Baseball & Softball drill · Throwing

Throwing Accuracy Target Game

Why this drill works

Standard catch play has no consequences, so kids throw thousands of unmeasured, ungraded throws and improve slowly. Adding a frozen target and a 3-1-0 score changes every throw into a data point the thrower cares about. The earned-distance ladder does the age-old coaching job automatically: nobody throws from farther than their mechanics can support, because the scoring will not let them. And the frozen-glove rule secretly trains the receivers too, teaching them to present a real target, the skill every infielder needs at first base someday.

How to coach it

Coach both lines: throwers get one checkpoint at a time, targets get held accountable for honest, frozen gloves, since a rescuing receiver quietly destroys the whole feedback system. Watch feet more than arms; the step at the target predicts accuracy better than anything the arm does. Keep score sheets if your group likes progress on paper, because accuracy at a distance is a number kids will chase for a whole season. And use the golf finale even when time is tight; it is the round they will talk about in the car.

Ages: 7–14
Skill levels: first-time, beginner, developing, intermediate
Players: 4–16 (ideal 10)
Time: 12 min
Setting: either
Space: 60 feet by 30 feet

Throwers at distance lines throwing to frozen chest-high glove targets, with cones marking the earned-distance ladder.

Equipment

1 ball per pair
1 glove per player
6 cones for distance lines
Optional hoop or bucket targets

Setup

Set cone lines at 20, 30, 40, and (for older groups) 50 feet from a target line. Targets are partners holding gloves chest-high and still, or hoops hung on a fence, or buckets on chairs for solo setups. Pairs start at the 20-foot line, all throwing one direction on the coach's rhythm. Review the throwing checkpoints in one demonstration: sideways start with the glove shoulder aimed at the target, a step with the opposite foot directly at it, the throwing arm circling down-back-up, and a follow-through that finishes with the chest over the front leg and the hand pointing where the ball went. Establish the scoring before the first throw: a catch made without the target moving the glove more than a hand's width scores three, a catch requiring a reach scores one, a miss scores zero.

How to run it

Round 1 at 20 feet: ten throws each, partner scores every throw out loud using the 3-1-0 system. The receiver's frozen glove is the honesty mechanism; targets never bail out bad throws by lunging.
Promotion: 24 points or more out of 30 moves the pair back to the next line. Under 15 means one more round at the same line focusing on a single checkpoint the partner names.
Round 2 and 3 at earned distances: same scoring, and watch what distance exposes: at 30 feet rushed feet appear, at 40 arm-only throws appear. The step-at-the-target checkpoint fixes most of both.
Call-your-shot round: before each throw, the thrower announces GLOVE SIDE or ARM SIDE and only the called side scores. Aiming becomes deliberate rather than hopeful.
Pressure round: each player gets three throws for the team's cumulative score, announced dramatically. Routines under pressure are the skill; watch who abandons their mechanics and name it kindly.
Finish with target golf: pairs walk a course of three targets at different distances, counting total throws to hit all three, lowest score wins. Two circuits fit in the closing minutes.

What success looks like

Scores rise within a session and across weeks at each distance, misses cluster near the target rather than spraying, called-shot accuracy climbs above chance, and mechanics hold at the pressure round instead of dissolving into heaves.

Coaching cues

"Point your shoulder, step at the glove"
"Finish with your hand at the target"
"Same throw every time"
"Distance is earned"

Common mistakes

Facing the target square-on and pushing the ball. The sideways start is checkpoint one for a reason; reset any square thrower with a physical repositioning, not just words.
Receivers rescuing wild throws with big lunges, which corrupts every score. Coach the targets as hard as the throwers: frozen glove, honest calls.
Racing up the distance ladder on heaves that happen to arrive. The 3-1-0 scoring plus the 24-point promotion bar makes lucky heaves unprofitable; trust the system.

Make it easier or harder

Easier: Start at 15 feet with larger targets (a hoop against a fence gives beginners a win zone bigger than a glove), score any catch as three, and skip the pressure round.

Harder: Add a 60-foot line, shrink targets to a hand-sized zone marked on a screen, require throws off a shuffle-step catch first, or make the golf course include one on-the-run throw.

Adapt it to your team

Small roster: Four players run two pairs with a mid-session partner swap; the golf finale works perfectly as an individual competition at any roster size.

Large roster: Eight pairs across a wide line all on one rhythm, with a parent walking the target line to audit frozen gloves while you walk the throwing line watching feet.

Limited space: A gym runs 20 and 30 feet with safety balls; wall targets (taped squares) replace partners entirely, and tape lines replace cones.

Limited equipment: One ball per pair is the whole requirement; buckets, hung shirts, or chalk squares make targets, and any objects mark distance lines.

Safety

One direction, one rhythm, always: no ball leaves a hand until the coach's cadence says so, and nobody crosses the range to retrieve until the line is paused. Space pairs so misses land in gaps, not on neighbors, and match ball type to age; soft or reduced-injury balls for the youngest throwers protect the frozen targets this drill depends on. See the safety page for general guidance.