1. Drills
  2. Baseball
  3. Pitching

Pitching Balance Point

Lift your knee and pause at the top so the rest of the motion starts balanced.

By Coach Evan Waechtler Youth coach (U11, Cache Valley, Utah) and founder of SSTracker Updated October 30, 2026

Set up

Start in your stretch position.

Core: Medium. Keep to your usual pitch count and compare only your own accuracy.

Ages
11 and up
Time
10 min
Players
Just you
Space
Yard or field
Bring
Glove, baseball, mound or flat ground
Level · skill
Developing · Pitching

The steps

How it works

  1. Start in your stretch position.
  2. Lift your front knee to belt height and hold 2 seconds with your head over your back foot.
  3. Stride toward the target without throwing, then reset.
  4. Do 15 dry reps, then 10 easy pitches.

Coaching point

Tall and still at the top.

Safety: Count every pitch. Follow Pitch Smart and Little League: stay under your daily limit (50 at ages 6-8, 75 at 9-10, 85 at 11-12, 95 at 13-16 and 105 at 17-18), take the rest days your count calls for (up to 4 days after a big outing), never pitch three days in a row, do not catch on days you pitch, and stop if anything hurts.

Make it fun

Play it, don't drill it

Game version

Strike-zone game: aim at target squares on a safe backstop, and a partner marks the zones you hit. Keep to your usual number of pitches.

Challenge

Pick a target: Less (large), Core (medium), More (small). Keep to your usual pitch count and compare only your own accuracy.

Story

You are the starting pitcher painting the corners of the plate.

My best

Beat your own count

Keep to your usual pitch count and compare only your own accuracy. Only your own number counts: today against last time.

Practice makes progress

Print it now, or save it free

Free for families and teams

Save this drill to your child or team, free

Sign up and the free baseball week for this age opens in your child's planner, kept to healthy limits. A coach can send this drill to the whole team as homework, and parents see every session logged.

Start free training for your child Coach? Set up your team free

14 days free for a family, no card · Running a team is always free

Does your child's coach know about this?

An email from you to the coach, with the words ready. Nothing is tracked and nobody is rewarded.