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  1. 1. How high do you tee a ball for your driver (relative to driver resting on ground)?

    • Bottom of the ball at the top of the clubface
      39
    • Center of the ball at the top of the clubface
      252
    • Top of the ball at the top of the clubface
      38
    • Center of the ball at the center of the clubface
      23


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Posted
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.

Ben - you took the words out of...er...fingers off the keyboard with that statement. I went to the range today and did a quick check of my ball height on the tee...it was about 3/4ths

above the top of the club. I put it down to where it should have been and I didn't have to pull up to hit the ball. Every single shot had a high, boring flight and felt perfect. Kinda silly when you think about such a small change making a difference. I feel stupid for not catching it earlier.

Fairways and Greens.

Dave
 

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Posted
The article is definitely BS as far as carry goes, unless they were testing in rain, wind, really heavy fog , or using range rocks (but then they should state that). In my league, there are several guys who only carry it 180 or less, but they are mainly 30+ handicappers. The 0-9 guys all carry it about 230 minimum .

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
--Groucho Marx

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Posted
I voted for the top of the ball at the top of the clubface, but im not certain b/c i don't ground my driver...it hovers ni the air all the way back and through...
What's In The Bag?

Driver - Rapture 10.5 Epic 68g X-Pure - Balance Certified
Fairway Metal - Titleist PT 18°
Irons - Mizuno MP-67 3-PW Project X 6.0 Wedges - Mizunos R Series Chrome 52°, 56°, 58° Project X 6.0 Putter - Yes! C-Groove Callie-f - Balance Certified Bag - Ping Freestyle...

Posted
I read an article about tee height in Golf Magazine the other day. It showed that players of all levels benefited from teeing it high. They had the bottom of the ball above the crown of the driver. I have always teed it on the higher side, but usually only with the equator of the ball above the crown. Where do you tee your driver?
Driver: 9.5° 905R Stiff Aldila NV 65
3 Wood: 15.° Pro Trajectory 906F4 Stiff Aldila VS Proto Blue
Hybrid: 19.0° 503 H Stiff Dynamic Gold S400
Hybrid: 21.0° Edge C.F.T. Ti Stiff Aldila NVS
Irons: 775cb 4-GW w/S300 Sand Wedge: Vokey 58° Puttter: Laguna Mid-Slant Pro PlatinumBall: ProV1Bag: Li...

Posted
After personally testing drivers on the Trackman radar launch monitor I can say that using a tee height that allows for the ball to hit on the upper portion of the driver face is correct for me. This reduces backspin and increases carry. I have good hand eye co-ordination so changing my tee height wasn't an issue for me. The guys running the launch monitor increased my tee height, then I ran across the article 3 days after the fitting. Since the tee height upward adjustment I have been hitting a higher trajectory ball with more carry and roll from the angle of descent improving when the ball lands. Bottom line is that when I tee the bottom of the ball near the top of the driver face the contact is on the top third of the clubface. These shots don't feel as solid on impact but they go further. Who can argue with that?

And the distance thing is interesting. Most people do over estimate their carry distance and I was no exception. I thought I had a 285 carry before the fitting but I was mistaken, it was more like 266. After the driver fitting my carry turned out to be 278 yards.

Swing = Stacked and On Plane when possible.
In My Bag:
Driver: Ping G5 9° Alidila NV 75g Stiff
3-Wood: Nike SQ 15° Diamana Stiff (Stock)
Irons: NIKE FORGED SPLIT CAVIY (S300)Wedges: Taylormade RAC Fe2O3 (Rust) 52°/56°/60°Putter: Titleist/Cameron Newport 1.5Ball: Looking for a new...


Posted
Center of the ball at the top of the clubface
In the Bag:
Drivers:: Ben Hogan C-S3 (10.5* Neutral), Callaway Steelhead III (8.5*)
Hybrids: Precept ECU 30*, Precept ECU 25*, Dulop LoCo Utility 17*
Irons: Adams Golf Idea A1 Pro
Wedges: Adams Tom Watson (Lob and Sand)Putter: Adams Golf GT Spec 03 PutterBalls: Callaway HX Red & Precept MC Lady

Posted
I'm sure everybody is familiar with the Swingvision on CBS. Here are two clips from youtube.com that show Vijay with a 2.4" tee height (self proclaimed in the Golf Magazine article June 2006) and Phil Mickelson with an unknown tee height as it wasn't listed in the article.

If you watch the clip from the point of the ball contact closeup you'll notice where the ball is contacting the face of the driver. Three things are clear to me in that video. The first thing is that the tee is high. Second is the club is definately on the upswing and the Third is the rotation on the golf ball is almost nil. Vijay is hitting a high knuckle ball that carries a mile and rolls out on landing.

Compare the Vijay video to the Phil Mickelson swingvision clip.

