- Conditioning for kids
- Softball, 11 to 13 year olds
Softball conditioning for 11 to 13 year olds
Softball conditioning for 11 to 13 year olds at home means power, base running and arm strength through 46 drills picked for the age. At 11 to 13, conditioning can build: a session may run to 45 minutes at 11 and 60 at 12 and 13, on up to 5 days, 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).
For parents and coaches: the physical drills that work at home for 11 to 13 year olds, one session to follow and the load rules the app applies to the age group.
By Coach Evan Waechtler Youth coach (U11, Cache Valley, Utah) and founder of SSTracker Updated November 5, 2026
A parent's page. Free to read; no card to start; running a team is always free.
At a glance
- The drills
- 46 physical-focus softball drills work at home for 11 to 13 year olds, 10 of them softball's own. 12 of them are jump, bound or sprint drills, which a plan limits.
- How it is built
- At 11 to 13, conditioning can build: a session may run to 45 minutes at 11 and 60 at 12 and 13, on up to 5 days, with rest days between.
- Load rules
- Still at most one jump, bound or sprint drill in a plan, so the legs have a day to recover. Box jumps and depth jumps wait until 14, and loaded lifting is not in an at-home plan.
- What you need
- Most used: cones (10 of the 46 drills), wall (4), soft ground (3), base (2), bat (2), open grass (2), agility ladder or chalk ladder (1), ball (1). 6 drills need nothing but space. 5 are for two, and a parent can be the partner.
softball's own
Softball conditioning drills for 11 to 13 year olds
These drills build the body for softball itself: power, base running and arm strength. Every one is open to 11 to 13 year olds by the app's age gates and works at home with one parent.
power
Power
base running
Base Running
arm strength
Arm Strength
Every sport
Athletic drills softball players share
Speed, balance and control carry across sports. These athletic drills are the same for every sport, picked from the ones open to 11 to 13 year olds.
base running
Base Running
fielding
Fielding
hitting
Hitting
power
Power
A 28-minute session
A conditioning session for 11 to 13 year olds
A warm-up, 1 drill and a cool-down: 28 minutes. Still at most one jump, bound or sprint drill in a plan, so the legs have a day to recover.
- 1Softball Warm-Up, Ages 11 to 13A 10-minute moving warm-up for softball players aged 11 to 13: running, moving stretches, plank, balance, landings and build-up runs, then softball moves, with a note on growth spurts.10 min
- 2Base Running SprintsExplode out low, run through the bag.12 min
- 3Softball Cool-Down Stretches, Ages 11 to 13A 6-minute cool-down for softball players aged 11 to 13 after training: stretches for the legs, hips, shoulders and wrists, each held 15 to 20 seconds, never to pain, with growth-spurt notes.6 min
Healthy load
How much softball conditioning is healthy for 11 to 13 year olds
At 11 to 13, conditioning can build: a session may run to 45 minutes at 11 and 60 at 12 and 13, on up to 5 days, with rest days between.
Still at most one jump, bound or sprint drill in a plan, so the legs have a day to recover.
Box jumps and depth jumps wait until 14, and loaded lifting is not in an at-home plan.
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).
The research behind it
Ages 6 to 12 are the "sampling years": high play, low deliberate practice.
Côté and Vierimaa 2014Organized 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 is softball conditioning for 11 to 13 year olds?
At 11 to 13, conditioning can build: a session may run to 45 minutes at 11 and 60 at 12 and 13, on up to 5 days, with rest days between. The 46 drills below are physical-focus softball drills that work at home.
What softball conditioning drills can 11 to 13 year olds do at home?
A few to start with: Granny Toss for Height, Squat and Reach Jumps and Overhead Slam With a Soft Ball. Most used: cones (10 of the 46 drills), wall (4), soft ground (3), base (2), bat (2), open grass (2), agility ladder or chalk ladder (1), ball (1). 6 drills need nothing but space. 5 are for two, and a parent can be the partner.