Softball Throwing Practice Plan for 11 and 12 Year Olds
At 11 and 12, the arm gets stronger and the habits around it start mattering as much as the throws. Three builds anchor the session: the CROW HOP for outfield carry, honest long toss (stretch out with arc, pull back in on a line), and accuracy under time, because softball's sixty-foot bases mean every infield throw has a runner attached and the clock is short.
This session runs about an hour and installs the arm-care frame as habit: warm up throwing before throwing hard, effort ramping gradually, real rest days weekly (especially for kids who also pitch windmill, whose total workload deserves its own accounting), and the iron rule: soreness is information, PAIN is a stop sign, every time.
This plan was written for every 11 and 12 year old. ParentEdge writes one for yours.
Built around their game, their goals, and what they’re working on.
How should throwing work fit around windmill pitching?
In one shared ledger: windmill is lower-stress than overhand pitching but it is not free, and a kid who pitches Saturday and long-tosses Sunday and takes infield Monday is stacking loads nobody added up. Hard days spread out, two genuine off days weekly, and the total said out loud is the whole system.
What does the crow hop fix?
Carry and accuracy on long throws: the hop gathers the body sideways-on with momentum toward the target so the legs, not just the arm, ship the ball. Outfielders feel the difference in one session: flatter lines, less tail, less next-day arm ache.
Our infield throws keep sailing in games. Why?
Usually the clock: rushing skips the shuffle, the body never closes sideways-on, and the throw sails arm-side. The beat-the-runner drill exists exactly for this: practicing fast-but-smooth against a counted clock until game speed feels like practice speed.