Tee Boxes and Improving Your Game

[PepsiDuck]

Play the longest tee box you can handle?

I did a search and came up with only one or two discussions on this, so I thought I'd ask, strictly in terms of improving your game (disregard handicapping, pace of play, "enjoyment of the game"...) do you think it's best to play from the longest tees you can reasonable handle (i.e., leaving a hybrid - mid iron approach shot on most par 4's), or to play from shorter tees where you'd generally have a short iron or wedge into most greens? i'm sure playing from both sets of tees is important to improving ballstriking, short game, and the "going low" mentality. what do you all think? would you play primarily from shorter tees to gain confidence in shooting lower scores and transfer that to longer tees, or would you grind it out from the longer tee boxes right from the start?

[mental]

To me, "Get Better by Playing the Tips" is a close cousin of the "Hit Only Drivers at the Range" strategy -- sure, you can justify either by saying "If I can do ____, I can do anything", but neither is the best path to improvement. Needing to hit the ball further and hitting the ball further are not closely linked in my experience.

 

Bottom line, the best tees are the ones that require the greatest diversity of shots out of your own game. If you feel like you're not hitting enough shots from the white tees, just play a few extra holes.

[MrJones]

Switch it up. My friends and I occasionally play a game where we each role a die before teeing off each hole. Your number determines which tee box you'll hit from. One or two is the tips, three or four, the whites, five is the senior, and six is the red. Switching it around often keeps you from playing the same shots on every hole.

[jjj912]

Play from the forward tees. You get to practice shots from 100 yards and in. If you can drive some of the greens, consider practicing with your fairway woods by hitting them off the tee. I do like MrJones' die idea.

[kgk]

Switch it up. My friends and I occasionally play a game where we each role a die before teeing off each hole. Your number determines which tee box you'll hit from. One or two is the tips, three or four, the whites, five is the senior, and six is the red. Switching it around often keeps you from playing the same shots on every hole.

 

That is a great idea.

[TEConnor]

On occasion, playing the back tees is a great test of your game. But if that is the only place you play a course, you might want to think twice, cause you will be playing the same shots over and over. (Like was said above, that's akin to beating balls at a range.) There a lot of great practice games you can use to make any course a lot more fun than just playing from the same tees hitting the same shots. Check out the book "The Game Before the Game" by Pia Nilsson for some great ideas for "on course" practice.

 

Cheers,

Tim

[PepsiDuck]

On occasion, playing the back tees is a great test of your game. But if that is the only place you play a course, you might want to think twice, cause you will be playing the same shots over and over. (Like was said above, that's akin to beating balls at a range.) There a lot of great practice games you can use to make any course a lot more fun than just playing from the same tees hitting the same shots. Check out the book "The Game Before the Game" by Pia Nilsson for some great ideas for "on course" practice.

 

Cheers,

Tim

 

 

Good book recommendation there. From what I read in your post, I'm going to infer that you believe a player should play from a relatively "shorter" tee box as their primary box and move back occasionally to test out their game.

 

I asked this question not necessarily to seek recommendation for the tee boxes I should play in, but just to see the general thoughts on this. I used to play solely from the middle tees (6200-6500 yds) with the belief that I needed to get my scores down to a consistent level before moving to the back tees. However, for the past few rounds, I've been playing from the back tees and noticed that I didn't score that much worse. However, I totally agree that you need to play from a variety of tee boxes (including the forward tees).

[tchilds]

Depends on what in your game needs more work, but in general playing the ladies tees from time to time will tell you the state of your short game, but if your long game allows you to play it back the I would do that. I don't think hitting short irons on all the par 4's from more forward tees is the best, but if you have to hit 3-5 irons all the time from the tips that's no good either. Having said all that, I would play the tees that allows the most work on your short game and use the range to work on your full swing...just my .02...

[ezra76]

I think playing the regular tees does more for my game than the back tees. At a course I normally play the blues are 6500 and the golds are 6900. I get more out of playing the blues since I can reach the par 5's and don't need to hit a driver on any hole. Off the tips I get a lot of longer shots in, have to use my driver too much and hit squat for greens. Plus I hate having to use FW woods on par 3's. This course has 2 par 3's that are 229 off the gold tees. From the blues I hit 3i. My buddy always wants to play the back tees, which is fine on a weekday if there is nobody behind us. I really don't like playing off the back on a busier day or weekend. I don't want to be "that moron" who's playing off the tips but can't even break 90.

[Sean2]

Sam Snead once said that if a golfer can't shoot par or better he should play from the forward tees.

[ezra76]

Sam Snead once said that if a golfer can't shoot par or better he should play from the forward tees.

 

Those blue tee boxes will be in great shape for the 2 dx. guys in my state that can play them then. :good: I'll be off the whites for my lifetime.