Tee Height for Irons (Par 3 or Driving Iron. Video)

[Bonvivant]

Another video talking about this. The red tee delivered the best smash factor for this guy. He said it was because the clubface was so closed (it was closed), but it was the same amount of closed as he played with the green tee, but he picked up 5 mph ball speed with little change in swing speed.

I don't particularly like these one shot per tee parameters, but based on the data presented, the red tee is the winner here.

[iacas]

7 hours ago, Bonvivant said:

Thanks for chiming in. I know you are in a unique position when it comes to the game. I would assume that these were in person encounters with pros, not just judging by the television. In the video he said all of the players in the group were doing it, one of them being someone who has T-6 at The Open Championship. Perhaps it is a links thing, with taking spin out being potentially advantageous.

I’ve seen thousands of PGA Tour player tee shots with irons in person from within 25 feet, yes.

Very very few tee them up much at all. It creates a different situation. On rare occasions they might want that but generally they try to keep things pretty similar. To what they know.

7 hours ago, Bonvivant said:

There is no reason you can't have a descending AoA and not scoop with the ball teed up higher, other than a lack of discipline or a mental block.

You’re far more likely to hit your iron off the top of the face.

And that’s why most wouldn’t do this.

7 hours ago, Bonvivant said:

I did this until today, and today I had good success, hitting 3/4 greens on my home course. I normally miss 3-4. Obviously my anecdotal evidence doesn't hold up in court, and it could have been a placebo, but I was hitting them much better today with a little more tee height.

You’re not a good player.

7 hours ago, Bonvivant said:

Why not get yourself a "better than fairway" lie by teeing it up a bit? What if the tee shot calls for a FW, do you tee it up then? If so, why are they different?

You can answer that for yourself. What is a good AoA for 3W versus a six iron?

I disagree that a ball sitting up 3/8” in the air is “better than fairway.” It’s worse, just like a ball propped and floating in the rough.

[Darkfrog]

3 hours ago, iacas said:

You’re far more likely to hit your iron off the top of the face.

I tried this approach out yesterday with my iron tee shots. It felt a little odd seeing the ball sit up higher than normal. I didn't notice a huge difference in ball flight, but there was  noticeable change. I teed off with an iron 5 times, and I would consider 4 of the balls good strikes. By my observation, the 4 good strikes maybe flew a little higher (but I already hit the ball pretty high, so hard to judge), and definitely a little shorter than normal, maybe half-club worth of carry. Is this because the ball is hitting higher on the face? My AoA is consistently 3-5 degrees down when I have lessons and practice on a GC4 launch monitor, so I don't think I'm hitting up on the ball due to the extra 1/4' of tee height.

I've been teeing the ball up higher with hybrid/3W tee shots for a long time now, so that feels normal to me. For whatever reason it gives me confidence that I am not going to hit the ball super thin, which is one of my bad misses. Last lesson I had, my teacher had me work on ball position for these clubs. I was setting up and swinging more like driver. Since I've adjust ball position, I haven't hit nearly as many thin shots with hybrid/3W, but haven't changed my teeing approach yet since I'm comfortable with the ball sitting up a bit, and I don't seem to be sacrificing any distance that I know of.

Edited November 8, 2020 by Darkfrog

[DrvFrShow]

I use a broken wooden tee and have the ball a little bit higher than on the ground because I don't want to change my iron swing. I found if I teed it up higher I don't get the distance I need and weird things happen. The fewer variables when I play the better. This is also the same height I tee up for my 3W and hybrids.

[WillieT]

I happened upon that today and was intrigued by what he was saying.  For me, and I am not a good golfer, I tend to tee closer to what a ball would be if it were in a fairway lie. It just makes sense to keep things as consistent as possible.  I am playing tomorrow, if the rain holds off, and may try it just a tad higher.  Does teeing it higher encourage more sweeping and possibly flipping of the wrists?  The latter has been a bane of mine and I don't want to be doing something to encourage it further.