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Tee Height Test Discussion Thread


Tarheelvolvo

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My view on this is that as long as the ball is at a height which is at least at the same height as the sweet spot on your driver then the tee height should not impact on distance. It is of course important that the ball is teed up at the same height each time to help with your muscle memory and consistency.

However, if of course the ball is at a height lower than this then the ball cannot possibly be hit out of the sweet spot, hence impacting distance. I also think that teeing the ball higher encourages golfers to have the swing thought of sweeping the ball off the tee with a shallow arc at the bottom instead of hitting down with a steep angle which would be good for most golfers to gain distance.

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My foot sprayed driver suggests I hit bottom 1/3 of the club face pretty consistently ... tee it any lower and I may wiff altogether... but I agree with earlier comments - the pros would find a way to get those yards back in a weekend.

10hcp armed with Cobra Dr, Taylormade wds, apex Ir’s and Cleveland wdg

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2 hours ago, GolfSpy_THV said:

Let's discuss the MGS latest test about Tee Heights!

 

Article here: https://mygolfspy.com/tee-height-test/

 

What are your thoughts? Does a Tee Height make a difference in your distance or dispersion on the course?

Greetings fellow golfers.  I am a 22 handicap (like we all think, I should be lower) but I get into good grooves, and my tee game has been good the last few years.  I do notice that with these new big head drivers (I play a M1 460CC driver) and the ability to "program" them, I have benefited from teeing the ball up higher on some holes.  I do not do it all the time, because I can't maintain that consistent a swing on every hole, plus, some holes do not call for a super high launch.

Hope this helps

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2 minutes ago, Daddysflying said:

I tee lower than a lot of people bc I use the Jim Venetos swing and therefore strike driver with a descending blow-actually increases distance... Don't tell anybody...

Given the same swing speed, an ascending blow would be longer than a descending blow.  
 

Its just science 

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Tee height definitely affects my ball flight.  I have a rather shallow AoA, so using a "4 more yards" tee, has helped me to gain consistency.  I insert the tee so that the collar on the tee shaft is barely touching the ground, or even up 1/16" for normal shots.  I get good height and better carry.  For strong headwinds, I push the tee down so that the collar is i/16" to 1/8" below the surface.  The ball has a more penetrating flight.  

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During my most recent fitting, the fitter actually told me to tee the ball a little lower as I was catching it high on the face almost the border of the crown. But after the new driver came in, I noticed I was hitting too low with the tee lower. I experimented with a higher tee and I was launching the ball much higher and carrying further with more hang time. I read an article or a quote somewhere that a fitter can only fit you for the swing you have that day. I must have been hitting more down on the driver that day because with the higher tee that I am playing now I am impacting just above the center of the face and getting great launch. Waiting for my Mevo to come in so I can actually get measurable data on my launch conditions. I firmly believe teeing it higher has helped me carry farther. Why else would WLD champs tee up like 4 inches above the ground? Whether it would address the distance problem for tour players, I don't think so. Someone said it is time for bifurcation between tour players and regular amateurs and I think that is the right way to go.

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I find I have better control when the tee is lower. Distance is not a concern for me, so if teeing a little lower costs me a few yards, I'd rather have control.

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55 minutes ago, Beaumissy said:

I use Martini tees for my driver that are preset for height.  The height appears higher than I used to place a regular tee and I have been more consistent in my driving.

I think it's about the consistency. We can try to get the same height each time, but it's not. Those pre-determined height tees offer the same each time

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Interesting results and significantly more than I would have guessed.  I have lowered my tee height in recent years and found it to me more reliable.  I've not measured what my tee height is now but would guess it at 1.25. Much like @cnosilexplained, my AoA works better with a lower tee height and I rarely catch the top anymore.  What really caught my eye however is the significant drop in FIR's... it wouldn't seem accuracy would be influenced that much.

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This winter using the rubber cone tees.   One of them tees the ball higher and noticed the carry increase.   I received some of the Western Birch golf tees and they are lined.  I am going to start using the lines on the tee and try the 1.5 inch height and see the results. 

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Tee it high, let it fly. I use 3 1/2" inch tees and put just enough in the ground to keep it stable.

Take Dead Aim

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4 minutes ago, Tsmithjr9 said:

Tee it high, let it fly. I use 3 1/2" inch tees and put just enough in the ground to keep it stable.

Take Dead Aim
 

Yep same here. My tees have built in marks (not painted on as I learned those paint marks eventually come off) so I get consistent tee heights. Been teeing with just the tip in the ground with a 3 1/4" tee. Only issue is that my tee goes flying out of the ground and I am constantly looking for it!

