12U Baseball Practice Plan (90 Minutes)
- By Julien Levadoux
At 11 and 12, practice moves from learning skills to playing the game. Use 90 minutes on sharper throwing and fielding, front toss and bunting, pitcher and catcher work, pop-up communication, and game situations with a full defense.
What 12U players can do
Twelve-year-olds can run real plays: cutoffs and relays, bunt coverage, first-and-third. Practice should look more like a game every week. Pitchers are throwing harder and more often, so pitch counts and rest matter more. Little League allows 85 pitches a day at league age 11–12.
The plan
| Time | Block | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00 | Warm-up | Dynamic warm-up |
| 0:08 | Throwing | Throwing progression, then four corners |
| 0:22 | Defense | Infield grounders with throws; outfield fly balls and throws to a cutoff |
| 0:34 | Communication | Pop-up communication |
| 0:40 | Water break | |
| 0:43 | Stations (3 × 9 min) | Hitting: front toss. Hitting: bunting. Pitchers flat ground / catchers blocking |
| 1:10 | Situations | Situations: first and third, bunt coverage, relays home |
| 1:25 | Conditioning game | Pickle |
| 1:30 | End |
Coaching notes
- Front toss over coach BP. It gives more good swings in less time than a coach throwing batting practice.
- Teach the bunt. At 12U, a bunt or a fake bunt changes how the defense plays. In leagues that allow it, also teach bunt coverage.
- Plan pitchers ahead. Write down who threw what and when. The pitch count log keeps it on one sheet.
- Leading off still isn’t allowed in Little League Majors. If your league or travel team does allow leads, start leads and reads now.