Wood bat for practice?

I've been itching to pull the trigger on a pheonix softball training bat. Has anyone tried one of these

Seems like a good way to throw a younger kid off their swing. Probably a good thing to use for an older player to gain strength.

We use a wood bat with the Tee. I found it's a good tool to give constant feedback to my daughter as to where the barrel head is during the swing sequence. Sometimes she thinks she is doing certain things with the bat when she really isn't. For example, she may think she has bat tilt, but doesn't. The wood bat helps her know what she is doing with the barrel head at all times. It's a good feedback mechanism. Plus, the heavy weight and small hitting zone can only help her become a better contact hitter with good acceleration. We don't use it all the time, but it's a nice practice bat and a way of mixing it up a little.

My DD has used a 31" -3 wood bat on and off over the last couple of years, but I'm thinking it's time to move up to match her current 33" bat length.

As mentioned, my daughter used a wooden bat for hitting starting at the age of 10. The OP asked about the age of 8 and I might think that that age is a little young. Of course BB was big and strong and so, she would swing it pretty well. We made her bat a drop 0. It was/is 33 inches and 33 oz. The purpose was to force her to learn how to use her core to swing the bat. She could not get armsy in her swing since the bat would then dip down and she would be unable to center the ball. In learning how to use her core to hit with, she learned how to be stronger and drive the ball. I am a firm believer in the use of wood and I also have the hitters I work with use wood when they are strong enough. My HS team now has several players who love using that bat. In fact, they ask to use it. It demonstrates right away flaws in their swing.

I fully understand anyone who does not agree with this. I'm one coach and maybe I was just lucky having the kid use it. Still, there are so many colleges that are also using wood in their training. So, if you get a chance to talk to or watch some of these colleges practice, you may see wood.

Question for the people that had or have their DD using wood to practice with. When selecting a bat, would you recommend looking for a balanced feel or end load feel? Is going in the direction of what ever the game bat is the correct way or is okay to go in a different direction as far as feel?

CB - Did you just use a regular baseball bat?

Gags said:

CB - Did you just use a regular baseball bat?

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I use a bamboo/maple composite bat and then tape the end with athletic tape to add weight.

Viper bats. They make an ultra light. It's -7 or -8. We had it for a year and hit with it often......

Ordered a 33" -3 Easton bamboo composite for Maddie.