Do you tee up your irons from the tee box?

[Just_the_Chip]

Curious if you do all the time, or if it depends? I usually find a broken tee put it in the ground to just raise the ball just a bit above the tight grass, but I've seen a lot of people just drop it on the grass. Curious of the effect if any?

[Siamese Moose]

From a tee my irons launch higher with more spin. If I'm trying to carry and stop the ball, I'll tee it up. If the pin is back I may put it on the ground and play for some roll. As the irons get longer I'll always tee them up, as that's the weakest part of my game.

[Guest-0]

Generally on a par 3 tee box I will use a broken tee and just put the cup flush with the ground so I don't have to dig as much but I use a strong lofted 4 iron on most par 4s and tee it about 1/4" above ground

[GolfSpy_APH]

Out of pure laziness no. I normally just drop the ball, roll it to a spot I like and go. 

Same goes for my 3 wood as well.

[Girldad18]

I had a friend tell me one time it is the only place we are guaranteed to have a perfect lie so I now always use a tee, irons, 3-wood, whatever.  

[CB Lobo 4 Life]

I happened upon an article about this once and interestingly they said that on average you generate more spin using a tee versus not. I do not recall the average spin rate extra but I remember it being maybe 500+? So with that in mind, I would say this, if you want a little more forgiveness and spin tee it up, on the other hand, if the wind is blowing and you need to fly the ball lower, hit off the turf. That is the general rule for me so do with the information as you see fit haha.

[funkyjudge]

I generally use a tee whenever I’m hitting an iron from the teeing ground. There are very few exceptions to this for me. My rationale for this is that if I am allowed to give myself a perfect lie, why not take it. I also use a tee with my hybrids, with the top of the tee just above the top of the turf (about 1/16” to 1/8”).

[skraeling]

100% everytime.  I’m given the opportunity for a perfect lie.  Why not take it?

if it didn’t help we could tee up on fairways.

[Dallan33]

6 minutes ago, Girldad18 said:

I had a friend tell me one time it is the only place we are guaranteed to have a perfect lie so I now always use a tee, irons, 3-wood, whatever.  

I had the same advice....

Roger Maltbie once said that if using a tee didn’t create an advantage, well, they’d let you use it everywhere.

[Wheelieb]

It was always fun watching the videos with these guys before Matt left. But this is their video on tee vs no tee for iron shots off the tee box.

 

 

[TJ Hall]

Tee up everything except for a wedge from the tee…carry a broken tee around with me for 3 wood/hybrid/irons to tee up, it’s is just barely above grass level though.

[Michael.Sandoval33]

I have never tee'd up for iron shots to this point. I "pride" myself (use this very loosely) on practicing the range without using the mats for assistance and purely connecting with the ball to emulate hitting off of the ground. However, tee shots are easily where I am the worst in play and it's not even close. Maybe I should tee up my irons

[Jim Shaw]

Always... I remember reading a quote from Jack Nicklaus. it went sort of like this "any time you have a chance to get your hand on the golf ball, do it" 

I have never changed, although Jack played his best golf in a different era with different ground conditions, so there is that. 

[jdischy]

Honestly I do not...I find that I hit my irons more pure off the ground than when tee'd up so I play that way.

[Shrek74]

Always. I don't necessarily have it higher than the top of the grass, but I always use a tee.

The main reason to do it is to give me the absolute best possible "lie" for teeing the ball. If we can have our ball sitting level, stable, and square on the "ground," why wouldn't we.

[warrenator8]

I always try to. Like many have said, you can guarantee a good lie with a tee. I also tee it a little higher than most because I tend to have a very low ball flight. Great off the tee on Par 4's with an iron, not so great on a Par 3 though.

[fredsharky]

This is always a funny topic to me - I have friends that never tee it up with anything and telling me that they hit better without the tee.
Which I consistently call BS, if you tee it up correctly it is the perfect lie and so what you are saying is that you hit a golf ball better from an imperfect lie than a perfect one and this is coming from 8 to 20 hdcp's.
No one and I mean no one can hit it better than what they can off a perfect lie.

I use this analogy with my buddies because of being hunters, you have a 200yd shot broadside, you want bipod or sandbag or do you want to free hand this shot. We are all pretty good shots at 200yds with a scope and freehand, but even better with bipod/sandbag.

Always take the perfect lie, you can always push the tee down a bit further to take spin off or tee it up a bit higher to add some spin.

[Rob Person]

Tricky answer for me, because as I progress in my swing,  I have to force myself to advance my thinking.

4-6 irons went out of the bag because no matter if I tee up or not, they are not going to do what I need them to do. Hybrids/woods and 7-9 irons, I will tee up just a little though. (Most times) occasionally the 9i will not get a tee, depending on the height above or below the tee to green

Wedges never. I find my shots coming up 10 yards short of my distance playing off a tee for some reason.

Edit to add, this may change in the future as I develop better skills.

Edited March 6 by Rob Person

[BringerofRain]

Does anyone know what most pros do? This seems like a great test for MGS to do if they don’t already have the results. 

