Cerebral palsy (CP) is a neuromotor disorder resulting from brain lesions occurring in fetuses or around birth, affecting white matter and leading to sensorimotor deficits. While motor functions have been extensively studied, motor planning deficits in children with CP remains largely unexplored. This study aims to compare anticipatory force control between children with CP and typically developing children (TD) and to investigate the relationship between motor planning tracts (i.e., corticocerebellar tracts) and motor planning deficits. Ten children with CP (7 girls, 3 boys) aged 8-14 years with mild to moderate upper limb deficits and 40 TD children completed a grasp-and-lift task across 13 trials. CP children underwent a single diffusion magnetic resonance imaging session without sedation on a 3-Tesla scanner (Siemens) to acquire anatomical and diffusion images. Inclusion criteria were: 1) a diagnostic of hemiplegic cerebral palsy, 2) aged between 8 and 17 years old. Exclusion criteria were: 1) contraindication to scan, 2) claustrophobia. One child with CP was excluded from the MRI scan due to a ventricular shunt. Significant group differences were found in anticipatory variables in the grasp-and-lift task, with CP children exhibiting poorer performance than TD children. An interaction effect indicated greater difficulties with the more affected hand in CP children. Additionally, light to moderate significant correlations were identified between anticipatory variables and corticocerebellar tracts integrity in CP children. This study offers new insights into anticipatory deficits in CP children, enhancing understanding of CP and paving the way to new rehabilitation intervention.