Tee the ball high or low

[Sunny D]

I drive the ball about 270 yards or so. That being said it is not as consistent as I would like. I rarely hook or slice but I can certainly get off target. So my question is does teeing the ball lower really lead to a more predictable (straighter) ball flight or is that golf myth. Can anyone explain the physics. E= ball goes straight?

[jvincent]

Depends on your definition of high and low.

If you are talking about the ball being really high so that you have to hit up on the ball then my experience is that it is very easy to hit it offline because it is harder to consistently hit up on the ball.

[Break68]

I can't explain the physics, but I read an article in golf magazine recently that said you will get into less trouble and add less variables into the shot if you tee it lower. Less chance of hook or slice, so they said. I now make an effort to tee the ball lower and it seems to help. Maybe it's just psychological but it seems to work for me. I am also no longer teeing up the ball on par 3 holes and just hit it off the deck and I hitting those tee shots with irons longer and straighter.

[Wilster]

For me , if i tee it lower , i'm guaranteed a straighter (not necessarily straight )shot , but less distance .
This works well for shots in windy conditions .
I'm not sure if there is a calculation or theory , but the pros are teaching you to "tee it up" if you want more distance from your drives , which makes sense considering you want to hit the ball on the start of your upswing , for more distance.

[prophet]

So I guess the answer is for added accuracy and distance tee it a bit lower but buy a driver head with more loft.

[Wilster]

So I guess the answer is for added accuracy and distance tee it a bit lower but buy a driver head with more loft.

Possibly , but you would probably benefit from a driver fitting .
Your driver shaft or head may not suit your swing or maybe your not getting all the benefits (good ball flight , correct backspin ,etc)
That's where i'll be investing my money next.

[jeffc]

I tee it low. I hit the ball plenty high to begin with (snap hooks excluded!!!). If I tee it high I sky it or it balloons on me. I do tee it a little higher though if I have the wind behind me.

[Sunny D]

I had a couple of minutes to consult "the experts" and found this on line. An interesting read....

http://www.golf.com/golf/instruction...5244-0,00.html

[Wknd_Warrior]

I don't like it teed up too high

[DenisO]

Interesting article, especially the average drives of the randomly selected players. Even the ones in 0-9 handicap group (pretty decent players) only averaged around 215 yards carry. (maybe 230-235 total?)

On tour, the top 3 ranked for accuracy were in the bottom 6 of tee-heights, they also averaged about 270 yard drives.

I had a couple of minutes to consult "the experts" and found this on line. An interesting read....

http://www.golf.com/golf/instruction...5244-0,00.html

[BC MIST]

I had a couple of minutes to consult "the experts" and found this on line. An interesting read....

http://www.golf.com/golf/instruction...5244-0,00.html

The study shows that with a higher launch and less spin, the overall CARRY distance of the participants, is greater. However, should we all not be more interested in what net distance we get (carry + roll)? Lacking the club head speed that youth can produce, my net distance is greater with a low ball flight from a medium tee height, unless the turf is saturated, and if it is, I just hit the ball higher. Those with high club head speed, (105 mph +) should be more accurate with a high launch. As lofts, tip stiffness of shafts, cg's and club head speeds vary so much, just find a tee height that produces your greatest net distance.

[downhillslider]

Tee the ball for optimum carry and roll to max out your distance like BC says based on the criteria that you have a driver that fits your swing. Center face contact with a square club face should be the#1 priority and that is achieved for frequently beeing properly fitted.

I also subscribe to the theory that your tee height should be relative to your angle of attack.

[Wknd_Warrior]

If I tee it up too high I just sky the ball, I can't get my head around swinging though the air with the driver. Maybe it depends on what your ball position is? A more traditional setup might be better off with a lower teed ball versus a forward ball position to catch it on the way up?

[Sunny D]

I played around with tee high on the range this weekend. Interesting results very similar to the article. When I teed the ball at medium high I had my most predictable ball flight, which for me is a slight draw. From my position on the range the 250 markers were actually 270 so I was getting a good judge of distance. With the ball teed high my distance did go up, about a third of the balls flew over the 270 mark so I anticipate that those were somewhere around 290 or so. The downside is that miss hits when teed high turn the draw into a hook. In fact all miss hits were quite a bit more dramatic. With the ball teed low I was getting a straighter and for me lower ball flight - no draw but the miss hits were less dramatic and to be honest less frequent. Not sure is that is because it was so new to me and my intense focus was just to try to make a good contact with the ball. Anyway, the down side as the article would suggest was less distance, for me a lot less distance. Somewhere around 240 average with long ones going made 260.

