Golf Tips - The Art of Teeing Off the Ball

Are you one of many players who just stick the tee in the ground and set a ball on it without considering the height?

There is an art to teeing the ball. It can make a difference in the flight, and the spin of the ball. Prior to the invention of the wooden tee it was really an art. The player had to make his own tee constructed from wet sand. At each teeing ground there would be a tee box. This box would have two sections - one for a bucket of water, and the other section a bucket of sand. To form a tee, a player would place a gob of wet sand in the palm of his hand and by curling his thumb around the sand would form a mound that would be shaped like a teepee. The height was adjusted by the pressure in setting the ball on it.

With the wooden tee it is so much easier not only to tee the ball, but to obtain the desired height.

Following are a few tips that should help in teeing the ball just right:

• Swings are different so you may have to adjust - but as a general rule when using the Driver, tee the ball high enough so that at least half of the ball is above the top edge of the clubface. If the ball is teed too low the ball is contacted too low on the clubface resulting in a "thin" or possibly topped shot. And when teeing too high the ball is contacted on the upper portion of the face creating a "skied" shot - or high floater.
• On a par three always use a tee. Push the tee into the ground until the head is just above the ground. This will give more solid contact, creating more backspin on your shots.

Teeing secret: For lower trajectory, lean the tee forward. For a higher trajectory, lean the tee slightly backwards.