In the Phil Mickelson clip you see the ball contacting high on the face but the club seems to be on the downswing. You can see a bit more rotation on the ball and if you watch closely when Phil's ball lands it actually backs up on that shot in the fairway. No roll. Phil's teeing height is much lower.

My point is basically for a long drive that carries well even into the wind you need to hit the ball on the upswing with as little backspin as possible.

Vijay's Clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHcwp...ch=swingvision

Phil's Clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbSY_...ch=swingvision

I'm not necessarily advocating that a high tee is required but rather whatever tee height allows for ball contact high on the face and on a level or slight upswing.

By the way, I love the Bizhub Swingvision, I'll DVR a broadcast and forward just to see the analysis of the swings.

On a totally different note, what is up with only broadcasting 2 tournaments a season on HD???? I would like to see at least 10 tourney's in HD. Watching The Masters in HD brings golf viewing to a whole new level.

Swing = Stacked and On Plane when possible.
In My Bag:
Driver: Ping G5 9° Alidila NV 75g Stiff
3-Wood: Nike SQ 15° Diamana Stiff (Stock)
Irons: NIKE FORGED SPLIT CAVIY (S300)Wedges: Taylormade RAC Fe2O3 (Rust) 52°/56°/60°Putter: Titleist/Cameron Newport 1.5Ball: Looking for a new...


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Posted
I'm sure everybody is familiar with the Swingvision on CBS. Here are two clips from youtube.com that show Vijay with a 2.4" tee height (self proclaimed in the Golf Magazine article June 2006) and Phil Mickelson with an unknown tee height as it wasn't listed in the article.

I've seen Phil hit down on his driver, too. It's very odd...

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

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Posted
I haven't seen a PGA Tour player hit a ball in real life.

Could anybody who's seen long hitting PGA Tour players hit, provide an opinion on how high the ball flight trajectory is when they use their driver? I realize one persons high might be another persons low but I'm still interested to hear.

Swing = Stacked and On Plane when possible.
In My Bag:
Driver: Ping G5 9° Alidila NV 75g Stiff
3-Wood: Nike SQ 15° Diamana Stiff (Stock)
Irons: NIKE FORGED SPLIT CAVIY (S300)Wedges: Taylormade RAC Fe2O3 (Rust) 52°/56°/60°Putter: Titleist/Cameron Newport 1.5Ball: Looking for a new...


Posted
On a totally different note, what is up with only broadcasting 2 tournaments a season on HD???? I would like to see at least 10 tourney's in HD. Watching The Masters in HD brings golf viewing to a whole new level.

Amen brother.

You know that CBS has the equipment and with the sports season winding down, you'd think that we would see a few more broadcasts in HD. I remember watching the first two rounds of the British Open in HD on TNT last year...it was frickin' sweet. Nothing like the Masters, but it was still sweet.

Fairways and Greens.

Dave
 

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Posted
I have misquoted the 2 tourney's. Right after posting I did notice on http://www.hdsportsguide.com/golf.php that the US Open has been added to the HD lineup. Also a Par 3 shootout.

Anyway, I say "More golf in HDTV!" It's good for the game.

Swing = Stacked and On Plane when possible.
In My Bag:
Driver: Ping G5 9° Alidila NV 75g Stiff
3-Wood: Nike SQ 15° Diamana Stiff (Stock)
Irons: NIKE FORGED SPLIT CAVIY (S300)Wedges: Taylormade RAC Fe2O3 (Rust) 52°/56°/60°Putter: Titleist/Cameron Newport 1.5Ball: Looking for a new...


  • Administrator
Posted
I have misquoted the 2 tourney's. Right after posting I did notice on

Back to the topic, now, please...

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

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Posted
I'm between the bottom and center of the ball at the top of the face..if it has been said already I tee it down a little if there is a headwind.

Posted
For me the results of the study mentioned probably hold. You can tell whether its true for you by varying your tee hight.

I tee the ball about half way above the clubface. I think it does add some yardage. For example, I hit some new drivers at a golf store on an indoor range (with a launch monitor). The stupid rubber tee was only tall enough to get about 1/4" of the ball above the top of the massive clubface. My carry distance average between 260-266 instead of 275-280 which is more like normal for me. So there's some anecdotal proof.

In the bag:

Orlimar HipSteel 8.5 Driver
Orlimar Tri Metal 3 Wood 15*
Titliest 775 CB Irons Ping Anser 2


  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
270 in the rough and in the trees are not as good as a 240 in the fairway, the averge scoring as not change more than 2 shots in 30years. long is nice but your playing against mother par. I get out drove many times but I'm still in the 70's low 80's while the long drivers are usually 10+ strokes higher.

