Cross country drills at home for 9 year olds

A 9 year old can practice aerobic base, finishing kick and pacing at home with 22 cross country drills picked for the age. Keep a session to about 30 minutes, up to 4 days a week, with rest days between. Why: Organized sport should total no more hours a week than the child's age in years, with two rest days a week (NATA youth sport specialization recommendations).

A parent's page for a 9 year old: the drills that work at home, one session to follow, what changes this year and how much is healthy. Free, no account.

By Coach Evan Waechtler Youth coach (U11, Cache Valley, Utah) and founder of SSTracker Updated November 5, 2026

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A parent's page. Free to read; no card to start; running a team is always free.

At a glance

At 9: 22 cross country drills the app opens for a 9 year old work at home, across 6 skills.
How long: One home session of about 30 minutes; SSTracker never plans more than 45 minutes for a 9 year old.
How often: At most 4 training days a week, with rest days between. Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 9 hours for a 9 year old, with two rest days a week.
What you need: Most used: cones (7 of the 22 drills), flat grass (2), gentle grassy hill (2), open grass (2), stopwatch (2), watch (2), bottom stair or low step (1), grass (1). 2 drills need nothing but space. 11 are for two, and a parent can be the partner.
Safe at home: One child and one parent in a room, garage or yard. Never tackling, contact, diving or head-first falls, no stunts or loaded lifting, and nothing that needs a coach, rink, pool or court. Stop when anything hurts.

22 at-home drills

Cross country drills for 9 year olds to do at home

Every drill below is one the app opens for a 9 year old and one that works at home: a room, garage or yard, one parent as the partner, no venue. Each drill's page has the steps, a diagram where the setup can be drawn, three ways to make it a game and a log to print.

aerobic base

Aerobic Base

finishing kick

Finishing Kick

pacing

Pacing

race tactics

Race Tactics

running form

Running Form

A 29-minute session

A home cross country session for a 9 year old

A warm-up, 2 drills and a cool-down, 29 minutes in all. Do it up to 4 days a week, with rest days between.

1Cross Country Warm-Up, Ages 7 to 10An 8-minute moving warm-up for cross country players aged 7 to 10: easy running, moving stretches, balance and soft landings, then cross country moves. Before practice, never still stretches first.8 min
2Start Line PlanControlled start, then settle.8 min
3Tall Running PostureTall, loose, lean.8 min
4Cross Country Cool-Down Stretches, Ages 7 to 10A 5-minute cool-down for cross country players aged 7 to 10 after training: an easy walk, then gentle stretches for the legs, hips and lower back, each held for a slow count of 10.5 min

At 9

What changes in cross country training at 9

From 9, a home session can run to 45 minutes and the plan can have 4 training days a week, up from 30 minutes and 3 days at 8.

The app opens the same 22 at-home drills at 9 as at 8; the ones below are a different selection from that list.

Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 9 hours for a 9 year old, with two rest days a week.

The week

Fitting cross country into a week at 9

At 9 the limit is 9 hours of organized sport a week. If you count home sessions against it to be safe, 4 sessions of 30 minutes is 2 hours, which leaves 7 for team practice and games. Even 4 days at the app's longest, 45 minutes, is 3 hours.

The research behind it

Ages 6 to 12 are the "sampling years": high play, low deliberate practice.
Côté and Vierimaa 2014
Organized sport should total no more hours a week than the child's age in years, with two rest days a week.
NATA youth sport specialization recommendations

Questions and answers

What cross country drills can a 9 year old do at home?

22 drills the app opens at 9 work at home. A few to start with: Nature Scavenger Jog, Run-Walk Builder and Talk Test Jog. One child and one parent in a room, garage or yard. Never tackling, contact, diving or head-first falls, no stunts or loaded lifting, and nothing that needs a coach, rink, pool or court. Stop when anything hurts.

How long should a 9 year old practice cross country at home?

One home session of about 30 minutes; SSTracker never plans more than 45 minutes for a 9 year old. At most 4 training days a week, with rest days between. Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 9 hours for a 9 year old, with two rest days a week.

What do you need to practice cross country at home at 9?

Most used: cones (7 of the 22 drills), flat grass (2), gentle grassy hill (2), open grass (2), stopwatch (2), watch (2), bottom stair or low step (1), grass (1). 2 drills need nothing but space. 11 are for two, and a parent can be the partner.

What changes in cross country training at 9?

From 9, a home session can run to 45 minutes and the plan can have 4 training days a week, up from 30 minutes and 3 days at 8. The app opens the same 22 at-home drills at 9 as at 8; the ones below are a different selection from that list.