Home work is most useful for two things: grooving movement patterns you are trying to change, and getting regular, low-stress reps between team practices. It is not a place to max out. Hard throwing into a net with no warm-up, no one watching and no record of how many throws you made is how home sessions turn into a problem.
Before you start, set up three things: a space you can stride in safely (about 10 to 15 feet is enough for most of these), a phone propped up to film, and a simple log. Every throw you make at home is real arm workload, so it belongs in your weekly count.
What research supports, and what it does not
Research on velocity points to a few movement qualities that home drills can target. In a study of 420 youth and adolescent pitchers, Sgroi and colleagues (Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, 2015) found that age, height, hip and shoulder separation, and stride length explained most of the variation in pitch velocity. Separation of the hips and shoulders was associated with about 2.6 mph, and a 10% longer stride with about 1.9 mph. Those are associations, not proof that a drill will add those numbers, but they tell you what to pay attention to.
Most individual drills have not been studied directly. The ones that have, such as the towel drill and weighted or plyo ball throws, come with caveats that are covered below. Where a drill is coaching tradition, we say so.
1. Balance and pause drill
- Purpose: control of the leg lift and a stable back leg before moving down the mound.
- Setup: no ball needed, or a ball in the glove. Stand sideways as if on the rubber.
- Reps: 2 sets of 5 per side. Lift, hold for 2 to 3 seconds, then stride out slowly and freeze at foot strike.
- Common mistake: leaning back toward second base or drifting forward before the leg reaches its peak.
- Evidence: coaching tradition. Balance work was part of the warm-up program that reduced injuries in a youth randomized trial (Sakata, 2019), but that study did not test this drill on its own.
2. Stride line drill
- Purpose: consistent stride length and direction.
- Setup: lay tape on the floor from your back foot toward your target. Mark a stride length to work toward with a coach.
- Reps: 10 to 15 dry strides, filming from behind every few reps.
- Common mistake: chasing a longer stride at the cost of landing balanced. A stride you cannot control is not helping.
- Evidence: stride length is associated with velocity in youth and adolescent pitchers (Sgroi, 2015). The drill itself has not been studied.
3. Hip and shoulder separation drill
- Purpose: let the hips start rotating toward the target while the shoulders stay closed a moment longer.
- Setup: stride out and hold at foot strike, glove arm pointed at the target. Rotate the hips toward the target while keeping the chest closed, then let the shoulders follow.
- Reps: 2 sets of 8, slow and controlled. Add a ball and a short throw into a net only once the pattern feels natural.
- Common mistake: forcing the shoulders back so far that the arm gets behind. Separation should come from the hips leading, not from twisting the upper body away.
- Evidence: hip and shoulder separation is linked with velocity in research (Sgroi, 2015). Our article on pitching mechanics that actually matter covers the kinematic sequence in more depth.
4. Towel drill (shadow pitching), with a caveat
- Purpose: rehearse the full delivery without throwing a ball.
- Setup: hold a small towel the way you hold a ball. Place a target, such as a cone or a partner's glove, where your hand should be at release.
- Reps: 10 to 15 at moderate speed.
- Common mistake: reaching way out front to snap the towel. That is not where you release a baseball.
- Evidence: Miyazaki and colleagues (BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2021) compared shadow pitching with a towel against normal throwing in 20 high school pitchers. The towel moved the release point forward, toward the glove side and down, and changed shoulder and trunk angles. Setting a target for the release point cut that deviation roughly in half. So if you use a towel, use a release target, and do not treat it as identical to throwing.
5. Mirror work
- Purpose: instant visual feedback on positions such as glove side, arm path and posture at foot strike.
- Setup: stand side-on to a full-length mirror.
- Reps: 5 to 10 slow-motion deliveries, pausing at each checkpoint.
- Common mistake: turning your head to watch, which changes the delivery. Pause, look, then reset.
- Evidence: coaching tradition. Useful for learning positions, less useful for timing, which happens too fast to see.
6. Film yourself
- Purpose: see what your delivery actually looks like at full speed.
- Setup: phone on a stable surface at about hip height. Film one clip from the open side (facing your chest at release) and one from behind, with your whole body in frame. Use slow motion if your phone has it.
- Reps: film the first few and last few throws of a session to see whether anything changes with fatigue.
- Common mistake: changing camera angles every session, which makes comparisons meaningless. Use the same spots each time.
- Evidence: see why video review matters for pitching mechanics for what research says about measuring mechanics from video.
7. Net throwing
- Purpose: real throws when no partner is around.
- Setup: a sturdy net 15 to 30 feet away with a target taped on it. Warm up fully first.
- Reps: 15 to 30 throws at controlled effort, working on one cue at a time.
- Common mistake: letting effort creep up. Throws you rate as easy are often close to full stress. In a long toss study, pitchers' "50%" throws still produced 87% of their maximum elbow torque (Melugin, 2019). Count every net throw in your workload.
