What is the Best Tee Height?

Video tutorial explaining the best tee height to improve your golf game.

Comparing Tee Height for Better Drives: A TrackMan Analysis

Overview

This is a transcript of an instructional video by Craig from Private Fairway, an amateur golfer, discussing how amateur golfers can use professional technology (TrackMan) to optimize their driving distance by comparing different tee heights. The video shares detailed data and insights from TrackMan testing with short and tall tees.

Key Points

• Purpose: To determine whether using a short or tall tee increases driving distance for amateur golfers, using TrackMan data.

• Technology Used: TrackMan launch monitor, the same technology used by professional golfers on tour.

Tee Height Comparison

Short Tee (Red, shorter)

• Average Club Head Speed: 96.2 mph

• Average Ball Speed: 140 mph

• Average Carry Distance: 230 yards

• Average Total Distance: 264 yards

• Average Height: 73 feet

• Launch Angle: 13°

• Spin: 2,700 rpm

• Landing Angle: 30–33°

• Shot Dispersion: 40 feet right of center (push fade)

Tall Tee (Blue, 3 1⁄4-inch)

• Average Club Head Speed: 96 mph (similar to short tee)

• Average Ball Speed: Slightly higher, attributed to better contact (center or higher on clubface)

• Average Carry Distance: 249 yards (increase of ~19 yards)

• Average Total Distance: 275 yards (increase of 11 yards)

• Average Height: 100 feet (27 feet higher than short tee)

• Launch Angle: 16° (3° higher than short tee)

• Landing Angle: 36°

• Rollout: Approximately 25 yards

Analysis & Insights

• Carry Distance: The longer tee provided nearly 20 yards more carry distance, which is more reliable than total distance due to unpredictable rollout.

• Ball Flight: Higher launch and ball flight with the taller tee, resulting in a steeper landing angle.

• Consistency: Club and ball speeds remained similar, indicating tee height was the key variable.

• Recommendation: Experimenting with a taller tee may help amateur golfers achieve greater carry distance and overall better drives.

Practical Advice

• Try Different Tees: Use TrackMan or similar technology to test which tee height works best for your swing.

• Visit a Facility: Consider visiting a TrackMan-equipped facility like Private Fairway for personalized data.

• More Content: Subscribe to Private Fairway’s channel for further tips on using technology to improve your golf game.

Summary: Using a taller tee can significantly increase your carry distance off the tee, as demonstrated by TrackMan data. Amateurs are encouraged to test different tee heights with launch monitor technology to optimize their drives.

Full Video Transcription

Hi, this is Craig with Private Fairway, and I'm an amateur golfer just like you. And I asked myself the question, what if I could have the same technology the pros have? So at Private Fairway, we have TrackMan, just like all the pros use week-to-week on tour.

And we're helping amateur golfers like me and like you get better. You ever wonder when you're teeing the ball up at the driver, should you use a long tee, these blue 3 1⁄4-inch ones, or should you use a short tee, these red ones that are short?

Probably most of us use the one in the middle, but I want to show you how you can use TrackMan to figure out which tee can help you get the most distance out of your drive. The first one are these, the ones I hit with the short tee. So you can see the ones I hit with the short tee, my average club head speed was 96.

2 mph, ball speed 140, and my average carry distance was 230 yards. My average total distance, 263. 9, so 264 yards total distance. And on average, I finished 40 feet right of the center line, so a little bit of a push fade, but I always hit them with that.

So a couple of things to also notice, my attack angle was up on the ball, that's what I try to do, and spin was 2,700 rpms, and then the launch angle for that short tee was 13 degrees. So what's the difference if I go to the taller tee? So let's look at these four shots I hit with the taller tee.

Club speed's about the same, 96 versus 96. 2. Ball speed is actually a little bit better, mostly because I think I hit it more in the center of the club, or a little higher on the face than low on the face that you hit with that little short tee.

Height, my average height was 100 feet, and I'm trying to remember what the other one was, versus 73 feet. So the ball went actually 25 feet, 27 feet higher in the air on average. And my carry distance is 249 versus 231. Now the total distance of 275 is only 12 yards between the two.

But you know, the reality is the distance you can count on is carry distance, because you never know the conditions of where the ball's going to land, is it going to roll out or not.

A couple other interesting things you can look at, if you wanted to look at launch angle, that's 16 degrees with the taller tee versus 13 degrees with the shorter tee. And you can also look at landing angle. For example, we could add landing angle in here. I just have to find it. Okay, here we go, landing angle.

So landing angle with the taller tee is 36 degrees, that's how it's landing. And with the shorter tees it should be shallower, 30 degrees, which is going to give us a little bit more.

You can see I get, well, what do we get, 33 degrees with a rollout with the short tee, versus roughly 25 degrees, or 25 yards of rollout with the longer tee.

But overall distance has improved, all of the things being equal, ball speed, club speed, all those things being pretty close to the same, you're going to pick up, I picked up almost 20 yards carry distance with the longer tee.

So next time you're working on your golf game, consider looking at that longer tee, and see how that might work. And if you really want to compare, find yourself a TrackMan facility like Private Fairway. If you like this video, hit the subscribe button.

We'll be posting more videos about how TrackMan and other technology can help the average golfer.