The corpus that gates every plan

Safety, enforced. Not suggested.

15 Tier-1 rules pulled from USA Baseball Pitch Smart, NSCA Youth Training & Conditioning, the CDC, and Stop Sports Injuries. Every rule is cited in the practice compiler and reviewed before it ever gates a plan.

Compile a plan with these rules Read our AI & data policy

Last reviewed: 2026-05-27 · Corpus v1

Hard block6

Hard blocks

Compiler will refuse to ship a plan that violates these.

Warn & label8

Warn & label

Plans can include these, but coaches and parents see a labeled warning.

Informational1

Informational

Surfaced as context, no enforcement.

In plain English

· Kids 9-12 are never asked to throw a breaking ball, period.
· Pitch counts and rest days come from Pitch Smart and Little League, not coach guesswork.
· Strength work for under-14s is bodyweight + technique only.
· Water and rest breaks are scheduled into every plan, not optional.
· Heat, sleep, and fatigue are surfaced as warnings on every compiled practice.
· No AI feature ever diagnoses an injury or ranks a kid publicly. See our platform policy.

How it shows up in a plan

1. Coach picks age, length, and focus areas in the compiler.
2. Every candidate drill is matched against the rules below by age band and domain.
3. Hard-block rules remove a drill from the plan; warn-and-label rules attach a labeled note; informational rules surface as context for the coach and parent.
4. The compiled plan ships with rule IDs and source links so anyone can audit why a drill was kept or cut.

Hard blocks(6)

Compiler will refuse to ship a plan that violates these.

Follow Pitch Smart daily pitch-count limits and required rest-day mapping by pitch count (refer to canonical Pitch Smart table). Throw fastball and change-up only; avoid curveballs/sliders. No year-round throwing; take at least 4 consecutive months off competitive pitching per year (2-3 months continuous). Focus on athleticism and fun.

throwing · ages 9-12

Hard block

Pitch Smart is the canonical guideline set for youth pitch counts and required rest. Throwing volumes, rest days, and allowed pitch types must defer to Pitch Smart's age-banded tables. Compliance program available for orgs.

throwing · ages all

Hard block

Little League pitch-count regulations and rest requirements are league rules. When a player is rostered to a Little League team, league rules apply on top of Pitch Smart and must be followed.

throwing · ages 6-8 | 9-12 | 13-15

Hard block

Never prescribe or assess one-rep max (1RM) for minors. Use 3 sets of 10–15 reps with manageable weight. If the athlete can only complete 3–5 reps, weight is too heavy.

strength · ages 9-12 | 13-15 | 16+

Hard block

AI must not generate individualized medical, rehab, injury, return-to-play, mental-health diagnosis, or supplement plans. Concerns must be escalated to parents/guardians and qualified professionals.

ai boundary · ages all

Hard block

Conditioning must never be prescribed or labeled as punishment. The compiler must reject blocks tagged as 'punishment running' or equivalent.

culture · ages all

Hard block

Warn & label(8)

Plans can include these, but coaches and parents see a labeled warning.

Loaded resistance training for minors requires qualified supervision, technique-first instruction, age-appropriate exercises, and slow progression. Movement patterns, core, and major muscle groups before load.

strength · ages all

Warn & label

Strength training for teens should be limited to 2–3 sessions per week on nonconsecutive days. Begin every session with 5–10 minutes of dynamic warmup. Stop immediately on pain or popping sensation and report to a trusted adult.

strength · ages 13-15 | 16+

Warn & label

Distinguish acceptable muscle soreness from joint pain or severe muscle ache. Any pain, pop, or possible injury must be reported to a parent, coach, or trusted adult, and the activity stopped immediately. Any sign of illness or injury must be evaluated before returning.

general safety · ages all

Warn & label

School-age children (6–12) need 9–12 hours/night. Teens (13–18) need 8–10 hours/night. Adolescents averaging less than 8 hours sleep have a 1.7x higher injury rate.

recovery · ages 6-8 | 9-12 | 13-15 | 16+

Warn & label

Athletes should be well-hydrated prior to each practice/competition. Avoid body water deficit greater than 2–3% of body mass. Use pre/post body-weight change and first-morning urine color to estimate hydration status. Be more conservative with repeated same-day sessions and protective equipment.

hydration · ages 9-12 | 13-15 | 16+

Warn & label

Coaches identify concerning signs (stress, anxiety, depression, trauma, substance abuse, suicide risk) and act as a liaison to parents/guardians and qualified professionals. Coaches do not diagnose or treat.

mental wellness · ages all

Warn & label

Reaction-light tools (e.g., BlazePod) are optional engagement/assessment add-ons. They must not be marketed or compiled as the core driver of sport performance. Real sport decision-making (pitch tracking, live reads, situational drills) comes first.

reaction training · ages all

Warn & label

Abuse Awareness Training and Diamond Leader Training are REQUIRED for Tournament Managers and Coaches in Little League. The platform should treat these as compliance gates for users self-identifying as Little League coaches.

compliance · ages all

Warn & label

Informational(1)

Surfaced as context, no enforcement.

