Tee Ball Practice Plan

This blank template follows the station structure most rec leagues and youth programs use for tee ball: warm-up, throwing, catching, fielding, hitting, base running, and a game to close. Write your drills in the notes column, print the sheet, and clip it to a clipboard so every parent helper on the field knows what comes next.

Use the buttons below to download the tee ball practice plan template as a free printable image, copy it as a tab-separated table into your spreadsheet, or print a paper copy for the dugout.

Tee ball players are 3 to 7 years old. Most of them have never held a bat before the first practice, and their attention span runs about as long as the drill does. A practice that opens with a five-minute explanation of proper throwing form will lose half the group before the first ball leaves a hand. The structure below breaks a session into short skill blocks that keep every player moving.

Block by Block: How a Tee Ball Practice Flows

• Warm-Up Game (5-7 minutes). Skip laps and static stretches. Run a movement game that gets legs moving and energy out: freeze tag, relay races around the bases, or "Red Light Green Light" in the outfield. Young kids arrive with energy they need to burn before they can focus. Use that energy instead of fighting it.
• Throwing (5-10 minutes). Start with beanbag tosses into buckets for 3-4 year olds who cannot grip a ball well yet. Progress to soft ball partner tosses at 10-15 feet for older players. Focus on one cue at a time: "Step toward your target." Correcting grip, elbow position, and follow-through all at once overwhelms a 5-year-old.
• Catching (5-10 minutes). Teach the alligator catch: two hands closing together around the ball at belly height, like an alligator mouth snapping shut. Start with rolled balls on the ground, then move to gentle underhand tosses. Use beanbags or foam balls for the youngest players because a missed baseball to the face ends the season for that child.
• Fielding / Ground Balls (8-10 minutes). Roll ground balls to players one at a time, or set up a station where a parent rolls while the coach works the hitting tees. Glove down, bare hand on top, scoop into the belly. Throw to a bucket or a parent standing at first base. Keep the line short (3-4 players max) so wait time stays under 30 seconds.
• Hitting Off the Tee (10-15 minutes). This is the block that defines tee ball. Run 3-4 tees at the same time with wiffle balls so no one waits in a long line and stray hits do not hurt anyone. One parent helper per tee resets the ball and gives one coaching cue per swing: "Watch the bat hit the ball." Five to six swings per rotation, then switch to the next tee.
• Base Running (5-7 minutes). Jog the bases as a group with the coach calling each base by name. Then practice running to first on a ground ball (sprint through the bag) versus rounding first on an outfield hit. Young players mix up the bases constantly, so repetition here saves confusion on game day.
• Game / Scrimmage (6-10 minutes). End every practice with a game. Every batter hits off the tee, every fielder plays a real position, and everyone runs. Rotate positions after every two batters so each player tries infield and outfield. The scrimmage is where skills connect, and it gives kids the moment they came for.

How Long Should a Tee Ball Practice Run?

For 3-4 year olds, 30 to 45 minutes is the maximum before focus collapses. Standard rec league tee ball (ages 5-7) runs 45 to 60 minutes. Practices longer than 60 minutes for this age group produce diminishing returns: tired legs, wandering attention, and more tears than teaching. Plan your best work (hitting and fielding) for the middle of practice when focus is highest, and use warm-ups and base running as bookends. Build each block as a reusable training event in Striveon so parent helpers see the station plan on their phone before arriving at the field.

Why Tee Ball Needs More Adults Than Other Sports

The Randolph Baseball T-Ball Manual(opens in new tab) (Michael Paladino) recommends at least four coaches, including yourself, helping at each practice and game. One coach running a 12-player tee ball practice alone is managing a group of 4-year-olds who do not yet understand "line up" or "wait your turn." Recruit parent volunteers before the season starts and assign each one a station so practice runs like a rotation, not a crowd.

A 3-year-old swinging a bat for the first time and a 7-year-old preparing for coach-pitch next season need different session lengths, drill types, and adult ratios. The table below breaks down each age bracket so you can match your practice plan to your roster.

First Exposure (Ages 3-4)

At this age, practice is play with a baseball shape. Use oversized foam balls, beanbags, and fat plastic bats. Skip formal positions on defense. Let every player stand near the ball and chase it. The goal of a 3-year-old's first baseball season is to hold a bat, hit something off a tee, and run toward a base. If they leave practice smiling, the session worked. Leagues that offer both sports at this age can adapt the same station approach with our 8U softball practice plan.

