How Do Pro Golfers Setup A Consistent Driver Tee Height and How Accurate Are They?

[MariahCarry]

Firstly, I'm referring to their goto stock shot with a driver. For argument sake, let's assume the player is not trying to do anything specific like a low bleeder or high fade, etc. just their stock shot.

 

Yes, they've done it thousands of times, is within 1/16" of their goto tee height range good enough? is within 1/8" of an inch accurate enough?

 

• Are they just putting the tee in the ground and eyeballing the ball height? (they know the feel from so many reps)
• Are they putting the club down and lining it up to the desired height on the club face?
• Are they using a tee with lines on it to know that the ball will sit X height above the ground?

 

Golf is all about consistency, (assume a level tee box ground) you would think that if you have found your ideal tee height by practicing on the range, that you would want to repeat this for best results.

 

If your ball is a 1/4" higher than you usually have it, what are you going to do, shrug and say, "ahhh, I'll just make sure to contact 1/4" higher than usual" or adjust it until it's at the right height.

 

So the question is, how are the pros setting their tee up to be accurate and within what +/- range is accurate enough?

 

For example, having a tee with lines on it as shown in example below would allow a consistent height to ensure it's accurate every time.

 

 

 

 

[iBanesto]

[Sp4zRX]

While I’m not a pro I tend to think I get my tee height in that 1/16th tolerance range. 
 

I grip the ball in my fist with the tee splitting my middle and ring finger. As I press the ball and tee into the ground, I extend my thumb. When my thumb contacts the ground, the tee height is good. 
 

I don’t find lines on tees useful as different grass heights will have the lines lower or higher for the same tee height. 

[GoGoErky]

You can always use the topline of the driver as your marker for where the ball sits. 

[Hawkeye77]

3 hours ago, MariahCarry said:

Firstly, I'm referring to their goto stock shot with a driver. For argument sake, let's assume the player is not trying to do anything specific like a low bleeder or high fade, etc. just their stock shot.

 

Yes, they've done it thousands of times, is within 1/16" of their goto tee height range good enough? is within 1/8" of an inch accurate enough?

 

• Are they just putting the tee in the ground and eyeballing the ball height? (they know the feel from so many reps)
• Are they putting the club down and lining it up to the desired height on the club face?
• Are they using a tee with lines on it to know that the ball will sit X height above the ground?

 

Golf is all about consistency, (assume a level tee box ground) you would think that if you have found your ideal tee height by practicing on the range, that you would want to repeat this for best results.

 

If your ball is a 1/4" higher than you usually have it, what are you going to do, shrug and say, "ahhh, I'll just make sure to contact 1/4" higher than usual" or adjust it until it's at the right height.

 

So the question is, how are the pros setting their tee up to be accurate and within what +/- range is accurate enough?

 

For example, having a tee with lines on it as shown in example below would allow a consistent height to ensure it's accurate every time.

 

 

 

 

 

LOL, you already know how they do it and how to do it.

 

1/4" is a pretty large and noticeable difference, of course I'm adjusting it.

 

How do you know your stance is exactly the same width? What if you are 1/4" off? What if you wore the extra wide shoes by mistake?

 

Experience, practice, nothing new.  Or . . . . . sit in a chair for a few hours and make some Sharpie lines on your tees. 

 

 

[Hawkeye77]

5 minutes ago, GoGoErky said:

You can always use the topline of the driver as your marker for where the ball sits. 

Yep.

[MattM97]

4 hours ago, MariahCarry said:

f your ball is a 1/4" higher than you usually have it, what are you going to do, shrug and say, "ahhh, I'll just make sure to contact 1/4" higher than usual" or adjust it until it's at the right height.

 

I'll back off, adjust the tee and hit like any sane and rational thinking person would do. 

[miami1023]

Feel, Mariah

[TLUBulldogGolf]

You can just look at it and tell if it's too high. I don't know how tight of a tolerance it would be but I imagine they are pretty accurate through experience. And it's very doubtful they are hitting it that way if it looks off. 

Edited April 2 by TLUBulldogGolf

[betarhoalphadelta]

Personally, I like to get mine within 10 microns of my ideal height before I cold top one off the first tee. 

[Ty_Webb]

I can't speak for the pros, but I know that my tee height moves around some. I doubt if there is a teeing area on the planet that doesn't have a 1/16th inch variability between where your feet are and the ball is. So they're going to have to adjust on the fly at least a little bit. For me again though, hitting a 1/16th of an inch high or low on the face is well within the bounds of my normal range. It's really not something I've thought about too much though. I tee it up and I hit it. I doubt if anyone is doing that much differently and I'm never going to be that far off.

[Socrates]

I'd bet Tour Pro's are within 1/16" or less nearly every time.  Doing it thousands of times and you know if you are not at the right height.

 

Most top level players will place the ball in their finger the exact same way every time.  Mostly into the little "pocket" between their index, middle and thumb with a tee on the bottom of the ball.  As they press the ball into the turf, they use one of their extended fingers to gauge the height of the ball.  They usually have impeccable tee grounds that are very consistent so they know where the ball is in relation to the ground.  It doesn't matter the length of the tee they use because they are using the fingers to tell them the proper height.  Occasionally you will see them place a club behind the ball to check.  Some do it more than others.   If you do it that way, you will never be fooled by slightly longer grass and sky one.

 

As close a picture I could find.

on the web.

