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Low tee height with driver

badolds

badolds

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Albatross 2024 Club
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I have a negative attack angle with driver. I have tried setup and swing changes in an attempt to hit up on the ball but nothing works long term. I have tried different tee heights through the years and it seems the lower I tee it the better my shots turn out. For the past year or so I have been 1 1\4" and my strike pattern is consistently high on the face. I took lessons last year and my coach said my negative attack angle is to blame for the high face contact. I had a particularly bad driving range session last week with the driver. I used impact tape to confirm my strikes were indeed high on the face. This week I decided to start at 1/2" and move it up until I find center.

20200406_130421.jpg

All that I can say is WOW, what a difference. I started at 1/2" and it put me right in the center of the face. I moved it up to 3/4" and the pattern moved above the center line so I moved it back down and stayed in the center. I understand that my potential carry and total distance goes down by not hitting up on the ball but I just want to play good consistent golf right now. In order to impart an ascending blow to the ball requires the low point of the swing to be behind the ball. Trackman shows the low point of my swing is never behind the ball, being self taught the ball has always been the low point in my mind and it is too ingrained to change.

Oh well, I officially give up on having a positive angle of attack. I hit the ball so much better off of a low tee and just keeping the ball in front of me with solid contact is sure to bring my scores down. I have been looking for something I can take to the course with confidence so I hope this is a long term fix.
 
I will have to try this. At my fitting, my strikes were more vertical rather than horizontal.
 
If it works for you, more power to ya. A straight, solid strike of almost any kind is worth more than a crap one at optimized angles.

My most natural swing is a slight negative angle at the ball, throughout the bag. Makes it easy to hit driver, 3W, long irons off the deck, but it's not optimal for driver on a tee, and I can get picky with shorter clubs. I've worked and work on those things, and actually have a fairly high driver AoA now, but still get picky with the scoring clubs sometimes. I'll continue to work on all of it, but in the end putting a consistent strike on the ball is what matters. No one can tell you when is right to value what you have with that over what the numbers should/could be, but you.
 
Fellow low tee height driver here. Welcome to the club. I probably tee the ball around 3/4 of an inch off the ground, maybe a bit more.
 
Is there a reason we should have a positive AOA with the driver?
 
If it works for you great. I have a buddy that tee's it low like that. In fact he often uses broken tees he finds on the tee boxes. Personally, I sure can't do it. I tee it almost as high as I can with a 2.75" tee, and sometimes use a 3.25" tee.
 
I also have a negative angle of attack with my driver so I will give this a go.

I’m always looking for tips
 
Man that's low but if it works for you, hit 'em straight and long!
 
Stemmy66 said:
With driver I typically tee the ball up where half the ball is above the driver top line and half the ball is below, give or take.... no idea if its right for me, just what I've gotten used to, maybe time for impact tape and a few range balls to test
Click to expand...

Its a great tool with instant feedback. Works great for irons too.
 
I use to tee it that low. For me I would hit it a ton but if I was off it would go a ton right. Over the years I move to the longer tees...more control for me. But I love the tape idea and working your way up to find your ideal tee length. Definitely stealing that one from you.
 
for my first 30 years I had a negative angle of attach. It went as far as me playing a 13degree 3w at times and teeing it low. I never got top distance but it let me play the same swing I use on my irons and I've been a decent iron player most of my life.

Recently I have learned to hit on the upswing. The change was learning how (still learning as 30 year habits don't die quickly) to let the lead arm lead. If you know what to look for in your playing partners, watch the action at the top of the swing with someone who frequently hits a chunky shot. That off side takes over and hits down far more steeply then ideal. One can learn to get away with it with an iron and in deep rough it might be a blessing. Not so good for the driver.
 
badolds said:
I have a negative attack angle with driver. I have tried setup and swing changes in an attempt to hit up on the ball but nothing works long term. I have tried different tee heights through the years and it seems the lower I tee it the better my shots turn out. For the past year or so I have been 1 1\4" and my strike pattern is consistently high on the face. I took lessons last year and my coach said my negative attack angle is to blame for the high face contact. I had a particularly bad driving range session last week with the driver. I used impact tape to confirm my strikes were indeed high on the face. This week I decided to start at 1/2" and move it up until I find center.

View attachment 8935953

All that I can say is WOW, what a difference. I started at 1/2" and it put me right in the center of the face. I moved it up to 3/4" and the pattern moved above the center line so I moved it back down and stayed in the center. I understand that my potential carry and total distance goes down by not hitting up on the ball but I just want to play good consistent golf right now. In order to impart an ascending blow to the ball requires the low point of the swing to be behind the ball. Trackman shows the low point of my swing is never behind the ball, being self taught the ball has always been the low point in my mind and it is too ingrained to change.

Oh well, I officially give up on having a positive angle of attack. I hit the ball so much better off of a low tee and just keeping the ball in front of me with solid contact is sure to bring my scores down. I have been looking for something I can take to the course with confidence so I hope this is a long term fix.
Click to expand...
That is some nice contact!!!! Glad it is working for you Dan.
 
Nice to have a solution!


AnthonyC said:
In Tiger's first book, "How I play Golf," he writes that if he has to absolutely hit the fairway, he tees the ball a little lower.
Click to expand...

Lefty also said something similar in a little “hitting bombs” video I saw last week.
 
I always use a 31/4" tee, If its windy and i am hitting into the wind, i tee it lower
 
Nice glad that it worked for you.

i usually tee it low id I need accuracy over distance
 
I tee it lower too. I used to pop by drives up sometimes when I teed it higher and really struggled with it. Since Ive started teeing it lower, no more pop ups and I dont really notice much of a distance loss.
 
I have had a tendency to choke down on my driver an inch or even two. I just hit it better when I do but now its starting to make sense why. When I choke down it makes up the difference of the tall tee height. I am a decent golfer with my whole bag except driver and being on a tee is the main difference.
 
Very interesting to see how the changes resulted for you. Very cool.

I used to tee low, and have gradually been creeping up, while using it as a way (with swing changes) to improve my angle of attack.
 
Teeing the ball a little lower definitely helped me with driving consistently. How low I don’t know, how do you measure height on a grassy surface?
 
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Mr Moke said:
Teeing the ball a little lower definitely helped me with driving consistently. How low I don’t know, how do you measure elevation on a grassy surface?
Click to expand...
I just eyeballed it. I work with measurements a lot so my eye is calibrated.
 
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