Here are a few pitching drills that you can try out with members of your young pitching staff to make them stronger, more accurate pitchers. While pitching may simply be defined as the task of throwing a baseball, anyone who’s ever tried it will tell you there’s a great deal of hand and body coordination that goes into pitching.

One Knee Drill
Have the pitcher start by getting down on one knee, pitching arm side. Make sure he keeps the other leg raised. Partner up and settle 45 to 55 feet from each other. Have the pitcher rotate his shoulder toward his throwing partner, bringing his arm back with his hand on top of the baseball. Make sure that he’s using a good, circular arm motion to throw the ball, making sure he bends his elbow and finishes throwing elbow past the opposite knee. This drill is done to isolate the lower body to focus on developing proper arm action.

Bucket Drill
Have the pitcher pair up with a partner, settling about 45 to 55 feet from one another. Have him kneel on his throwing-side leg while placing his kneeling foot on an upside-down 10 gallon bucket. With the ball, the pitcher should rotate his shoulder toward the partner, bringing his arm back with your hand on top of the baseball. Popping up and over the bent stride leg, the pitcher should bend his elbow and finish throwing it past the opposite knee. The goal of this drill is to learn how to brace the front leg once a pitch is made and to develop a proper follow-through.

Pause and Balance Drill
This drill requires the assistance of a coach or parent. The pitcher starts by going through a full wind-up without the baseball. When he gets to the balance position he should stop, hold, turn his head and wait for the coach to hand him the baseball. Once he’s received the ball from the coach from the balance position, the pitcher turns his head again and throws to his target emphasizing a good follow-through. This drill is designed to get a pitcher into a controlled and balanced pitching position.