How High to Tee Up Driver


One of amateur golfers’ biggest questions on the tee box is how high they should tee up their golf ball.

If you tee it up too low, you risk losing some serious distance.

On the other hand, if the ball is teed too high, you may get the driver head underneath the ball, causing a very embarrassing pop-up.

how high to tee up driver

So, what should you do to get the most from your drive?

In this article, we’ll answer that burning question and provide tips on how to help you get maximum distance from your driver.

Attack Angle Considerations


The driver tee height significantly affects your launch angle. Ensuring your tee height is consistent can help you find the sweet spot more regularly.

No matter the club, whether it’s a driver or a pitching wedge on a short par 3, make sure you tee the ball at the same height to get the most out of each swing.

Since you want to hit the ball higher with a driver face that’s moving upward, you want the same tee height on tee shots. As silly as it may sound, too many amateurs don’t know their correct tee height.

They mistakenly put the ball at random heights, forcing them to approach the golf ball erratically with their golf club.

Common Issues With Tee Shots


If you tee the golf ball too low, your launch angle will remain very low and the lower ball flight will cost you a significant distance.

The opposite holds true because if your ball is too high on the tee, you’ll struggle to consistently get the driver head moving with the right angle of attack to get the proper launch on the golf ball.

Instead, you’ll strike the golf ball lower than at its center, causing pop-ups and other ugly results.

Rules and Guidelines


The USGA does limit the length of tees, so by extension, golfers are capped at their own tee height. The governing body does not allow tees to extend beyond four inches in length.

Of course, the tee has to enter the turf and be able to hold the ball without wobbling under the weight.

In essence, you shouldn’t be able to confidently tee the ball any higher than 2.5 inches.

Tee Height Impact


With a tall tee height, many negative variables can be involved, even with the size of a 460cc driver. 

To reach the sweet spot of the driver face at that tee height of over 2.5 inches, you would have to place the golf club a few inches behind the ball and then hope to catch it on the club face as the driver head ascends.

Even with the ball just off the lead foot’s heel, you are looking at a long swing arc that generates a ton of clubhead speed.

With the ball higher in the air than usual on the tee, your results with the driver will likely be very inconsistent.

Trajectory and Ball Flight


With different tee heights, you’ll find the ball leaves the face at different trajectories. 

For example, if you tee the ball up low, the driver produces a low, penetrating flight that is great for combating wind or taking advantage of a tailwind that maximizes rollout. 

A ball teed up high, around 2 to 2.5 inches, will stand above the driver’s crown and force the golfer to produce an extreme angle of attack to reach the sweet spot.

Clubhead Size and Tee Height


On the tee box, you’ll use one of three clubs: a driver, a fairway wood or hybrid, or an iron. Each golf club demands its own tee height to get the best ball speed and launch angle for your shot.

Driver

With the best driver, you want the club face’s top half and the ball’s bottom half to overlap. The top edge of the crown should meet the midpoint of the center of the ball.

With this in mind, your tee should hold the ball roughly 1 to 1.5 inches off the ground. The higher tee height helps lift the ball to maximize distance.

Since we are looking for the most length possible, you want the impact to happen just off your lead heel to help boost clubhead speed and create less spin to cut through the wind with a straight flight.

Fairway Wood/Hybrid

Since the fairway wood has a low profile and an elongated hitting area that is not very tall, the tee height should be low but just enough to reach the center of the face.

Unlike the driver, you won’t make contact and hit the entire ball on the face, so you want the ball just under one-half inch off the ground.

With the tee low, you can put less spin on the ball or hit down, creating an ugly snap hook if you carry a steep angle of attack.

With this in mind, keeping the ball forward in the stance is important, but not more than the driver.

You aren’t trying to lift the ball with fairway wood or hybrid. With these clubs, you want the loft to do the work.

Many golfers will use the pads of their fingers as guides on the right tee height for fairway woods. They push the golf tee into the ground until the fingernails of the index and middle fingers touch it.

Irons

Finally, you want your tee to stay almost flush to the turf for the irons. The point of using a tee on par 3s is to get clean contact with the club face without the grass interfering with impact.

Using an iron, getting the right height for your tees is relatively easy. You simply press the tee into the ground, with just the lip of the tee’s top sitting above the ground.

In contrast with woods, you want your hands slightly ahead of the ball at impact to help with compression and to place less spin on the ball. Having a low tee height here can help you accomplish that goal.

Types of Tees


There is no real difference in performance between wood and plastic tees when it comes to tee heights.

Manufacturers produce tees that offer a line along the length that gives a guide for consistent tee height for your driver.

If you are worried about stretching your dollar with your golf equipment, the plastic ones last a bit longer and don’t splinter like wood tees, so you won’t have to go to your golf bag repeatedly to get a new tee.

FAQs on How High to Tee Up Driver


How high should you tee up a driver?

To find the sweet spot with your driver, you want to have a high tee height, with the ball roughly 1 to 1.5 inches high.

However, this is not the case for every golfer. Some like their golf ball with a high tee height, while others feel they get more with a low tee height.

You should experiment on the driving range with different tee heights to help you find your sweet spot.

Remember, you want to maximize your ball speed to get the most distance possible. Any deviation in tee height, address position, or even the loft of your driver can affect ball speed and the final results.

What height should your driver go?

When your driver is sitting on the turf at address, your golf ball’s midpoint should rest at the top ridge of your driver’s crown.

Some golfers want their driver to hover just off the ground. If that’s something you practice, then you’ll want the ball higher on the tee than if the driver is sitting on the ground at address.

In the end, you are looking to hit the ball with an ascending launch angle, so the correct tee height here only provides a starting point for your driver face to reach at impact.

What is the best tee height for a 460cc driver?

We always tell our students to start with their 460cc driver sitting flush on the turf. Then, tee the ball up with the top of the driver sitting at the mid point of the teed golf ball.

Typically, this will have the ball sitting around 1.5 inches in the air for your tee shots with the driver.

How high do pros hit their driver?

Pro golfers hit their drives at various tee heights. Tiger Woods, for example, uses a mid-tee height because he keeps his driver relatively close to the turf at impact.

But other pros use a high, consistent tee height to help launch because they want a high flight to maximize carry, especially when taking advantage of a strong headwind.