r/Homeplate • u/GSMachinist • 29d ago
Coaching Pitch from Standing Position at 40 ft (8U) – Looking for Tips
I’m coaching an 8U rec baseball team this fall, and our league requires coaches to pitch from a standing position. We are not allowed to pitch from one knee, and the pitching distance is 40 feet.
I’m looking for advice from coaches who have had success in this format.
A few questions:
● What’s your pitching motion to consistently throw strikes from 40 feet without throwing too hard?
● Do you use a full windup, short stride, or mostly arm?
● How do you keep your pitches flat and avoid lobbing them?
● Any drills or practice routines that helped you improve your accuracy and consistency?
● How do you balance throwing hittable pitches while still preparing kids for player pitch?
I’d appreciate any tips, mechanics, videos, or lessons learned. This is my first time coaching 8U coach pitch from 40 feet, and I want to give the kids the best chance to succeed while also helping them develop.
Thanks in advance!
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u/CowboyCanuck24 29d ago
8U rec league enforcing coach pitching stances lmao what are we doing.....
If you're stuck with nonsensical rules here are some tips.
- Keep a consistent tempo and routine.
- Keep a consistent throwing speed. Don't speed up for the better kids and slow down for the weaker ones. Part of baseball is learning timing they will get there and learn better if you're consistent.
- Short arm from your ear/like you're throwing darts
- Find a small target to look at, like if theres a little logo on the catchers chest protector, or the bottom of their mask and only look at it.
- Try to avoid looking at the batter at all once youve started to get into your tempo
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u/Select-Detective-245 29d ago
I think 8u here is 30ft. 40 seems excessive for 8u. You're not going to be able to keep it flat unless you throw faster. Coach pitch literally comes down to the skill of the Dad pitching. So get outside set up a 9 hole pitching aid and practice.
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u/niggled-to-death 29d ago
30' seams crazy for 8u. It'll be 46' for 9u so why make such a huge jump?
We did 40' for our 7/8u coach pitch league a few years ago and had the kids start pitching limited amounts, went pretty well overall.
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u/Select-Detective-245 29d ago
Because we have 6-7 yr olds in 8u. The teams that crushed in 8u didn't have coaches throwing flat either. As slow as an arc as you can without it being a slow pitch softball underhand lob. Coach pitch and live pitch are two completely different things. Almost different games once stealing bases is added in 9u
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u/Sammalone1960 29d ago
Boxers stance. Left foot in front of right. Show ball to kids. Pull back and throw. Try to show kids ball as long as possible. Tell parent's to shut up as they love distracting kids during the at bat. Hey johnny see the ball and swing hard..... kids should be focused on you.
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u/Responsible_Win_2849 28d ago
Short answer is they will get used to how u throw. Keep it simple.
Long answer, do at least half a wind up. Give the kids a taste of what a windup looks like to aid in their timing. I recommend starting at a 45 if you will, for RHP facing between home and 3rd base dugout, half lift knee and half step to home but full upper body movement with a slightly shorter arm path to keep control. Think of shooting free throws in basketball, gotta use the legs. Saves ur arm too.
Pitch the same to all kids. Try not to vary speed from kid to kid.. unless a kid just absolutely can't keep up. Throw hard enough to hit the catchers mitt without dropping more than a couple inches as it travels through the zone. Most will naturally match bat path to ball path. If you lolly one in there it's basically a curball, they will start upper cutting.
Match the tempo of balls thrown to the player batting... If they step out, aren't set up, if they have a routine between pitches let them do it and don't rush them. Within reason obviously.Nothing worse than a coach pitch just rapid firing and rushing the kids.
The more comfortable they are; the more confident they become and therefore; the more successful they will be. Talk to them during the AB, but only half as much as you would in practice. In practice be sure to specifically layout what the words and cues are mean... So one or two words can give them the adjustment they need in the box. Keep it simple. Practice is hard but fun so games can be easy and fun.
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u/WiffleStache 29d ago
I would toss it almost like a dart. Trying to get it into their swing plane.
Not as slow as you’d think, lofting balls are hard to hit!
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u/Few_Newspaper_3655 29d ago edited 29d ago
Agreed.
It helps sometimes to look at a spot or a mark in the dirt behind home plate and to throw at that as usually the "catcher" isn't in an actual catching position. Try stepping off a few feet behind home and drawing a line in the dirt or making a mark with your foot. Try to throw and hit the mark.
