2 October 2026 · 8 min read
Driver tee shot for beginners: tee height, ball position, strike point and a 30-ball test
About 1.5 inches of tee height, an angle of attack of plus 3 instead of minus 5 degrees and the smash factor 1.48: the numbers for the driver tee shot, and a 30-ball test.
The driver is the club beginners respect most, and the one that can be measured most. This post takes on five things that decide the tee shot: the tee height, the ball position, the strike point on the face, the alignment and the rule at the tee. On top comes a test with 30 balls that you do yourself in one bay hour. The numbers come from PGA Deutschland, TrackMan, a poll of 100 golf teachers and the Rules of Golf.
What counts at the tee, in this order
In its learning material on opening the hole PGA Deutschland names an order. First comes distance, which according to the material is the performance-deciding factor in golf. Then comes reliability and repeatability, so that you actually profit from the distance. Direction control becomes a topic only when both are good. For the time being it is satisfied when the ball stays in play. For you that means: first a shot that often finds the fairway, then a longer one, then a straighter one.
The tee height
The rule of thumb is simple. Stand the club on its sole behind the ball and look at the top edge of the face. About half the ball should stand above it. That is around 1.5 inches, about 38 millimetres. The rule comes from a poll of the 100 best teachers of Golf magazine (golf.com). The same source names about 0.5 inches for the 3-wood and about 0.25 inches for an iron:
| Club | Tee height in inches | in millimetres |
|---|---|---|
| Driver | about 1.5 | about 38 |
| 3-wood | about 0.5 | about 13 |
| Iron | about 0.25 | about 6 |
The tee height changes the swing. A higher tee forces you to hit shallower and from below, a lower one demands a steeper angle because you only reach the ball with a downward blow (golf.com). Anyone who tees too low loses, according to Madknows quoting a MyGolfSpy test, 14.19 yards of carry, about 13 metres, and gains 326 revolutions per minute of backspin (Madknows). That is a figure from a single test, but the trend is the one the post Choosing a driver loft describes with the TrackMan numbers: more spin costs distance.
Ball position and angle of attack
The driver does not hit the ball from above. PGA Deutschland says: for a shot in which the ball is to be hit on the upswing, an angle of attack of plus 3 degrees is more favourable for maximum distance than one of minus 5 degrees. With an iron from hard ground it is exactly the other way round. That is why the ball sits further forward with the driver than with an iron; the post Golf setup position shows the position step by step.
TrackMan measures on average on the PGA Tour an angle of attack of minus 0.9 degrees, on the LPGA Tour of plus 2.8 degrees (TrackMan). The PGA Tour therefore hits the driver slightly downward, the LPGA Tour slightly upward. If your angle of attack on the launch monitor shows minus 4 degrees, you are steeper, and tee height and ball position are the first screws to turn before you change the swing.
The strike point on the face
The smash factor measures how cleanly you strike: ball speed divided by clubhead speed. An example from PGA Deutschland: 100 mph clubhead and 140 mph ball give 1.4, at 150 mph ball it is 1.5. The value to aim for with the driver is 1.48. Ten mph of difference make around 20 yards or 18 metres of carry on a drive.
What a miss costs is shown by measurements with TrackMan that the material reproduces. At 100 mph in the middle of the face the face is 2 mph faster ¾ inch towards the toe, almost 3 mph slower towards the heel and 2 mph slower ½ inch above the middle. Besides, the gear effect turns the ball on an off-centre strike: with a driver with a straight face the spin axis tilts by about 20 degrees at one inch from the middle, and at a carry of around 225 metres that is a sideways deviation of about 30 metres. One dimple from the middle tilts the axis by about 6 degrees and gives about 9 metres of deviation.
| Where you strike | Result according to PGA Deutschland, with a straight face without bulge |
|---|---|
| middle of the face | best energy transfer, smash factor close to 1.48 |
| one dimple off the middle | spin axis tilted about 6 degrees, about 9 metres sideways at 225 metres of carry |
| one inch off the middle | spin axis tilted about 20 degrees, about 30 metres sideways at 225 metres of carry |
The numbers show the order of magnitude, not your driver. The strike point is therefore a number you can read off the smash factor. How the launch monitor measures it and what the other values mean is explained in Understanding launch monitor numbers.