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Forget all this talk about tee heights. If the USGA and the R&A want to limit the distance a ball goes, reduce the overall weight from 1.62 ounces to 1.3 ounces. For a better explanation of this get the book "Search for the Perfect Swing" by Alastair Cochran and John Stobbs. There's a complete discussion of this in Chapter 26 entitled "What Flight of What Ball", specifically the paragraphs on pages 170 and 171.

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Tee height plays a difference in distance, but nothing in accuracy. Using a shorter driver is what creates accuracy. I use micro head tees and all are pre marked at the preferred tee height. Limiting tee height is not going to make the game more difficult for pros. 15 yards isn’t much distance lost at the professional level. Second, they already hit the ball at adjusted tee height levels. Look at DJ hitting a 7 Wood 255 yards. Tee height doesn’t make a difference. The USGA doesn’t need to spend time evaluating limiting tee height. 
 

Fact is, golf has more youngsters In the game then ever before. In addition, our own athletic human nature has incorporated physical fitness into golf more than ever before. This is what has led to an increase in distance more than anything. 
 

Make the game harder at the professional level. Make the fairway, rough, and fringe cuts taller. Eliminate green reading books. Make the pace in greens change from hole to hole. Same with fairways. Just at the professional level only. 

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Tee height is critical.  I had a bad driver head and one of the things I tried was lowering the tee height.  As soon as I got my replacement head and teed the ball up higher, my length and accuracy both got better.

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I appreciate the test but would have preferred measure points at every 1/2 inch starting at 1.5.

I saw that a prior poster commented a belief that it made no difference in accuracy but if a lower tee produce more spin than it does make a difference as the test itself suggests.

Where the cutoff point is in regards to tee height matters though. I’d also suspect that optimal heights will vary per player and that club set up might be used to minimize the impact of lower tee heights.

Just some additional thoughts, great discussion starter. So long as the USGA leaves the 99 plus percent alone I really don’t care what they do. I feel there’s a chance of that based on their new CEO.


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I wish the article would've explored additional tee heights. I use the professional tee system 3 1/4" (blue) and previously used the 2 3/4" (yellow).  My longest drives came from the 2 3/4 but I was way more inconsistent - everything from topping to pop-ups to 90 deg slices.  In a perfect world, I'd get with a coach and develop a swing that grooved me hitting up on a 2 3/4" tee.  Longer facilitates up AoA and finds me (a couple of) more fairways... 

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Consistent tee height gives you a controllable that helps eliminate a variable and back in the day day used to play the ball and tee and sink tee until my knuckles touched and today with the tees that have a stop to give you the same height are great tools that you can work from for desired  results 

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I agree with Garwood that it makes sense to buy castle/graduated tees to set your preferred tee height instead of trying to do this using your ring finger etc. They cost the same as normal tees and come in many different heights. I know Pros do not use them but we are not all Pros unfortunately.

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5 hours ago, Tsmithjr9 said:

Tee it high, let it fly. I use 3 1/2" inch tees and put just enough in the ground to keep it stable.

Take Dead Aim
 

But this begs the question, is a mere 3" tee height costing you distance?  If the trend is higher = longer and straighter, then those 5" Texas Tee's are more than just a novelty.

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As a higher handicapper, I'm certainly not an expert in this area. However, I would think that tee height by itself isn't the only variable; as ball position and AOA would have an affect as well. The key is to hit the sweet spot.

I tee the ball up pretty high using a 3 1/4" tee and it works for me. 

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I tee it at least 1.5 or 2.0 inches. high handicapper. But that works for me.

 

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For those of you who tee it high, do you ground the driver as part of your set-up routine?  Keep in mind the lab test was conducted with robots and they have no pre-shot routine... unless Tony programmed one in 🤔.  I've been experimenting with not grounding my driver and thus far it just feels odd and the results inconsistent.

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But this begs the question, is a mere 3" tee height costing you distance?  If the trend is higher = longer and straighter, then those 5" Texas Tee's are more than just a novelty.
Don't tempt me bro

Take Dead Aim

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For those of you who tee it high, do you ground the driver as part of your set-up routine?  Keep in mind the lab test was conducted with robots and they have no pre-shot routine... unless Tony programmed one in .  I've been experimenting with not grounding my driver and thus far it just feels odd and the results inconsistent.

I do as part of my routine - seems to work for me.


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For those of you who tee it high, do you ground the driver as part of your set-up routine?  Keep in mind the lab test was conducted with robots and they have no pre-shot routine... unless Tony programmed one in .  I've been experimenting with not grounding my driver and thus far it just feels odd and the results inconsistent.

I’m mostly in the grounded camp. But I have tried to hover the club to from time to time. I also find I can be inconsistent with it.

To make it feel less weird to me I usually set up grounded and right before I start my backswing I’ll lift the head off the ground behind the ball. That way it’s not really “hovering” long.

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