To Tee or Not To Tee (with Irons) ?

[Striper]

Another vote for teeing it up on every hole. Like most people here, I'll just use a broken tee on iron shots and tee it just above the grass.

[fuzzyjr]

Well this is certainly a one case to the next scenario. Many professionals use a tee and some do not, notably Vijay Singh. I personally don't play with a tee on my irons. My reason, i have a fairly steep approach, maybe a fundamental flaw with a my swing to some but comfort and my ability to work with my swing. With a tee on my iron shots i tend to drive the ball lower instead of swinging through the ball with a nice high trajectory. My hands are probably a few degrees further forward than the fundamental swing, similar to that of Arnie's,(I don't have anything else in common with him though, unfortunately ) I just have that comfort with my swing not on a tee. I don't know that there is a right answer to your question, sure some will teach to use a tee but i don't know that it actually improves your position or lie enough to compensate my feel, i am feel player and i find it better for me and have more confidence.

[i-Guy]

I just look at it like this:

That is exactly the way I look at it as well. If I want to hit my iron shot higher I might tee it up higher. Versus if I want to it it low or make sure I get the full distance out of the iron shot I will tee it low. But anytime you are allowed to improve your lie you should take advantage of it

[hurley9192]

I realize it's that folklore type of quote, but didn't Bobby Jones say "I haven't met a golfer so good that he didn't need a peg"?

Tee it up if you can...there is no reason not to unless you are playing off of perfect lies and on tee box. Vijay can get away with it because he plays courses where the tee boxes are usually tightly mown and level.

[Bo the Golfer]

I agree with always using a tee-just get the best lie all the time

[fuzzyjr]

Just to clarify, i wasnt saying the right or wrong way is to tee it up. My personal reason is that i guess i have somewhat practiced my whole life without a tee on my mid to short irons tee shots. My distance control i am comfortable with it that way and it works for me. Not saying you cant get spin off a tee i am sure many can but i dont see getting the spin off a tee shot with a wedge or 9 iron from 145-160. Someone who knows more than i could maybe help, does a tee add resistance to spin from a tee shot??? I would think but i am not sure??

[motius]

Good tips here, especially the one about the height of the tee impacting the height of the ball flight (and hence distance). I have noticed that aswell, although if I tee the ball too high I tend to run my iron right underneath it and it dribbles away from the tee a couple feet. Usually I just go with a hair above grass height.

If you do want to tee the ball a bit higher for more height and less distance (and more stopping power), do you need to move the ball a bit more forward in your stance? Normally I hit my irons with the ball exactly in the centre of my stance, regardless of if I am using a tee or not.

[Turkish]

Newbie question ...

When you say tee it right above the grass, is the ball sitting just on the tips of the blades, or is the head of the tee? I'm trying to get in the habit of teeing up my long and short iron shots (I'm pretty bad with a wood / driver), but I can't seem to quite get it when teeing off with a 7 or 8 iron on a shorter par 3.

[i-Guy]

Well two things here to address as follows:

If you do want to tee the ball a bit higher for more height and less distance (and more stopping power), do you need to move the ball a bit more forward in your stance?

1) If you tee the ball up higher I would continue to use my normal ball position related to the club I am hitting as if it was not teed up. That way you will have the same impact position but it will hit higher on the face of the club due to the ball being teed higher.

Normally I hit my irons with the ball exactly in the centre of my stance, regardless of if I am using a tee or not.

2) I would suggest working on not hitting every iron in the bag (as you said) from the center of your stance. I hit my wedges through 8 iron in the center but once I get to the 7 iron my ball position starts to creep forward of center a little bit with each iron (6, 5 & 4 iron). This will help with better impact position because each club is longer.

Just my 2 cents...

[Big Don]

Always tee the ball when you get the chance. With an iron don't tee it too high or you'll hit the ball too high on the club face. I press the tee down so that only its head is appearing above the turf.

[mybloodinvt]

i voted to always tee it up. i think it was sam snead who said,"never pass up a chance to peg the ball up." that's good enough for me. btw, tee height with irons should be closer to the ground the shorter the club. tee height with the irons should never be very high or you risk going right under it.

[CallawayAddict]

Tee up everytime.. why not give myself the advantage..

[Chris36]

Tee up my irons all the time here and was shocked today at the course to find out so many others did it to.

[joey1234]

i only tee up my long irons and woods. sometype of mental thing with my 6 iron to PW- I cannot hit them off a tee....

[Fourputt]

Just to clarify, i wasnt saying the right or wrong way is to tee it up. My personal reason is that i guess i have somewhat practiced my whole life without a tee on my mid to short irons tee shots. My distance control i am comfortable with it that way and it works for me. Not saying you cant get spin off a tee i am sure many can but i dont see getting the spin off a tee shot with a wedge or 9 iron from 145-160. Someone who knows more than i could maybe help, does a tee add resistance to spin from a tee shot??? I would think but i am not sure??

It's the contact made with the club not the surface that the ball is resting on that determines spin. I get significantly more spin from a tee than I do even from the fairway, because I tend to make perfect contact more often, thus I can swing with more confidence even when shooting at a tight pin.

I just don't understand why anyone would not take advantage of this privilege. Are you who don't use a tee such perfect ball strikers that you NEVER mishit? Better than Nicklaus, Jones, Trevino? I wish I had your game then... Do what you wish... more power to you, but it really seems to me that you are rationalizing a potential flaw into your game.

[Big Lex]

I use a tee every time, with the exception of a very short hole where I want to use a pitching wedge or sand wedge. These are rare, as I'm not a bombing hitter, but occasionally there will be a very short hole, tees forward that day, or downwind, etc., where I will use my gap or sand wedge. With these clubs, I just like hitting off the turf directly, although I usually do prop the grass up slightly by jamming the wedge in the ground, a la Laura Davies. Having it on grass seems to reinforce the proper technique of hitting down on the shot, which for me is more important with wedge shots.

Are you still supposed to hit down on the ball when it is on a tee, or should it be more of a hit through like a wood shot ?

Yeah, I think you still hit down on the ball when it is teed. With any iron, you never tee it so high that it is above the grass, with the exception of a long iron. Generally, you tee it to give you a "perfect" lie. Interestingly, I started hitting the wedge par 3's off grass, as described above, after having spun a ball in the water with a gap wedge when I'd teed it up. I think I had a more shallow angle of attack, like with a wood shot, and the ball went higher and with a bit more spin...the ball mark was smack in the center of the face and the shot was straight, but it felt "light," like I hadn't pinched the ball...