Beginner Tee Ball (Ages 4-5)

This is the core tee ball age group. Players can hold a real bat (sized correctly), catch a softly tossed ball with two hands, and throw underhand to a target. The Little League Tee Ball Curriculum(opens in new tab) builds its 10-week program around this age, with up to 40 activities that cycle through skills, drills, and games each week. Running multiple tees at once and using wiffle balls for safety are standard practices at this level because they maximize swings and keep stray hits harmless.

Standard Rec League (Ages 5-6)

Five and six year olds can start learning real game situations. Introduce fielding positions, throw to a base after fielding a ground ball, and practice stopping at first versus rounding first. Add a scrimmage to every practice because this age group learns by playing the game, not by drilling isolated skills in repetition.

Advanced Tee Ball (Ages 6-7)

Players at this stage are preparing for the transition to coach-pitch or machine-pitch baseball. Introduce basic strategy: "Throw to first on a ground ball." "Tag the base, then look for another runner." This is also the age where you can start teaching hitting direction. Place a cone in the outfield and challenge players to hit past it instead of chopping the ball straight down into the dirt. When your players are ready for longer sessions with position-specific work, our baseball practice plan template picks up where tee ball leaves off.

Three, four, and five year olds cannot stand still. They wander. They sit down. They chase butterflies during a ground ball drill. Every drill for this age group needs to be short (under 5 minutes), use simple equipment, and feel more like a game than a lesson.

Hitting Drills for Ages 3-5

• Tee stations with wiffle balls. Run 3-4 tees at once so every child swings every 30-45 seconds. One parent helper per tee places the ball, says "Swing!", and counts five swings before the next player rotates in. Wiffle balls keep stray hits safe when tees are close together.
• Color cone targets. Set colored cones 10-15 feet in front of the tee. Call out a color before each swing. Even if the ball goes nowhere near the cone, the drill teaches kids to aim rather than just swing and hope.

Throwing and Catching for Ages 3-5

• Beanbag bucket toss. Place a large bucket 6-8 feet away. Players toss beanbags underhand into the bucket. Beanbags are easier to grip than baseballs at this age, and the bucket gives a visible target that is more motivating than "throw to your partner."
• Alligator catch with foam balls. Coach stands 5 feet away and gently tosses a foam ball at belly height. Players catch with two hands snapping together. If the ball is soft enough that a miss to the face does not hurt, kids stay brave instead of flinching.

Fielding for Ages 3-5

• Roller derby. Coach rolls a ball slowly on the ground. Player scoops it up with both hands and drops it into a bucket. No throw required at this stage. The scoop is the entire skill, and getting it right 10 times matters more than adding a throw that falls apart.
• Ball pickup relay. Place 5-6 balls in a line across the infield. Two teams race to pick up every ball and drop them into a bucket. First team to empty their line wins. Teaches scooping under time pressure without the complexity of throwing.

Movement Games That Build Baseball Skills

Freeze tag builds agility and stop-start control. Running the bases as a relay race teaches the base path. "Red Light Green Light" from home to second base builds sprint control and listening. None of these feel like drills to a 4-year-old, but every one builds athletic ability that translates directly to the field.

Forty-five minutes is the sweet spot for most tee ball teams under age 6. It is long enough to touch every skill area and short enough that players leave before focus and fun run out. Every drill in this plan runs under 10 minutes, transitions happen on a whistle, and parent helpers are assigned before the session starts.

Stretching 45 Minutes Without Losing the Group

• Set up every station (tees, buckets, cones, ball bags) before players arrive. Zero transition time between blocks.
• Use a loud whistle for transitions. Two blasts means "Stop. Go to the next station." Practice the whistle routine in the first five minutes of the first practice and repeat it every session.
• Water happens between stations, not as a formal break. Kids grab a sip on the way to the next drill.
• End with the scrimmage, always. If you run out of time, cut a skill station, not the game. The scrimmage is the reason most 4-year-olds show up.

Sixty minutes is standard for most organized tee ball leagues with players ages 5 through 7. The extra 15 minutes over a 45-minute plan adds dedicated fielding stations and a longer scrimmage. Players at this age can handle two-drill stations (ground balls on one side, pop flies on the other) and real base running with game-like situations.

