Pitching is a foundational aspect of baseball, and it’s an essential skill to explore as kids progress from pitching-machine leagues. Teaching the fundamentals from the start sets children up for success and will prevent bad habits. Here are several tips to use if you’ll be teaching pitching lessons for young players.

How to Teach Pitching to Kids

1. Emphasize Ball Placement

At first, it’s not about speed but where the ball goes. During pitching lessons, map out the strike zone over home plate. Have your players practice pitching the ball not as fast but as accurately as they can. 

Once they’ve mastered accuracy, they can build speed through practice. As they do this, they’ll find their accuracy training makes it easier to control the ball as they throw harder and harder.

2. Focus on Pushing Off the Mound

Many young players don’t realize that a lot of pitching power comes from pushing off the mound with your back foot, not your arm. Rather than having them perform a full wind-up during pitching lessons, have them practice synchronizing throwing while pushing off the mound with their back foot. This immediately builds strength and increases pitch speed.

3. Stick to Basic Pitches

Curveballs, sliders, sinkers, and other specialty pitches take years to master. Often, players will spend a significant amount of time not throwing strikes as they try to learn. Have players hold off on these for now. Stick to the four-seam fastball and then the two-seam fastball. These basics are all pitchers need for strikeouts.

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