Softball drills for 12 year olds

At 12

The age at a glance

This year

The last year before spin pitches: SSTracker's softball rule keeps the rise ball and other spin pitches until about 13, with a pitching coach.

Drills this year

Beginner and developing drills. Advanced drills start at 14.

Pitching limits

Little League Softball counts innings, not pitches: at most 12 innings in a day, and 7 or more innings in a day earns 1 day of rest. A single pitch counts as an inning.

At 12

Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 12 hours for a 12 year old, with two rest days a week.

At home

SSTracker keeps one home session for a 12 year old within 60 minutes and plans at most 5 home days a week, with rest days between. That is up from 45 minutes and 4 days at 11.

30 drills

Drills for 12 year olds

Every drill here is one the app opens for 12 year olds, at the level for the age. Each page has the steps, a diagram where the setup can be drawn, three ways to make it a game and a practice log to print.

What you need at home

What you need at home at 12

59 of the 65 softball drills for 12 year olds work at home, in a room, garage or yard. Most used: softballs (22 of the 59 drills), glove (20), bat (13), base (6), ball (5), soft balls (4), batting tee (3), cones (3). 4 drills need nothing but space. 26 are for two, and a parent can be the partner.

• Arm Circle Walk-ThroughAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Band Shoulder CareAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Base Running SprintsAges 11 and up · 12 min
• Bear Crawl and Frog HopAges 7 and up · 8 min
• First to Third TurnsAges 11 and up · 12 min
• Hip and Shoulder SeparationAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Home to First Form RunsAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Lead-Off and ReturnAges 7 and up · 8 min

Questions parents ask

Softball for 12 year olds: questions and answers