[IndyArcher]

How many hundreds of thousands of times has a pro teed a ball? I'm guessing it's pretty much second nature by the time you hit the circuit. 

[Ghostwedge]

With Pro's it should be automatic i would think. My tee height is top of driver with bottom of the ball. Not a pro

[bladehunter]

I had no idea she even played golf.  How are Nick and the kids ?  

Edited April 2 by bladehunter

[Chunkitgood]

I’d be surprised if pros didn’t use different tee heights for different conditions.

[GoGoErky]

1 hour ago, Chunkitgood said:

I’d be surprised if pros didn’t use different tee heights for different conditions.

And the op literally said for stock shots and nit talking about different conditions or different types of shots. 

[KD1]

No idea about the pros but I keep a calibrated, highly sensitive, measuring instrument on me at all times. It's got numerous pressure sensors that can instantly tell me where the top of the tee is relative to the ground and all I've had to do is learn to calibrate it against a height that works for me.

 

Edited April 2 by KD1

[Hawkeye77]

4 hours ago, bladehunter said:

I had no idea she even played golf.  How are Nick and the kids ?  

 

And the heel factor . . .

 

 

 

 

[MariahCarry]

1 hour ago, Hawkeye77 said:

 

And the heel factor . . .

 

 

 

 

 

That's my cousin, Mariah Carey

I'm Mariah Carry, because I carry it 280

 

[MariahCarry]

9 hours ago, Hawkeye77 said:

sit in a chair for a few hours and make some Sharpie lines on your tees. 

 

Good idea, just made a quick little jig from a scrap 2x4 and setup for 1.25", 1.5", and 1.75" heights 👍

 

Drilled a hole all the way through, then used a countersink bit so the tees sit flush pushed all the way in, then cut to each length and glued together. Easy to repeat the lines on each tee

 

Will test these out at the range, fine tune them and make a final jig out of oak

 

Might get naughty and draw a red line for the 3w height... 😏

 

 

 

Edited April 2 by MariahCarry

[Mcdgolfsalot]

And we will add this to things I never thought about before but will now make me insane next time I tee my ball up….

[Socrates]

11 hours ago, Chunkitgood said:

I’d be surprised if pros didn’t use different tee heights for different conditions.

They don't.  Doesn't matter if it is an iron tee shot or a driver, they use the same tee.  They just push them deeper.  They don't care if they snap it off.

[Ty_Webb]

9 hours ago, Socrates said:

They don't.  Doesn't matter if it is an iron tee shot or a driver, they use the same tee.  They just push them deeper.  They don't care if they snap it off.

 

Going out on a limb here, but I think he meant height above the ground, not the length of the tee itself.

[DoughBack18]

20 hours ago, Hawkeye77 said:

 

And the heel factor . . .

 

 

 

 

With that upright setup and lack of knee flex she is really limiting her ability to turn… 😂

 

Was never a big fan but that body sure was rockin’ back in the 90’s!

[DoughBack18]

18 hours ago, MariahCarry said:

 

Good idea, just made a quick little jig from a scrap 2x4 and setup for 1.25", 1.5", and 1.75" heights 👍

 

Drilled a hole all the way through, then used a countersink bit so the tees sit flush pushed all the way in, then cut to each length and glued together. Easy to repeat the lines on each tee

 

Will test these out at the range, fine tune them and make a final jig out of oak

 

Might get naughty and draw a red line for the 3w height... 😏

 

 

 

I’m confused… Are you using this to draw lines on your tee’s? Feels like a pretty common feature now. You can’t use it to set your tee height, you’d have to be able to pull that wooden thing out sideways…

[j.b.newton]

19 hours ago, MariahCarry said:

 

Good idea, just made a quick little jig from a scrap 2x4 and setup for 1.25", 1.5", and 1.75" heights 👍

 

Drilled a hole all the way through, then used a countersink bit so the tees sit flush pushed all the way in, then cut to each length and glued together. Easy to repeat the lines on each tee

 

Will test these out at the range, fine tune them and make a final jig out of oak

 

Might get naughty and draw a red line for the 3w height... 😏

 

 

 

When you make the oak ones, make sure there is a decent logo and patent so you can sell these.  Then paint them a wild color and do some slight variation of the logo and call them "tour issue".  That will instantly quadruple the price you could ask.

[MariahCarry]

21 minutes ago, DoughBack18 said:

I’m confused… Are you using this to draw lines on your tee’s? Feels like a pretty common feature now. You can’t use it to set your tee height, you’d have to be able to pull that wooden thing out sideways…

 

Correct, this is used to to draw lines on the tees so you can pinch your fingers on the line when placing it into the ground.

 

When your fingers hit the ground, the tee is now set at that line height. In this example, 1.25", 1.5", or 1.75" above the ground.

 

 

[Big Cat 3]

They control it well 

[MariahCarry]

12 minutes ago, j.b.newton said:

When you make the oak ones, make sure there is a decent logo and patent so you can sell these.  Then paint them a wild color and do some slight variation of the logo and call them "tour issue".  That will instantly quadruple the price you could ask.

 

Ha good one, I will call it the "Circle Tee"

 

But jokes aside, lots of tee manufactures have lines on the tees out there and this jig would just be specific to finding my ideal tee height. I will likely buy a pack of tees that have lines and could find a line on them that work for me.

 

With all of that said, best way would be to 3d print a tray for the tees and use a laser engraver for making super precise lines.