Splitting the Team to Double Reps

• Split the team during throwing, catching, and fielding blocks. Half works with a parent on ground balls while the other half does partner tosses, then switch at the midpoint. This doubles the reps each player gets.
• Assign one parent to manage the hitting tees for the entire practice. That person sets up, adjusts tee height between players, and resets balls. Freeing the head coach from tee duty lets them move between stations and correct form.
• Use the scrimmage block to test what you drilled. If practice focused on fielding ground balls and throwing to first, watch for that play during the game. Name it out loud when a player does it right: "Great throw to first, Mia!"
• Track which skills you cover each week so the following practice builds on the last. Map tee ball skill progressions across your season with Striveon's season planning so throwing accuracy in week 3 leads to fielding relays in week 4 instead of restarting the same bucket toss every Tuesday.

The practice plan templates above tell you when to work each skill. The table below tells you what drills to fill those blocks with. Pick 3-4 drills per session from different skill categories so the practice stays balanced. Swap at least one drill per week so players do not lose interest running the same bucket toss for six straight sessions.

Building a Season of Drills from This Library

Pick one drill from each category (warm-up, throwing, catching, fielding, hitting, base running) as your weekly base. After two weeks on bucket targets, switch to partner toss. After two weeks on alligator chomps, add pop fly countdown. The progression keeps skills advancing and keeps players from checking out because they already know what comes next. A searchable drill library lets you tag each drill by skill and age group so building next week's rotation takes seconds. Our guide to organizing a drill library explains how to tag drills by skill, age group, and equipment so building next week's practice takes minutes instead of starting from scratch every Tuesday night.

A 4-year-old's attention span is measured in minutes, not drills. Expecting a group of tee ball players to stand still and listen to a five-minute explanation is asking for wandering, sitting, and a left fielder who has taken off their glove to examine a ladybug. The following strategies keep young players engaged across an entire practice.

Short Drills, Constant Rotation

No drill should run longer than 7-8 minutes for ages 5-7, and 4-5 minutes for ages 3-4. When you see players starting to drift, blow the whistle and rotate. A drill that ends while players are still engaged is better than one that drags on until half the group has wandered off.

One Instruction Per Drill

"Stand sideways, grip the bat at the bottom, bend your knees, step toward the pitcher, swing level, and follow through" is six instructions. A 5-year-old will remember zero of them. Give one cue per drill: "Watch the bat hit the ball." Save the next cue for next week. Building one skill at a time across a season produces better hitters than loading every concept into a single practice.

Every Player Touches Equipment at All Times

If a player is standing in line with nothing in their hands, they are going to wander. Station-based practice solves this. While four kids swing at tees, four more throw beanbags at buckets, and four more field ground balls. Nobody waits. Everyone has a ball, a bat, or a glove in their hands at all times.

Use Names and Specific Praise

"Great job, team!" means nothing to a 4-year-old. "Nice swing, Jayden, you watched the bat hit the ball!" means everything. Name the player. Name the skill they just did right. Young players repeat behaviors that get recognized, and specific praise tells them exactly what to repeat.

End Before They Want It to End

A player who leaves practice smiling comes back next week. A player who leaves exhausted and frustrated does not. If the scrimmage is going well at minute 42 of a 45-minute practice, call it right there. Let them leave wanting more.

A printed practice plan pinned to the dugout works for one session. It breaks down when you coach multiple age groups, need to remember which drills you ran two weeks ago, or want your parent helpers to see the plan before they arrive at the field.

When a Printed Tee Ball Plan Is Enough

• You coach one tee ball team with a short spring season (8-10 weeks)
• Your schedule is fixed and you rotate through the same base drills weekly
• You have a small group of parents who show up reliably and know the drill routine

When Your Tee Ball Program Needs a Shared System

• You run multiple tee ball teams with overlapping field times. A shared system prevents running the same hitting drill three weeks in a row because no one tracked what happened last session
• Parent volunteers need to see the practice plan in advance so they arrive ready to run a station instead of waiting for instructions on the field
• You want to track skill progression across a season and see which players have improved their catching or need extra fielding reps
• You also evaluate players for team placement or all-star selection. Pair these practice plans with our baseball tryout evaluation form so your assessment criteria line up with the skills you drill each week

For tee ball programs that plan practices alongside player development, platforms like Striveon connect session plans to athlete tracking, drill libraries, and season calendars in one place. See how Striveon connects structured training sessions to youth development so every practice hour builds toward a season goal instead of disappearing into yesterday's clipboard.