How high to T the ball with the driver

[rbaumgolf]

I watched the BMW Championship in person and watched many of the best pros T off. I was surprised at how low they T'd the ball with their driver; yet they blasted it very high. Is that a new trend or have they alwaye done that?

 

[Jim Kobylinski]

It depends a lot of the particular pro's angle of attack and what kind of equiptment they are playing. VJ and Bubba hit some of the highest shots and both tee the ball very high. Sometimes teeing the ball low can lead to a very high shot due to excessive ballspin from a more descending angle of attack but this will end up shorter than one that launched high initially and spun less.

Good rule of thumb is to start by teeing the ball just slightly above the crown of the driver and see what the ballflight is like, then adjust ball position and tee height until you are comfortable with it.

 

[rbaumgolf]

Camilo

I don't know if you saw his drive on Number 18 but he had to have over 300 yards of carry to clear 2 bunkers. He hit his drive 310. He also T's it somewhat low low. We also watched JB holmes hit and he also appeared to T the ball lower than you would think. He out drove everyone without a problem although he was in woods more than anyone else. I did not see anyone T the ball as high as I thought they would . No Ts over 2 3/4 that I could tell.

 

[Jim Kobylinski]

Camilo can get his swing speed up to the high 1-teens and JB is in the low 120s...when you swing that fast, no matter what you use, you are going to hit the ball rather high due to ball speed and spin no matter the tee height.

Also, both of those guys are optimized for launch conditions which will create a very high launch at impact

 

[Short Game Frankie]

Camilo can get his swing speed up to the high 1-teens and JB is in the low 120s...when you swing that fast, no matter what you use, you are going to hit the ball rather high due to ball speed and spin no matter the tee height.

Also, a higher t'eed ball will help produce more of a draw while a lower t'eed ball will help produce more of a fade - I've watched Vijay tee it high and low depending on how he was trying to shape his tee shot

 

[Jim Kobylinski]

Also, a higher t'eed ball will help produce more of a draw while a lower t'eed ball will help produce more of a fade - I've watched Vijay tee it high and low depending on how he was trying to shape his tee shot

This isn't necessarily true; the higher tee ball TENDS to lead to more draws because it encourages a more shallow angle of attack which helps amatuers.

I tee the ball and hit the ball very high and i prefer a fade.