Driver tee height

azgreg · September 9, 2023

I know the basic driver tee height and player setup pretty well. However, I struggle in shifting my weight forwards with that "traditional" set-up. Lately I've been teeing it up very low and playing it like a fairway wood. Much better results for me. I know the optimal thing would be to work on it in the traditional set-up, but I just don't see that happening. Playing it like a fairway tee shot means I lose a few yards (I still get it out there 245+ yards) but I hit a lot more fairways

DaveGoodrich · September 9, 2023

By "playing it like a fairway wood," I assume you mean with a slightly downward angle of attack. No reason you can't swing that swing, but still tee it high enough to make slightly above center face contact, which drops spin. Lots of the tour guys are a little down with driver.

Ri_Redneck · September 11, 2023

The question is..... How much more forward was your driver position than your "fairway wood" position? If it's more than 1.5", it's probably too far. THAT is the main mistake I see people make. 3° up happens very quickly after the bottom of your arc.

BT

ApostateDrive · September 11, 2023

59 minutes ago, Ri_Redneck said:

The question is..... How much more forward was your driver position than your "fairway wood" position? If it's more than 1.5", it's probably too far. THAT is the main mistake I see people make. 3° up happens very quickly after the bottom of your arc.

BT

Huh, I had never thought about it like that. I feel like I play the ball back in my stance compared to most (wedges in center, 1 ball forward for hybrid/long iron, 2 ball forward for fairway woods) and then I tee my driver in line with the inside of my lead foot. I struggle to hit high on the face and find that most hits are low or on the toe. I'm gonna tee it back a bit and see what's up.

Golfonthemind · September 11, 2023

I struggle with driver tee height as well. Is there an argument as to why you would ever need to tee it higher than half the ball above the top of the crown? When I tee it higher than that I hit my longest highest drives but I also have much more low face and high face misses.

Zitlow · September 11, 2023

Martini tees work perfectly for my driver on standard shots. Plus they're practically indestructible.

Ri_Redneck · September 11, 2023

20 minutes ago, Golfonthemind said:

I struggle with driver tee height as well. Is there an argument as to why you would ever need to tee it higher than half the ball above the top of the crown? When I tee it higher than that I hit my longest highest drives but I also have much more low face and high face misses.

The "1/2 ball above crown" rule allows a slight positive AoA when brushing the ground. But it's a VERY loose rule.

I'm a bit different. I use 4" tees and tee the ball as high as I can. That said, I hover the club though, so if you ground you driver you can't go by that. I strive for a strike point center to slight toe high center. I started hovering as I feel I can make a fuller swing that way. I still keep the ball no more than 2" in front of my low point (about 1" inside my left heel). Any further and it affects my swing.

BT