For those interested - I am hitting a TM Superfast, with a stock stiff shaft at 9.5 loft. Last time Don measured club head speed I think it was around 108. But that's from memory. I think my club head speed may be up from that reading, and it may be time to have Don take a second look at that shaft....

[DavidY]

I had a couple of minutes to consult "the experts" and found this on line. An interesting read....

http://www.golf.com/golf/instruction...5244-0,00.html

I thought that I tee it up somewhat high...medium height according to the above link. I have found that if I tee it up higher (1/4 of the ball below the driver's crown), I typically hit the ball really high in the air without much distance. Will play with the variable tee height next year.

[Kiwi]

I'm 60 and consider a good drive to be 220. I have hit it further, but anywhere over 210 is my norm. I have read/heard a lot about tee it high to hit it low. I have a TM R5 Draw, 9.5 degree with a soft tip. I was fitted for that in 2005. The only thing I feel I made a mistake on was the soft tip as I have read since that a soft tip tends to take the ball higher. I hit a high ball and get virtually no roll, usually within a foot or two of my pitch mark. I love dry conditions. I use my tee to set my ball height, with the top of the tee equal to the height of the ball sitting behind it. I try to have the ball/tee set at the inside of my left heel at set up (RH). I have found, doing it this way consistently this year, that my drives are a little lower, but I am tending to hit a draw(slight) or hook(extreme) more often. I used to adjust my grip to discount the Draw effect of the club but found doing that caused my ball to slice, again. When I get around to buying a new driver I'll get it fitted for sure. I think that the high tee is good but there are so many other variables including in/out swing, angle of attack and square club face. One other benefit of the higher tee is that I no longer have to fight the thought at set up that I'll hit the ground behind the ball.

[Gobble_It]

I have teed my ball lower (~ 1.5 inch tee ) and found more consistency with the driver this year.
I play the Burner which has ~3inch club face height so the ball is barely above of the top of the crown.

My swing thought is to get the club face hitting square at the back of the ball as oppose to hitting the ball on the way up. The result is the same as many have mentioned here, shorter distance but less curvature in ball flight .

My fairway percentage has gone up quite a bit and I have more GIRs which make golf much more enjoyable.

[mathc38]

I say tee it higher rather than lower as that would help launch it high with low spin...teeing it low would generate more backspin upon contact.

[leftylucas]

The key is to tee up the ball at the height to best hit the sweet spot to maximise the smash factor (swing speed and ball speed ratio, min 1.5 x ball speed of your SS). if you get his you are doing a good job. A quick trip to Golftown can show you this right on the screen, it shows your swing speed and ball speed so you can try different tee heights and see what you get.

[Samba-Jane]

I say tee it higher rather than lower as that would help launch it high with low spin...teeing it low would generate more backspin upon contact.

great tip. i will try this out sometime.

[AC86]

I don't think anyone here realizes that better golfers, including a large majority of Tour Members, hit down on the ball. Go look up the Trackman data.

Tee height is just someones comfort level that day. One day low could feel good and look good, where as another day teeing it high could suit the eye really well.

You all need to remember that there is more than one way to do things, not just reading an article on how high to tee a driver, fairway wood and irons lol

[Kiwi]

I don't think anyone here realizes that better golfers, including a large majority of Tour Members, hit down on the ball. Go look up the Trackman data.

Tee height is just someones comfort level that day. One day low could feel good and look good, where as another day teeing it high could suit the eye really well.

You all need to remember that there is more than one way to do things, not just reading an article on how high to tee a driver, fairway wood and irons lol

Good point about comfort level. Where would I find the "trackman data". Is there a web site?

[AC86]

Kiwi, I'm pretty sure I have it on my computer at home. But if memory serves me they hit down with 0.3 degrees downward on average on the PGA Tour

[AC86]

http://johngrahamgolf.com/blog/2009-...trackman-data/ good article from JG. More people on here should read his stuff instead of thinking that path still has anything to do with a ball flight...

[goochy]

Great article AC86...I found that data really interesting. One of the reasons I really enjoy watching the LPGA as well as the men is that I find the LPGA to be much more relative to my own game as an Average Joe.
The shots they play ,the on-course decisions, the distances and club selections and swing data are all much closer to what I can relate to personally. The distances on the LPGA chart are pretty close to my own (if only I could be as accurate and have their short game and putting ).
All this to say, looking at that chart the women have a +3* AoA on their drives to squeeze out as much distance as possible (as the author notes himself). With the majority of amateurs having similar or slower Driver swing speeds (94mph) than the LPGA average, I might suggest we would be better off following suit and teeing it up.