Tee Height

[iacas]

I tee the ball up pretty high for my driver, but not anywhere near as high as some. Half a ball above the crown.

I asked this question because the latest Golf Magazine did a "study" showing that, on average, people picked up 12 years by teeing the bottom of the ball with the top of their driver's crown.

What's weird is that in this study, their 0-9 handicappers were only flying the ball 222.92 yards AT THE MOST. Clearly, if the people are hitting the ball that short, they need a higher launch angle, so this study was pretty bunk as far as I can tell. How many single digit handicappers do you know that hit their best five out of 10 drives only 223 in the air? Seriously?

I'm a short hitter and I'm out there 270 even on imperfect contact.

[cold]

Center of the ball at the top of the clubface

And I lift the club up off the ground slightly at address. I drive an average of 280 or so.

[gripitandripit]

I buy 4" tees so I can tee it up high enough. I've notice that I hit it best by teeing it high. I average about 280 yds.

[LarryK]

  iacas said:

I'm a short hitter and I'm out there 270 even on imperfect contact.

Uh.....objection your honor. Can we concede this at least somewhat relative?

I hit one 250 today, and it felt like I nuked it. And I live at altitude.

[Konrad]

Remember that most people say that they hit it 260 but it's more like 230. So, unless I see people acutally hit the distances that they say they do, I don't really believe it.

[iacas]

And I see people, even 20+ handicappers to whom they attributed only 160-178 yards, carrying it 50 yards past their numbers every day I play golf. They must have gotten the most feeble golfers in the world.

It makes the whole test bunk. OBVIOUSLY if you hit the ball that short, you'd benefit from getting the ball up in the air more quickly. The ball speeds are 138 MPH! That's a 92 MPH swing speed. For others it's 120 - an 80 MPH swing speed.

It makes the whole study useless for a lot of golfers. I would even go so far as to say the majority of golfers.

[allin]

Average golfers don't use a site like this. I have worked at two different public driving ranges in the past. Most of the golfers I saw were lucky to get 200 yards including roll with a driver. My guess is that swing speeds are 80 and above. Contact for most of them is so poor that ball speed probably is only 100 to 110 though. When the average PGA tour golfer carrys the ball an average of 270 it is unlikely that average single digits carry it 250. My observation would support that unless you can carry it at least 230-240 there is no way you can be low single digits. Probably a lot of people lied about their handicaps?

[iacas]

  allin said:

Average golfers don't use a site like this.

That's irrelevant.

  allin said:

I have worked at two different public driving ranges in the past. Most of the golfers I saw were lucky to get 200 yards including roll with a driver. My guess is that swing speeds are 80 and above. Contact for most of them is so poor that ball speed probably is only 100 to 110 though.

I'm talking about single-digit handicappers. Clearly, most people suck. That's not up for debate - I think we all agree on that.

  allin said:

When the average PGA tour golfer carrys the ball an average of 270 it is unlikely that average single digits carry it 250.

I think you're wrong. Bear in mind, too, that these were their best FIVE out of TEN drives - they threw out the shorter half. So these aren't even their averages - they're the better-half averages.

Most bogey golfers I know carry the ball at least 240. And the ones that don't are pretty close.

  allin said:

My observation would support that unless you can carry it at least 230-240 there is no way you can be low single digits. Probably a lot of people lied about their handicaps?

Maybe they did. I doubt it, but perhaps...

I'm disappointed. This was an article that could have been a tremendous help to people across every handicap range, yet I feel like all they accomplished was wasting six pages talking to people who likely don't even read their magazine - the occasional golfer. In other words, the article is a joke it's so useless (imho). Again, I'm not long by any standard of measurement, but I carry the ball about 260 and get about 10 yards of roll, on average. I'm pretty average. Even most of the older guys I play with carry the ball 230+ yards, and they're NOT in the single digits...

[Ben]

With a standard length tee I get the thing in the ground just enough to support the ball. However, I've really been driving the ball like crap lately. I may have to expirement with long tees.

[NCGolfer]

I tee it high with the ball half way above the top of the club. I've been that way for a while now.

