Most young kids throw with a sidearm sling because that’s what feels natural. Overhand has to be taught. The earlier they learn the right arm path, the better their throws look at age 8.
What you need: 5 tennis balls or soft foam baseballs. Open grass.
Setup: Stand 8 feet apart on grass. The kid faces you with the throwing-side foot back and the glove-side foot forward.
How to run it:
- Walk through the throwing cue: Turn, Shuffle, Point, Fire. Today we focus on Turn and Point.
- Show them: throwing shoulder turns sideways toward you, glove arm points at your chest, throwing arm bent in an L behind the ear.
- Have them mirror it without a ball. Three reps.
- Now hand them a ball. They turn, point, and throw to you. No shuffle yet.
- Do 10 reps. Then switch and you throw to them so they see what good looks like.
What to watch: Is the throwing arm coming up over the top of the ear? Or is it coming around the side? If it’s coming around, gently move their elbow up and have them try again.
If they’re struggling: Move closer to 5 feet. Use a softer ball. Skip the throwing motion and just have them hand the ball to you in the right body position.
If they’ve got it: Move back to 12 feet and add the Shuffle. They take a small step with the back foot toward the front foot before the throw.