How teeing the ball higher can help you drive it longer

Editor’s note: This tip was featured in GOLF’s Play Smart package from the September/October 2022 issue of GOLF Magazine. Look for more tips on GOLF.com, and click here to subscribe to the magazine.

Changing tee height has a direct impact on the launch and spin of the ball off your driver and can be used to help you get more distance off the tee with a simple adjustment. 

A higher tee creates the opportunity to hit the ball longer because it encourages a positive angle of attack and impact higher on the driverface. These factors increase launch angle and reduce spin, which, in turn, help optimize launch conditions for more distance. 

Under testing conditions using a robot swinging at 95 mph with GOLF research partner Golf Laboratories, we found that nailing the proper tee height can deliver up to 25 more yards of carry distance because of where contact is made on the face. Low strikes (below center) averaged 219 yards of carry compared to 244 yards when struck above the middle. That’s huge. 

So, if you’re struggling to keep up with your buddies off the tee, experiment with teeing the ball higher. You could pick up serious yards. And, remember, it’s easier to carry trouble than trying to work your way around it.

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Luke Kerr-Dineen

Golf.com Contributor

Luke Kerr-Dineen is the Game Improvement Editor at GOLF Magazine and GOLF.com. In his role he oversees the brand’s game improvement content spanning instruction, equipment, health and fitness, across all of GOLF’s multimedia platforms.

An alumni of the International Junior Golf Academy and the University of South Carolina–Beaufort golf team, where he helped them to No. 1 in the national NAIA rankings, Luke moved to New York in 2012 to pursue his Masters degree in Journalism from Columbia University. His work has also appeared in USA Today, Golf Digest, Newsweek and The Daily Beast.