What’s the ideal tee height to use with a driver? Should you even tee up the ball on a par-3? These are the questions many players — especially beginners — wonder about.
The fact is, the best tee height for a given club may vary by player. So the real foolproof way to discern the right tee height for your game is to simply experiment.
Carly Schneider, the director of instruction at the Cove Club in Cabo Del Sol, Mexico, says she recommends conducting a tee-height practice-range test to her students.
“I did this in one of our ladies clinics not too long ago,” she said. “I set up anywhere from three to five different tee heights, but you’re hitting the same club with all the different tee heights all the way to the ground.”
The progression from teed up high to ground-level is important, Schneider said, because not only does it help you gain confidence with your ball-striking, it can also reveal a potentially surprising ideal tee height.
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“I never like to say that there’s one tee height that should be perfect for everyone,” she said, “but to be able to spend a little bit of time to do that drill, where the ball’s on the ground, the ball’s just barely on the tee as close to the ground as possible, then maybe it’s a couple centimeters higher, and build your way all the way up, you can kind of have a little bit of fun testing out which one feels right.
“It’s also a great drill to work your way from the highest tee position down to the ground,” she continued. “Because, if you’re starting out, it’s always nice to have the comfort of a tee, but eventually you’re going to have to some shots off the ground.”
Tee height queries aside, Schneider said the drill is also valuable if you’re having a bad ball-striking day, since it can help you get back in a good groove at impact.
“I call it a progressive and regressive drill,” she said. “Even if you’re not playing well that day, you can build the tee up height a little bit higher and then eventually put it down to the ground a little bit less as you build confidence.”
Give Schneider’s tee-height drill a try, and find the right height for you during your next practice session.