The alignment
The club swings roughly in the direction in which you are aligned. PGA Deutschland describes what then happens: if the ball does not fly to the target, the player gradually changes the alignment and gets used to one that has little to do with the target any more. And anyone wanting to hit a teed ball extremely far often stands very closed to the ball. So if your driver runs off to the right or left, first check where your shoulders and feet point. The face angle decides about 85 percent of the start direction of the ball with the driver.
The rule at the tee
At the tee you play from a tee in or on the ground or from the ground itself (Rule 6.2b, R&A). The ball stands in the teeing area, the first player places it between the tee markers or at most two club lengths behind them. If you play from outside the teeing area, in stroke play there are two penalty strokes and you must replay the stroke from inside, otherwise disqualification threatens if you do not correct the error before the next hole. In match play there is no penalty, but the opponent may have the stroke cancelled. What the first tee feels like and how to handle the nerves is in The first tee and nerves.
The 30-ball test at the simulator
The numbers above are averages. You find your own in one hour in the bay. Three tee heights, ten balls each with the driver: a quarter of the ball above the top edge of the face, a half, three quarters. After each block write down five values: carry, launch angle, angle of attack, spin and smash factor. The block with the highest smash factor and the best carry is your tee height. If the angle of attack points strongly downward in all three blocks, it is down to the ball position, and the test continues with the ball further forward.
For the driver to have room in the bay, the space needs height, which Room height and dimensions describes. If you want more clubhead speed the table in Measuring and raising clubhead speed helps, and if the ball runs to the right Correcting a slice with numbers shows which number to change.
More on this: How to hit a fairway wood and a hybrid.
Where you can test the driver
The golf simulator near me page shows you the nearest venue, the map all of them by canton, and the prices for an hour are on golf simulator prices. Anyone who prefers to work on the numbers with a pro finds the venues with coaching under indoor golf training. For the very first visit golf simulator for beginners is the start.
Frequently asked questions
How high do I tee the driver?
About half the ball should stand above the top edge of the face when you rest the driver on its sole behind the ball. That is around 1.5 inches or 38 millimetres. The rule comes from a poll of the 100 best teachers of Golf magazine.
What is a good smash factor with the driver?
The value to aim for according to PGA Deutschland is 1.48. You calculate ball speed divided by clubhead speed: 100 mph clubhead and 150 mph ball give 1.5, at 140 mph ball it is 1.4.
Why does my driver fly to the right or left?
First check the alignment: the club swings roughly in the direction in which you are aligned, and the face decides about 85 percent of the start direction with the driver. A strike off the middle also tilts the spin axis, one inch from the middle by about 20 degrees.
May I play a tee shot from outside the teeing area?
In stroke play it costs two penalty strokes and you must replay the stroke from inside, otherwise disqualification threatens if you do not correct the error before the next hole. In match play there is no penalty, but the opponent may have the stroke cancelled (Rule 6.2b).
How do I find my best tee height?
With a test at the simulator: three tee heights with ten balls each, a quarter, a half and three quarters of the ball above the top edge of the face. Note carry, launch angle, angle of attack, spin and smash factor. The height with the highest smash factor and the best carry is yours.
Sources
- PGA Deutschland: Lernunterlage Golftechnik (März 2019) (Spieleröffnung, Eintreffwinkel, Smash-Faktor, Treffpunkt, Gear-Effekt, Ausrichtung)
- golf.com: Are you teeing the ball up at the correct height? (Umfrage unter den Top 100 Teachers, 1,5 Zoll, Halbball-Regel)
- Madknows: Golf Tee Height Chart (zitiert einen MyGolfSpy-Test, 14,19 Yards Carry und 326 rpm Spin bei zu tiefem Tee)
- TrackMan: Attack Angle (Durchschnitt PGA Tour minus 0,9 Grad, LPGA Tour plus 2,8 Grad beim Driver)
- R&A: Regel 6, Spielen einer Bahn (6.2b, Abschlagsbereich) (Tee oder Boden, Strafe ausserhalb des Abschlagsbereichs)
- PGA of America: First Swing, Golfer's Guide (erster Spieler setzt den Ball zwischen oder höchstens zwei Schlägerlängen hinter die Markierungen)
- Swiss Golf Simulators: eigene Einträge (Anlagen mit Simulator und Coaching, Stand Oktober 2026)