[fredsharky]

1 minute ago, Rob Person said:

Tricky answer for me, because as I progress in my swing,  I have to force myself to advance my thinking.

4-6 irons went out of the bag because no matter if I tee up or not, they are not going to do what I need them to do. Hybrids/woods and 7-9 irons, I will tee up just a little though. (Most times) occasionally the 9i will not get a tee, depending on the height above or below the tee to green

Wedges never. I find my shots coming up 10 yards short of my distance playing off a tee for some reason.

Disclaimer: I am not a golf god or nor did I sleep in a Holiday INN Express last night - so anything I say can be thrown out the window at anytime

Rob on your wedge shots that are coming in 10yds short, you may have it teed up a bit too high. I have found with wedges that you want them as close to the ground as possible. Also another thing that plagues higher hdcp'ers is the swing from a tee'd up ball, a lot of the times they tee it too high and try and make the smae swing or tee it right and try to make a diff swing (more up than down) and this will in turn cause shorter shots.
I would say go to the range and do nothing but hit you 58 or 60 off a tee for about 20 to 30 times and have the tee just even with the grass and make the same swing you would normally (make yourself do this), and you will probably find yourself making better contact and taking a better divot.
 

[hoppman]

I always tee up or down in this case from the tee box. The only club that I have a tall tee for is my driver, any other club I tee up is set just above the grass so that I don't get any grass between my clubface and ball. Some courses that have short par 3s from the tees I play really allow me to spin the ball from a tee.

[RockerFCC]

1 hour ago, Michael.Sandoval33 said:

I have never tee'd up for iron shots to this point. I "pride" myself (use this very loosely) on practicing the range without using the mats for assistance and purely connecting with the ball to emulate hitting off of the ground. However, tee shots are easily where I am the worst in play and it's not even close. Maybe I should tee up my irons

I would surmise many people do not practice doing this on the range. I do sometimes forget but I usually try to hit at least a couple shots for each club with it teed up on the range. Interestingly, I have not done this at my simulator. Now I have to do this LOL. I have Real Turf so it's a great option there. Thanks for the epiphany (as I was typing no less) 

[RockerFCC]

8 minutes ago, BringerofRain said:

Does anyone know what most pros do? This seems like a great test for MGS to do if they don’t already have the results. 

Most of the pros I see teeing it whenever they can. At tournaments I have gone too it seems like far more do than don't. Perfect lies are probably even better with their ridiculously perfect swings LOL.

[Pastor Chuck]

I cannot remember who said it (PGA Pro), but he said to never pass up an opportunity to use a tee. It provides a perfect lie!

[chisag]

1 hour ago, CB Lobo 4 Life said:

I happened upon an article about this once and interestingly they said that on average you generate more spin using a tee versus not. I do not recall the average spin rate extra but I remember it being maybe 500+? So with that in mind, I would say this, if you want a little more forgiveness and spin tee it up, on the other hand, if the wind is blowing and you need to fly the ball lower, hit off the turf. That is the general rule for me so do with the information as you see fit haha.

 

... If a robot were hitting the shots, I doubt we would see that kind of difference. Given the same swing and the same angle of descent, there should not be much, if any difference in spin. Just keep in mind, even off a tight lie the all is gone before the club touches the ground so you don't compress the ball off the ground, you simply have a steeper angle into the ball resulting in more spin. But golfers aren't robots and if you think you hit the ball better off the ground than using a tee, chances are you will. One difference and it is mental, players may feel like they don't need to get the club "under the ball" if its on a tee so they make a more level or even descending swing through impact but off the ground they feel they need to lift the ball more and tend to hit it a little low on the face. 

... I do think like many things in golf, it is very player dependent and mostly that is a mental attitude about the shot. Personally I think everyone should tee the ball up even with wedges but as others have already said, tee it level with the ground. I think it would be a fun experiment for some to tee up every shot when they play. I think some may change their mind about using a tee once they were used to using a tee for every shot. Chips and pitches would be amazing as you would virtually eliminate fat shots. I often teed up pitches and chips for students that had a mental block of trying to lift the ball hitting fat and thin shots and suffering from a lack of confidence. The difference was usually night and day. 

[Erin B]

I tee it up every time on the tee box. Club depends on the height, but with all irons I tee it just high enough to get it off the ground. 1/8 of an inch usually. That goes for wedges as well. I don't tee my driver very high either. Maybe 1 3/4 inch. 

[DiverDown]

yes every time.  

[shailey]

Depends.

Winter Rye or Bermuda - Anything 8 iron and longer, I hit off a tee. Shorter shots, I club up with no tee and try to reduce spin. So I will hit a 3/4 PW instead of 9, etc..  

Zoysia - No tee regardless of the distance on a par 3.  We have two par 3s over 230 yards, so either a 4 iron or 4 hybrid.  Sometimes more with the right wind.  The ball sits up quite well on Zoysia and I will already hit it higher on the face and hit it higher.  If I am in between clubs, I always go with the longer one.  

[edistler222]

I tee it up. 

[BallsLeon]

Tee them all and let god sort them out