How Pros Pick Where To Tee Up Their Ball | The Game Plan | Golf Digest

Teeing up your ball. You do it on every hole, and yet we typically don't put too much thought into it. However, for pros, it's arguably one of the most critical decisions they make when staring a hole. It's all about angles and degrees. How do you create a miss buffer to avoid disaster? How do give yourself the tiniest of advantages before you even hit your tee shot? In this episode of The Game Plan, Golf Digest Senior Editor Luke Kerr-Dineen dives into the data of the often unrealized tee box strategy Tour Pros use to avoid disaster and shave strokes off a round.

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[beng]

The issue for most amateurs is that most tee boxes on your local course are not evenly flat, where as on championship courses most if not all are evenly flat.

It doesn’t matter where your position is on the tee box as an amateur if your ball is slightly above or below your feet. Ultimately you need to be on a level plain in order to hit the best shots off the tee

[KyKicks]

Please keep doing these videos. Best on YT

[Aaron-vtgh]

Ha! You guys thought I have a stock shot

[johnnyallen]

I was initially confused by this. I have always hit a left to right ball flight and used the right hand side of the tee. Using the left does feel like I have a smaller target.

I drew my own diagram and I the vid is correct in some cases. But, I don’t think all misses are the same. Measuring misses by how many degrees offline they are fails to capture an important part of the tee shot; where it is aimed.

(The following is explained using a L-R ball flight) When I drew the diagram I saw that teeing up on the right gives you more margin for error on a miss where you hit your target line, but over fade the ball. Teeing up on the left gives you a bigger margin if for missing the target line. So, you should tee up on different sides depending on the type of miss you usually hit.

This was pretty quick analysis so please correct me if i’m mistaken (my scorecards will thank you!)

[shredderbarry]

Where to Tee up on the courses I play is determined by finding the flattest part of the box.

[andrewpark]

Thank you for this video. I preach this to all my students, but most forget the importance of teeing it up on different sides. Nick Price was the best at this, especially during the GC playing lessons by the pros.

[yaakovbelfer]

Is there anyone else in love with this giys voice ??!! Best golf videos on YouTube !!

[heavyarms]

Please more game plan videos. Help me understand and decrease my points with about 10 shots. lol

[allikesgolf]

Is there a written paper/blog post somewhere that details this concept? The conclusion is counter-intuitive to me. By teeing up on the opposite side of your miss area but keeping the target the same, you have effectively made your aim line point closer to the side you are trying to protect against. Is the advantage of starting farther away greater than the disadvantage of a start line that points more toward the miss area? Are there resources that discuss this concept in greater depth?

[steventaylor]

This actually confused me. I was always taught if you want to hit the ball left to right, you start on the right hand side of the tee box and if you want to hit the ball right to left, you start on the left hand side of the tee box.

[benmullins]

I assumed people just did this instinctively, it’s so much nicer on the eyes teeing up far right to hit a cut

[chetranqui]

So... pros generally tee it up on the same side as their miss, thus aiming at the same point gives them a greater miss buffer... however, we shouldn't because... we now know better? Direction unclear. Please try again. Which one are we supposed to do? You skipped a few logic steps in the middle somewhere.

[RBlack]

I’m just out here tryna find the most flat area of the tee box so I’m not playing a drive 6 inches above my feet 😅

[seanshields]

So right hand, hit a draw, start on left side. Hit a fade start on right side?

[vicpnut]

For my slice ive always(usually) gone to the right side and aimed left …thinking is, if i slice theres a chance it wont make it into the right woods when taking off towards left edge ..and, if i hit the dreaded straight ball theres a chance im in the first cUt or not to far in the left rough …. Problem is lately i cant even depend on my slice and ill occasionally snap hook that left aimed Ball 😂

[sipadip]

Can someone explain all the divots in the middle of the tee box? lol, I doubt all players are using the strategy. I think the strategy comes into play when you have to factor your shot vs hole layout and obstacles which is different for everyone.

[Goldenye]

I feel like this didn’t make any sense. I also feel like the advice changed mid video even before the section about wind. This is probably why I can’t get better than an 18 handicap

[MrMentalmastership]

But you are articles are the best, but maybe some more related to the average handicap 12-22 really it is that high!, tour pros are a complete different story

[cauliflowerpete]

Imagine if the average golf course actually had flat, level tee boxes.

[felixgrebert]

Can someone please explain miss buffer? This doesnt make sense to me. Teeing left gives you more room right? How?