I would say that 0-9 handicappers would be carrying the ball - on average - around 235-240. I think the 9's would be around 220-225 and the 0's would be closer to 250-260. So the average would be between the two. On a well hit ball, I might carry it 260...but I would say my average is closer to 250 or so.

  None said:

Most bogey golfers I know carry the ball at least 240. And the ones that don't are pretty close.

I dunno Erik...If I look at the guys in my league that are bogey golfers, I think 240 is on the high end - although they do lose most of there shots around the green.

Put it this way, I don't think my Dad carries it 240...and he is better than a bogey golfer. If you put him on the launch monitor, he'd be around 220-230 on the average... I think you are right about the study though...it could have been done much better.

[iacas]

  NCGolfer said:

On a well hit ball, I might carry it 260...but I would say my average is closer to 250 or so.

You hit the ball lower than you probably should for maximum distance...

  NCGolfer said:

Put it this way, I don't think my Dad carries it 240...and he is better than a bogey golfer. If you put him on the launch monitor, he'd be around 220-230 on the average.

... and so does your dad who, I might add, is 65 or so, too. Your dad's launch angle is probably half what it should be.

And Dave, the study said for 10-19 handicappers that they maxed out at 179.84 carry!!! So even by your admission your 65-year old dad is still carrying the ball 40+ yards past them.

[neudi]

what were the conditions?

[iacas]

  neudi said:

what were the conditions?

Of what? Players hit tee shots with the ball at different heights and their best 5 of 10 were measured for distance (and accuracy, but using a 33-yard wide fairway...).

June 2006 Golf Magazine.

[NCGolfer]

  iacas said:

You hit the ball lower than you probably should for maximum distance... and so does your dad who, I might add, is 65 or so, too. Your dad's launch angle is probably half what it should be.

Agreed, but saying 'most' bogey golfers carry it 240 is still on the high side for me...given that there are about 5-10 guys at my club that can't carry it 200 but can get up and down from a bucket.

You could make the point that a bogey golfer on a 7000 yard golf course would carry it 240 or better...but we all know the old short-knockers that don't have the distance, but a great short game.

  iacas said:

And Dave, the study said for 10-19 handicappers that they maxed out at 179.84 carry!!! So even by your admission your 65-year old dad is still carrying the ball 40+ yards past them.

Agreed. Less than 180 is insane...especially if it is the best 5 out of 10 drives.

[NM Golf]

I think some of you are getting off the point. I feel the same way Erik does, and I thought that article was way off base. First, sure there are single digit handicappers out there who don't hit the ball all that far, but make up for it with great short games or whatever. I believe they are the minority. My only thought was this article did little for me and most other single digit handicappers as it did not address how tee height affects anyone who hits the ball with any club head speed at all. I am a longer hit with swing speed to spare, how does tee height affect me? Not that I am all that surprised that a golf magazine didn't address better players, they never do.

[iacas]

  NM Golf said:

I think some of you are getting off the point. I feel the same way Erik does, and I thought that article was way off base. First, sure there are single digit handicappers out there who don't hit the ball all that far, but make up for it with great short games or whatever. I believe they are the minority. My only thought was this article did little for me and most other single digit handicappers as it did not address how tee height affects anyone who hits the ball with any club head speed at all. I am a longer hit with swing speed to spare, how does tee height affect me? Not that I am all that surprised that a golf magazine didn't address better players, they never do.

That's the problem. By definition, 0-9 are "better players." Yet they seemed to find the shortest 10% of these "better players" that exist. Very puzzling.

[Ben]

So I found out the other day that lower is better for me. Instead of having the tee just barely in the ground, I put it in about a 1/4 inch more and was ripping the ball off the tee. I suppose with the ball high I felt like I needed to come up and hit it, causing me to top my shots.

[BigAl5150]

I just finished the article in Golf Magazine. What a joke (it was almost as funny as some of the comments their club reviewers come up with!)

I get the impression all they are doing is playing to the masses with a quick fix: "Increase your distance 12+ yards just by using a taller tee!" rather than focusing on making good contact with a repeatable swing. Last I checked, 250 OB is the same as 262 OB . . .