R7 9.5 S Shaft
560 R7 quad R shaft
RAC LT irons
Scotty Cameron Pro Platinum


Posted
I haven't seen a PGA Tour player hit a ball in real life.

i know this is off topic but from what i saw at the wachovia championship, the ball flight is about medium...not too high, not too low, like the ball starts off low, but since they are hitting the ball 300 yards the ball ends up getting pretty high....

and my tee height varies, it used to be pretty high, then i went to the wachovia and saw everyone not teeing it up high, cuz i have a higher ball flight, so i lowered it and was killing the ball, and now all i can hit is a big big hook, so i'm raising my tee height and that seems to help.... and for how far good handicappers hit it...i think its mostly the fact that most courses have screwed up yardages, but thats just me...like i was one yard off the front of the green on a 352 yard par 4, and then at my home course we have a 290 yard hole and i can count on my hand how many times i've gotten it up by the green, so i think u have to take that into account as well.

In My Bag:
9.5 degree Mizuno MX-500
15 degree Titliest 904F
Mizuno MP-32 3-PW
Cleveland CG10 Black Pearl 52 degree
Vokey Spin-Milled 56.14
Ping i5 Anser


Posted
Yardage measurements are decieving, their down the middle to center of green if you have a dogleg you can knock off a lot of yardage. We have a dogleg if you go across the pond instead of around you can knock about 70 yards off the assigned yardage for that hole.

R7 9.5 S Shaft
560 R7 quad R shaft
RAC LT irons
Scotty Cameron Pro Platinum


  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
Seem to get the best distance and launch from the middle of the ball being slightly above the top of the clubface.

Driver: Dual Point 9*
Woods: Dual Point 3-wood, T-40 5-wood
Irons: r7 TP's
Wedges: RAC TP Black 52/56/60
Putter: White Steel


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    • He's using a driver swing, while I used the iron swing. Bryson goes from about 65° B to 15° B, hence the 50°. If you bend your right elbow, you're going to pull your hands across your chest some. Conversely, if you abduct your right arm and hold onto a grip with your left arm, you can see how extending the right elbow as we do in the golf swing during the downswing will "pull" the right shoulder/humerus forward (adducting it, as going from 65° to 15° of abduction is). Even people who pull their right shoulder WAY too far around them eventually get it "back in front" when their right arm/elbow extends. So, such a motion shows up as shoulder adduction even though the movement that causes it is just widening the trail elbow. The left hand on the grip almost "pulls" the hands forward as the left arm can't stretch much (there's some shoulder protraction, but that's almost maxed out at P4). Oh, I downloaded it and watched it (and commented there) before he blocked me. It's what led to him posting the comment in the "update" above. 😄  Single shoulder range of 75°, and that's going out well into the follow-through. 50° Max range up to impact. Manavian's video is bad. He keeps saying "midline" which is just a horrible way to look at it. He also kept saying that the club was moving that amount — also wrong. Adding left and right together is really freaking dumb. Another golf instructor said "That's like saying the player has 100 degrees of knee bend (adding left knee bend to right knee bend) 🤦‍♂️" (similar to what the biomechanist said about squatting). Also, see my post above about elbow bend. That's why Plummer’s alignment stick demo is so intellectually dishonest. A golfer can't get anywhere near that position on the left with his left hand on the alignment stick (quoted below).  
    • That makes no sense at all.  so, I watched that Instagram. Here is a summary...  Bryson.... Address: Trail Shoulder 0 degrees adduction. P4: Trail Shoulder 65-deg abduction. Impact: Right shoulder 15-deg abduction. P9: 10 degrees adduction. Rory... Address: Trail Shoulder 16 degrees adduction. P4: Trail Shoulder 26 degrees abduction. Impact: Right shoulder 0 degrees abduction.  P9: 18 degrees of adduction.  DJ... Address: Trail Shoulder 4 degrees adduction. P4: Trail Shoulder 42 degrees abduction. Impact: Right shoulder 2 degrees abduction.  P9: 15 degrees of adduction.  Their point is that arm doesn't stay on the trail side. That the arms have to get across the chest from P4 to P9. I mean they do. What matters is the rate of which it happens relative to the position of the swing. The trail shoulder at P9 is not abducted a lot. The range of that total abduction movement is like 40 to 70 degrees. Bryson might be an outlier. Rory might be an outlier as well.  A couple of points.  1. None of them had any adduction at impact. So, this tells me the trail arms stays on the trail side of the body at impact. Is it moving towards lead shoulder, yes. It doesn't happen till post impact. The right side of the body is moving towards the target, so the arms don't have to as much as people think.  2. Trail shoulder adduction from Impact to P9 is 18 to 25 degrees.  3. P9 adduction of the trail shoulder is only about 2 to 12 degrees more adducted than at address. The arms/hands stay in front of the chest a long-time post impact. If Rory, from his address position just rotated his body towards the target and raised up his arms so he is at P9. He basically didn't have to move his trail arm further across his chest than where he started at address. Visualize that for a bit. I bet for people who tend to stall and drag their arms across their body to hit the ball, that would emphasize how much the arms stay in front of the body and how much you have to turn.             
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