Teeing the ball up high for driver shots?

Question

I've noticed that this works most of the time, but once in a while, I hit a kind of Flop Drive that goes straight up in the air about 100 yds. Do you think that this is because of the placement of the ball on the tee or me just getting under the ball too much? Again this is just an occasional occurrence but one worth visiting.

Answer 1

The trick to driving long and straight isn't how high you tee the ball, necessarily. It's how consistent your swing is. Some players may hit a 280-yard drive with the ball teed up 1/4 inch lower than I do, and others may do so with it teed higher. I played with the tee highth until I found a comfortable one that I could hit repeatedly. For me, I like the ball teed up so the the top of the tee is about 3/4 of the way up the face of my driver. I also have my driver shaft cut to 43 1/2 inches for greater control. I read once that Tiger does that and it has helped tremendously. At 6' 2" it required a little adjustment in my stance and some work with the repetitiveness of that particular swing (since it is different than iron shots), but now I hit the ball at least 275 yards and straight as an arrow almost every time.

A lot goes into a great driver swing. You may want to head to your local indoor driving range or golf shop and play with different drivers. I found my best club was a $150 knockoff of a Cobra Stinger driver. It's an older model club, but I hit it so well I don't want to change it.

If you are hitting that high flop shot sometimes it's because you're dropping your right shoulder (assuming you're right handed). Keep your swingpath pure, and stay in your wheelhouse. You may even want to consider shortening your swing. That has been a very popular trend on the pro circuit recently and produces a much more consistent level of play.

Answer 2

The old saying goes here, "Tee High Let Fly"... The idea behind the ball is too minimise the back spin of the ball, therefore creating a 'Flyer' effect (same as hitting out of the rough, flyer means to put no spin on ball)... The ball flies a lot further then one with backspin. If you find you hitting the ball up in the air, you might have a couple of idiot marks on top of the club...

Try this, when teeing the ball high, place the driver head about half a foot behind the ball before making your backswing, this encourages the swing to hit the ball with top spin.

Answer 3

I would always tee the ball up the same height, usually about a thumbnail high, whenever you are striking the ball and it is going straight up you are only hitting it with the top 1/4 of the club, the club you are using is designed to get the best trajectory in the middle of the club head.

Answer 4

The ball should be placed no higher than the height of your driver or club face. For armature players there is more tendency to slice the tee shot if teed too high, not to mention the straight up shot if you happen to swing low and under the ball.

Answer 5

Yep, I've found that teeing the ball up high works better for me using a driver or 3-wood. When you sky it, you're just getting under it too much.

Answer 6

Yes sometimes teeing up to high can cause this. In general tee it up high enough so you can hit the ball on the upswing slightly.

Answer 7

I think it could be a little bit of each, ALSO check to make sure that the ball is aligned with the inside of your left heel when you take your stance. you have have the ball to forward.

Answer 8

If the ball is higher than the top of the driver face, it's too high for me.

Answer 9

Dont dip your right shoulder

Answer 10

Yes, keep up the good work.