Everyone who plays golf will use the driver at some point, but are you using your driver correctly? Are you inserting your tee into the ground at the correct depth, leaving just enough tee protruding from ground.
If you are unsure how much of your tee should be sticking out the ground, you may wonder: how should you set your golf ball up for a driver shot?
In this article, we will tell you exactly how you should set up your golf ball for a driver shot, how much your tee should stick out, and the tee height used by most golfers around the world.
How Should You Set Your Golf Ball Up For A Driver Shot?
The standard way to know how to set up your golf ball and tee height for a driver shot is to place your driver head on the ground, and drive the tee into the ground until half the golf ball sitting on the tee is above the driver head. You can go for a lower or higher tee height based on your preferences.
Knowing how to set up your golf ball and tee height for a driver shot is very simple.
We all know that your golf ball goes on top of the tee after inserting the tee into the ground, but how deep should you insert the tee into the turf?
The standard “fits-most-people” trick to knowing how deep to insert the tee is to first place the driver head on the ground. Then, start inserting the tee in the ground with the ball on top of it. When only half the golf ball is still above the driver head, you reached the standard tee height.
From this tee height, with half the ball over the driver head, most people will feel most comfortable driving the golf ball.
However, humans have a lot of differences between each other, including height, arm length, flexibility, swing style, and more. These differences mean that some people feel more comfortable with a different tee height, either higher or lower than the standard tee height.
Depending on your height, flexibility etc., you may prefer a lower tee height, meaning a configuration in which the tee is inserted deeper in the ground. If this is you, you can try inserting the tee until the entire golf ball is just under the top of the driver head.
A lower tee height can be good for players with a more vertical swing style as opposed to a standard swing path style with more rotation.
If you notice you have a lot of nicks on the top of your driver head, it means you are hitting the ball too low. Lowering your tee height can help you hit the ball more square.
If you lower the tee height, the ball will be lower, and so will be the nicks on your driver head, meaning you are hitting more balls with the sweet spot of your clubs, dead in the center of the club face.
Finally, some people prefer a higher tee height configuration. Some people like their tee to protrude out of the ground as high as the tee will permit. A higher tee height will make it easier to scoop the golf ball upwards to give it the best projectile launch angle of around 45 degrees.
A higher tee also allows good golfers to generate more spin on the golf ball, which can give the golf ball a decent boost in carry distance. Many professional golfers like to use a higher tee height, but many casual players find it easier to drive a golf ball straight with a standard tee height.
How Do Most Golfers Set Up Their Ball When Using A Driver?
Most golfers in the world (72%) use a standard tee height (half the ball over the driver head) to drive the golf ball. 17% of golfers prefer a lower tee height with the entire golf ball below the driver head. Finally, 11% of golfers prefer other tee height configurations.
How do most golfers set up their ball and tee height before teeing off with a driver? There are multiple tee height configurations you can choose from.
The standard way to know how deep your tee should be in the ground is to place your driver head on the ground, and insert the tee into the ground until only half the golf ball is over the driver head.
Other golfers prefer the tee to be a little lower, meaning deeper in the ground, while some golfers like a higher tee in order to generate more ball spin.
Down below, we have prepared an infographic so that you can visually see the percentage of golfers in the world who like each tee height configurations.
As you can see on the infographic, most golfers, 72% of them, prefer the standard tee height with only half the golf ball located above the driver head on the ground.
Next, 17% of golfers like their tee height to be a little lower, more penetrated into the ground. This can be a good configuration if you have a steeper swing with less rotation. If you notice you have a lot of nicks on the top of your driver, going for a lower tee height may help you.
Finally, 11% of golfers, the minority, prefer other tee height configurations, such as a higher tee height that helps some golfers add more spin to their drives in order to increase carry distance.
Conclusion
There you go! After reading this article, you learned exactly how to set up your golf ball for a driver shot. You also learned the preferences of many players around the world for their golf ball set up.
What is your preferred golf ball setup to drive the ball? Do you even use a tee? Do you prefer a high tee, or a low tee? Let us know in the comments below!