Children and adolescents 6–17 need at least 60 minutes/day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, including aerobic, muscle-strengthening (3+ days/week), and bone-strengthening (3+ days/week). Children 3–5 should be active throughout the day.

physical activity · ages 6-8 | 9-12 | 13-15 | 16+

Informational

Tier-1 sources

Public, dated, and reviewable

National Strength and Conditioning Association ↗
strength · ages 9-12
NSCA updated position statement on youth resistance training: safe when supervised, technique-first, age-appropriate, and progressed slowly. Underpins the platform's strength guardrails.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ↗
recovery · ages 6-8 | 9-12 | 13-15 | 16+
Examples of aerobic, muscle-strengthening, and bone-strengthening activities that count toward the 60-minute target.
Hospital for Special Surgery ↗
speed · ages 6-8 | 9-12 | 13-15 | 16+
Pediatric rehab guidance to prepare kids for running and reduce injury risk.
Little League International ↗
baseball · ages 6-8
A complete tee-ball practice example with position games, swing-and-run, throwing, and simple team activities — a good model for a full beginner session beyond opening day.
MLB / USA Baseball Pitch Smart ↗
throwing · ages all
The canonical arm-care reference: age-banded daily-max pitch counts and required-rest thresholds, annual innings caps (60 IP for 8U, 80 IP for 9-12, 100 IP for 13-14), the no-pitching-three-consecutive-days rule, breaking-ball age guidance, and the catch-and-pitch restriction.
USA Baseball / Pitch Smart ↗
throwing · ages all
USA Baseball/MLB partnership providing the comprehensive Pitch Smart guidelines and a Pitch Smart Compliance Program for orgs.
Positive Coaching Alliance ↗
mental · ages all
National nonprofit promoting positive youth sport culture: effort language, mistake response, confidence, parent-coach partnership.
TrueSport / USADA ↗
mental · ages all
Coach/parent/athlete education on character, performance, and well-being from USADA's TrueSport program.
National Federation of State High School Associations ↗
culture · ages 13-15 | 16+
NFHS Learning Center: 100+ courses for high-school coaches, 75+ free; accredited by Cognia.
NFHS ↗
mental · ages 13-15 | 16+
Free 2-hour NFHS course (built with NFHS Sports Medicine Advisory Committee): wellness framework, stress/anxiety, depression, trauma, substance abuse, suicide prevention, mental health barriers. Coaches identify and refer — they do not diagnose.
Sleep Foundation ↗
recovery · ages all
How sleep supports recovery, growth hormone release, cognition, and performance; sleep extension studies show reaction time and shooting accuracy gains.
Gatorade Sports Science Institute ↗
nutrition · ages 9-12 | 13-15 | 16+
Hydration supports cognition, heat safety, and performance. Adolescent sweat rates exceed 1 L/h; mature adolescents can hit 2.5 L/h+. Avoid >2-3% body-mass deficit. Use body-weight change pre/post practice and first-morning urine color as practical estimators. Be more conservative with multi-session/heat days.
Pitching-Lab ↗
throwing · ages 9-12 | 13-15
Warm-up, recovery, and arm-care routine for youth pitchers — preparation and recovery work to support healthy throwing.
USA Baseball ↗
baseball · ages all
USA Baseball's flagship youth coaching manual: the American Development Model (ADM), age-appropriate development, practice-planning function, throwing program, mental skills, and sample practice plans. The best all-around philosophy + structure reference for youth coaches.
Major League Baseball ↗
baseball · ages 9-12 | 13-15
MLB's how-to-run-a-practice manual. Breaks practice into four fundamentals (throwing, fielding, hitting, running) with 90-minute to 2-hour schedule templates, a four-station hitting rotation (Live / Tee / Bunt / Shag), stretching routine, and infield/outfield drills.
Baseball Canada ↗
baseball · ages 6-8
Downloadable Rally Cap practice-plan pack for the earliest skill levels (White and Grey caps) — ready-to-run station plans aligned to the Rally Cap manual.
Baseball BC ↗
baseball · ages 6-8
Station-based 8U plans (four ~8-minute stations) covering throwing/catching ('show the dog the ball'), baserunning, tee hitting/soft toss, and fielding with the 'alligator' two-hand technique, plus base-race and wiffle-ball games.
Little League Baseball ↗
throwing · ages 9-12
Little League's official regular-season pitch-count regulation and required rest table — league age 9-10 = 75 pitches/day, 11-12 = 85 pitches/day, with rest days mapped to pitches thrown. League rules apply on top of Pitch Smart for any rostered Little League pitcher.

Ready to put these rules to work?

Compile a plan and every drill is screened against the corpus above, with citations attached.

Open the compiler