- Evidence: net throwing is simply throwing, so it carries the same load as throwing to a partner at the same effort.
8. Plyo ball wall throws (older athletes only)
- Purpose: arm path and body awareness drills with heavier balls thrown into a solid wall.
- Setup: soft-shell plyo balls and a concrete or brick wall. Only for high school and older pitchers with coaching, and only if you have already built a throwing base.
- Reps: short sets of 5 to 10 per drill at moderate effort.
- Common mistake: turning a movement drill into a max-effort session.
- Evidence: Fleisig and colleagues (Sports Health, 2017) found that arm torques and forces generally went down as ball mass went up, and that holds with very heavy balls work more like resistance training than pitching. In a randomized trial in pitchers aged 13 to 18 (Reinold, Sports Health, 2018), a six-week weighted ball program raised pitch velocity 3.3% but was followed by more injuries than the control group. Read weighted ball training: what the research says before adding this at home.
9. Dry grip work
- Purpose: learn and feel new grips without throwing.
- Setup: a ball in your hand while you watch TV or study.
- Reps: as many as you like. Spin the ball to yourself and check seam orientation.
- Common mistake: learning a grip at home and then throwing it at full effort in a game before you have practiced it in catch play.
- Evidence: no load on the arm, so this is free practice. Use our pitch grips guide for grip photos and cues.
A sample 25-minute home session
| Block | Time | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Warm-up | 8 min | Light jog or skips, mobility, light band activation, balance holds |
| Pattern work | 7 min | Balance and pause drill, stride line drill, separation drill (dry) |
| Throwing | 7 min | 15 to 25 net throws at controlled effort, filming the first and last few |
| Review | 3 min | Watch the clips, log throws and how the arm felt |
Two or three of these sessions a week, on days you are not throwing hard with your team, is plenty for most players. On days with a game or a bullpen, skip the throwing block and keep only the dry work.
Count home throws in your workload
A home session that feels easy can still add 30 or 40 throws to your week. If you also have practice, lessons and games, those add up fast. Track all of it and compare this week with your last four using the pitching workload calculator. The goal is a base that grows steadily so you can handle more high-intent work over time, not a week that suddenly doubles. If you want to see how these drills fit into a bigger plan, read our guide on how to throw harder.
For younger players, keep home throwing short, supervised and fun, and follow the MLB and USA Baseball Pitch Smart guidelines for rest and time off. Pain while throwing is a reason to stop and see a qualified clinician, not something to drill through.
Frequently asked questions
What pitching drills can I do at home?
Good home drills include balance and pause work, a stride line drill, hip and shoulder separation drills, towel drills with a release target, mirror work, filming your delivery, controlled net throwing and dry grip work. Older athletes with coaching can add short plyo ball wall drills.
Is the towel drill good for pitchers?
It can help you rehearse the delivery, but it is not identical to throwing. A 2021 study found the towel shifted the release point forward and down and changed shoulder and trunk angles. Setting a release-point target reduced that difference, so use one if you do the drill.
How many throws should I do at home?
For most players, 15 to 30 controlled throws in a session, two or three times a week on non-game days, is enough. Count every throw in your weekly workload so home work does not create a sudden spike.
Can I throw plyo balls into a wall at home?
Only if you are high school age or older, have a throwing base, and have coaching. Keep sets short and effort moderate. Research found weighted ball programs can raise velocity but also showed more injuries in one randomized trial, so treat them with care.
Do I need a net to practice pitching at home?
No. Many of the most useful drills, such as balance, stride, separation, mirror work and grip work, need no ball at all. A net is helpful for real throws when you do not have a partner.
Turn drills into a plan
Get feedback on your home sessions with Pitch AI
Record or upload a short clip of one pitch and Pitch AI's mechanics analysis returns a report with strengths, areas to work on and priority drills you can take into your home sessions. Alongside it, the app builds a personalized throwing program for your week, readiness check-ins adjust each day, and every throw you log counts toward your workload trend. It is the pitching app built around the full throwing week.
Sources and further reading
- Sgroi T, et al. Predictors of throwing velocity in youth and adolescent pitchers. Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, 2015
- Miyazaki S, et al. Shadow pitching deviates ball release position: kinematic analysis in high school baseball pitchers. BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2021
- Fleisig GS, et al. Biomechanical Analysis of Weighted-Ball Exercises for Baseball Pitchers. Sports Health, 2017
- Reinold MM, et al. Effect of a 6-Week Weighted Baseball Throwing Program on Pitch Velocity, Pitching Arm Biomechanics, Passive Range of Motion, and Injury Rates. Sports Health, 2018
- Melugin HP, et al. Baseball Pitchers' Perceived Effort Does Not Match Actual Measured Effort During a Structured Long-Toss Throwing Program. American Journal of Sports Medicine, 2019
- Sakata J, et al. Throwing Injuries in Youth Baseball Players: Can a Prevention Program Help? A Randomized Controlled Trial. American Journal of Sports Medicine, 2019