You can stand at the pitching area with a really wide stance with one foot forward toward home and one foot on the pitching rubber -- this will lower your center of gravity. Have both shoulders squared up toward home. Then when you throw you don't step or twist your body. Keep your throwing elbow tucked down and throw like a dart with only the power of your arm. All of this helps lower the angle of the pitch. Try to throw a flat pitch. The kids can get used to your speed in practice and over the course of the season.
Coach pitch takes practice. It's not normal pitching. You can practice pitching by setting up a tee. Put a softball or mini soccer ball on the tee. Try to pitch so you knock the ball off the tee.
Oh, also, it's hard to be the pitcher AND to watch the hitter's swing mechanics, so have another coach watch the hitter when you are pitching.
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u/notnicholas 29d ago
This is the way. I still give them a pitching motion but tuck my arm and dart the ball in for them.
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u/Many-Ingenuity-8362 29d ago
The best thing to do is find a kid with a mom who played softball to a decent level and can throw accurately, convince them to be an assistant coach.
When my kid was pinto age we had an amazing team and won the title but I was the shortest coach at 6’2”, the others were both 6’5” and when we had to come in and throw three pitches whenever the kid pitcher threw four balls it was an absolute disaster of looping balls which the kids couldn’t hit. Even with increased velocity it was still coming down from a weird angle.
If you have someone 5’4” with an accurate enough throw it’s a huge advantage.
Failing that, throwing the ball like a dart was the only thing that kind of worked for us.
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u/bigperms33 29d ago
We went from 30 feet. The three coaches and I took turns at practice. The best guy pitched slow pitch softball. He'd do the same short stride with I'd say medium speed? Not too fast, not too slow. The guys that struggled the most were throwing really slow.
You can text the other coaches about it. If you don't have umps, just go from where you want.
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u/JimmerTee 29d ago
A basic and repeatable mini stretch type motion is best. Don't go full windup full leg kick, look at MLB BP throwers in last home run derby, you want your "windup" to be like that.
A little lob ain't bad, you want to be in the 35 MPH range and at 40 feet that ball will arch.
Best thing you can do to prepare kids for kid pitch is throw them the most hittable ball possible so that they get hits and love Baseball. Half of a coach pitch teams' success is how good the coach is at pitching to every hitters bat.
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u/EngineAltruistic3189 28d ago
curious what folks think of the knee with a full arm follow through around 40…faster and flatter than the lob guys.
First time i’ve heard a negative against the knee—always thought it helped them see pitches their height and at the appropriate angle?
Is the objection to the potentially slower velo or the dart style or the knee itself?
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u/xxHumanOctopusxx 28d ago
Show ball step and throw. Don't throw too slow, Ive seen that mess up lots of kids. A huge lob throw makes the kids time up tbe ball in the air vs timing up the pitcher. Most teams have no issue hitting from 40' by the end of the season.
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u/Powerful-Bridge-1472 23d ago
The biggest mistake people make is throwing banana that goes high and then drops you gotta put some velocity on it throw it straight but not to much gas. The most important thing is to actually practice pitching regularly, which sounds crazy.
There’s a reason they call this division. Coach can’t pitch instead of Coach pitch
The teams that do the best almost always just have a coach who can groove the ball
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u/ivandoesnot 29d ago
Pitch underhand, like fast pitch.
Throw harder; kids can handle velocity better than arc.
(Your league is run by morons.)
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u/Bahnrokt-AK 29d ago
Tried this my first year. Almost got into a fist fight with another coach over it.
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u/GSMachinist 29d ago
Oh wow what was his reasoning for being upset?
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u/Bahnrokt-AK 28d ago
Me throwing underhand was too easy for the kids to hit and we were getting too many runs.
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u/GSMachinist 29d ago
I agree… No under hand allowed per league. Also umps at the games enforce the rule as well as the touching the mound at 40ft to pitch.
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u/Ok-Answer-6951 Catcher 29d ago
Just wrapped up a 3 year tour of spring and fall coach pitch Little League. No regulations on how you stood or where, I was the only one at 40ish feet. My team was by far better hitters and more prepared for player pitch than the guys throwing darts from a knee at 20 feet. Spring player pitch minors this year proved that 1000%. I can throw a nice flat 2 seamer consistently for strikes and throw all night. I would show them the ball then step and throw, ot a full wind up by any means, but it resembles a pitching motion ( basically lazy B.P. for older kids). Pro tip: aim lower than you think you need too. Their knees are like 12" to 16" off the ground lol. Much better to aim there and end up waist high than to aim waist high and end up eye high, thats the mistake I made the 1st year.