Driver tee height

[SoundandFury]

Was warming up for a round the other day and the only tee I had was shorter rubber one.  With the driver grounded the top of the ball was even with the top of the club head.  Hit five drives and each one was great; they all looked liked they took off from a carrier.

On the course, I tee'd the ball up to the height I normally play, maybe a 1/3 of the ball above the top of the club head.  Hit a couple decent teeshots, but lost an equal number right (which I haven't been doing for a while).  Finally remembered my warm up and tee'd it low: voila, great ball flight again.

Given that I'm playing a 10 degree driver, I assumed a higher tee'd ball and contact on the upswing was preferable, but apparently not (for me at least).

Anyone else tee the ball low(er)?

[SoundandFury]

While warming up before a round the other day I only had a short tee to use on the range.  Top of the ball even with top of the club head.  Hit 10 drives and each one was seriously beautiful.  Ball took off like it was launched off a carrier and hit the back fence (250 yds) about 15 feet up the fence on the fly.

When it was time to play I tee'd the ball the height I usually use, which is about 1/3 to 1/2 of the ball above the top of the club head.  Hit a couple ok drives, but also lost a few right (hadn't done that in a while).  When I finished the round, I hit a couple on the range at the lower height, and voila, another few (for me at least) perfect tee shots.

Given that I play a 10 degree driver, I figured the conventional wisdom of teeing the ball a bit above the crown and hitting on the upswing.  Seems like this might be a mistake.

Anyone else tee the ball fairly low?

[Beachcomber]

Where are you positioning the ball in your stance?

[ace3g]

Same here, tend to hit better tee shots when I tee the ball lower.  I have the tendency to come under the ball too much when I tee the ball up

[SoundandFury]

I put it pretty far forward, probably in line with my left big toe.

[Beachcomber]

That is the proper placement... If you tee it up - are you hitting a lot of pop flys?  Are your misses high off the club face?

[SoundandFury]

Two types of misses: most of the time it's a hook left.  Once in a while (and for some reason at least 4 times last round) it's a high slice. On the slices the contact feels great, the ball just starts straight(ish) and balloons to a high slice.  On shots that find the fairway, the ball flight it generally straight with a hint of a draw.  The difference is the ball seems to go high.  Whereas when I tee it low, the ball appears to start lower and then continue to climb.  This flight is very similar to a purely hit 5 wood off the deck, the just longer.

[MJK3122]

Low for a cut, higher for a draw.  I never tee low enough for the ball to be even with the driver head though.  The ball is always above the top of the driver.

[EverythingGolf]

I have had pretty good results teeing the ball so that the center of the ball is just above the middle of the driver face.

With regards to your shots this may shed a little light!

The slice is caused by you coming over the top, an out to in swing. If the ball starts relatively straight then the face is pretty square at impact, since that is the case the only thing I can see is that you are (OTT) swinging out to in. If the ball is starting left then hooks it is caused from you rotating your hands too much through impact and closing the face to the path you are swinging on. If the ball is starting straight then going left the face is relatively square but you are swinging to much in to out.

I hope this helps!

[SoundandFury]

I sort of figured both of my misses with the driver were the result of the same thing: spinning out with my shoulders on the downswing and coming out to in.  the difference being that most of the time i can get the club face closed (low hook) and sometimes i leave it open (big banana slice).

[teamroper60]

Originally Posted by SoundandFury

Was warming up for a round the other day and the only tee I had was shorter rubber one.  With the driver grounded the top of the ball was even with the top of the club head.  Hit five drives and each one was great; they all looked liked they took off from a carrier.

On the course, I tee'd the ball up to the height I normally play, maybe a 1/3 of the ball above the top of the club head.  Hit a couple decent teeshots, but lost an equal number right (which I haven't been doing for a while).  Finally remembered my warm up and tee'd it low: voila, great ball flight again.

Given that I'm playing a 10 degree driver, I assumed a higher tee'd ball and contact on the upswing was preferable, but apparently not (for me at least).

Anyone else tee the ball low(er)?

I use the Epoch tees with the gray stripes on them.  My best shots tend to be when I tee mine down to the second line from the top and place it just off the left big toe.  That puts maybe a quarter of the ball above my driver's clubhead.   Anything higher than that and I hit a high push fade.

[WUTiger]

I went online and found a couple of hundred video clips on "Driver and Tee Height."

Different pros recommended different things...

• Higher tee height - half a ball above the driver crown - got praise for helping players "launch the ball" higher into air.
• Lower tee height - even just a hair above the crown - got praise for helping players "drive the ball" and get better weight shift and a more natural swing.

Golf Digest had a recent column (I failed to find it using Google) in which maybe Hank Haney (??) talked about this. The pro said better players can capitalize on the higher driver tee height, but middle HDCPs would get better control (via less side spin) with lower tee heights.

[CanuckAaron]

I tee the ball lower when I need to be more accurate but it costs me distance so I usually tee it up with the ball halfway above the driver head when it is sitting on the ground behind the ball.

[GaijinGolfer]

Teeing the ball lower will give you more control.  I find that Im more consistent when I tee it lower because when I tee it high, sometimes I will hit a popup.  It used to be that you were supposed to tee the ball so that half of it was above the crown but with today's more forgiving drivers you can tee it lower and still get just as much distance.

[westcyderydin]

I play with my tee height quite a bit.  Some days i like it higher, some days i feel more comfortable with it a little lower.  When i tee it up higher i stand a little farther away from the ball...same posture and all, just with the ball lined up a little bit more toward the toe.  That will give you a little more space to put a good swing on it.  Remember that the higher the tee height, the closer the ball is to your body.

[GaijinGolfer]

Reading this thread, I cant help but think about Michael Breed and his, "quadrants".

[Satch]

I agree with having the ball teed-up lower than normal. I get decent height and I have more accuracy. When I tee-up the ball 1/3 over the top of the head I hit a slight fade, so I learned to lower the ball on the tee. I don't know if it's just me but this little task improved my driver game tremendously. I'm with you on lowering the ball on the tee!!