:07 | Baserunning | Rounding the bases |
| 1:14 | Situations | Situations with runners: one at a time, freeze and walk through |
| 1:27 | Wrap-up | Huddle |
Coaching notes
- Develop several pitchers. With a 75-pitch limit and required rest, a team needs five or six kids who can throw strikes. Give everyone who wants it a turn at flat-ground work.
- Count practice throws too. They don’t count toward the game limit, but a pitcher who threw 60 in Saturday’s game shouldn’t throw a bullpen on Monday.
- Catchers need gear and patience. Start blocking with soft balls. A catcher who can block makes kid-pitch baseball watchable.
- Rules that start here. In Little League, the Major Division adds the dropped third strike and the infield fly rule. Minors doesn’t use them. Runners still can’t lead off in Majors and younger, and there are no balks. See baseball rules for new parents.