How to hit Irons from a tee

It takes me a while to realize that I hit irons better in fairway than in tee box...

I can hit hybrid and wood a lot better with a short tee... but somehow I cannot hit irons properly with the small tee... hence I hit them without it nowadays..

Will the tee actually help our iron shot? How should we place our ball in relative to our normal position to take advantage of the small tee?

then dun use the tee at the tee box..

Jack Nicklaus always preach using a tee whenever you are at the tee box. He says that to use every piece of advantage whenever you can.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think SH mentioned this before - use a shorter tee and tee the ball lower when hitting an iron. How low? Just enough where the ball sits above the grass but not so low that it makes no difference without the tee.

I find that the mind plays a part in teeing off with an iron especially on a par 4. Many times when you are using an iron off the tee, your mindset and strategy is to 'play safe'. Because of that, the swing is in a 'defensive' mode and your tempo might change...leading to a chance of deceleration during the downswing.

Go ahead n hit those irons agressively even when hitting off a par 4. You need every yard you can get with that club.

S70B wrote:

Jack Nicklaus always preach using a tee whenever you are at the tee box. He says that to use every piece of advantage whenever you can.

no wonder u always talk smack to your opponents at the tee-box.....

My view is that a lot of people tends to tee up the ball too high for iron shots.
That will not give them a chance to compress the ball to the ground.
But if you dun use tee, there will be chances that you might duff your shot a bit, which leave your ball short. (especially on par 3)
Just tee up a little to make the lie better then normal will do... Good Luck!

Errr... Being a novice, I might be wrong but I don't think you can compress the ball to the ground as the ground is way too soft. The compression comes from the clubface that hit the ball. The divots are the results of club scraping the ground after hitting the ball (the ball should have taken off by then). Hence the golf experts always say divots should be after the ball and not behind the ball.

practise tee-ing up at range, repeat on course.

slinger wrote:

S70B wrote:

Jack Nicklaus always preach using a tee whenever you are at the tee box. He says that to use every piece of advantage whenever you can.

no wonder u always talk smack to your opponents at the tee-box.....

Only to you leh.

watermyforrest wrote:

Errr... Being a novice, I might be wrong but I don't think you can compress the ball to the ground as the ground is way too soft. The compression comes from the clubface that hit the ball. The divots are the results of club scraping the ground after hitting the ball (the ball should have taken off by then). Hence the golf experts always say divots should be after the ball and not behind the ball.

Bro wmf, i agreed to wat you've said too. I am trying to say that we need to have a Feel that we are hitting down on the ball, trying to trap the ball between the club face and the ground (even though it may not seem possible).

Tee up.....imagine want to take divot...then.....whack......

I think my problem lies is not be able to imagine hitting down when I tee up...

Cause you know the ball is a bit higher hence want to sweep it instead of hitting it down...
I think the best is to try on the range first....

watermyforrest wrote:

Errr... Being a novice, I might be wrong but I don't think you can compress the ball to the ground as the ground is way too soft. The compression comes from the clubface that hit the ball. The divots are the results of club scraping the ground after hitting the ball (the ball should have taken off by then). Hence the golf experts always say divots should be after the ball and not behind the ball.

It is possible to compress the ball between club and ground. Takes some geting used to, and the feeling is weird. Ball flight is also lower, spin rates seem higher, ball drops and stops (at least that is that case with anything shorter than a 5i for me). I'm not able to pull it off all the time, but the 'trick' is to maintain a flat left wrist THROUGH impact

Personally, I don't tee the ball up in the tee box. no point, since I play it at the tee box the same way as I play it off the fairway. With a tee, my mentality switches to trying to 'flip' the ball into the air

NOwadays I also have a tendency not to tee up for the irons...

Feels more liberating and feels like I can compress the ball better. Just a visual

eh bro, go check your email, found you something TASTY

Tastier than Swiss Chocolate?

Off topic but BTW bro, this place is incredibly beautiful

I hit my irons on the fairways pretty decently but never hit divots, watching from the telly when the pros play they almost always seem to take a divot something i never manage to do. Could i be contacting the ball wrongly?

riverdeity wrote:

I hit my irons on the fairways pretty decently but never hit divots, watching from the telly when the pros play they almost always seem to take a divot something i never manage to do. Could i be contacting the ball wrongly?

Possible reasons :

1. Ball positioned too forward of your stance for short / mid irons.
2. You are hitting 'up' instead of hitting 'down. At impact, your left wrist
should not be cupped, if it is, you are hitting 'up' which may also lead to
topping the ball.

I position my ball for wedges and 9,8 in the middle and probably just 1 ball size left for 6 and 7 irons. is that the right position??

-->2:
That actually makes sense, have been told time and time again that my wrist should be more flexy and not soo stiff

riverdeity wrote:

I position my ball for wedges and 9,8 in the middle and probably just 1 ball size left for 6 and 7 irons. is that the right position??

-->2:
That actually makes sense, have been told time and time again that my wrist should be more flexy and not soo stiff

Positioning of the ball along the stance varies from one golfer to another. A golfer blessed with very 'strong' or 'fast' hip may have to play the ball more upfront and vice-versa for the opposite. There is no fixed rules on where everyone golfers should position their ball accordingly to the number on what the club says. Henceforth the 'right' ball position is determined by individual golfers through trial and error leading to what gives your the best result.

Correct swing plane also plays an important part in ensuring good ball striking. 99 percent of casual golfers do not swing the club on plane and that's when many complications will derive from. Swing along 'the line of direction' will help you to possibly be on plane and the rests will take care of itself.

white tee par 3s are short use mostly mid to short irons even wedge. No need to tee. Pros par3 often over 200 yards.

Just hit it as if the tee is not there. You still need a descending down swing like when u are hitting from the deck.

riverdeity wrote:

I hit my irons on the fairways pretty decently but never hit divots, watching from the telly when the pros play they almost always seem to take a divot something i never manage to do. Could i be contacting the ball wrongly?

Address position plus the angle of attack (impact) play an important role in the above. Make sure you are executing a descending blow on the down swing. I would suggest you slow down your down swing initially to accurately contact the ball first ...

Hope the above helps ...

riverdeity wrote:

I hit my irons on the fairways pretty decently but never hit divots, watching from the telly when the pros play they almost always seem to take a divot something i never manage to do. Could i be contacting the ball wrongly?

Address position of the ball plus angle of attack (impact) are vital in creating a divot after contact the ball.

riverdeity wrote:

I hit my irons on the fairways pretty decently but never hit divots, watching from the telly when the pros play they almost always seem to take a divot something i never manage to do. Could i be contacting the ball wrongly?

Just curious, if you are getting good contact (not thin all the time), and the ball is going the direction and distance you want it to go ... why are you worrying about it?

taskie wrote:

It takes me a while to realize that I hit irons better in fairway than in tee box...

I can hit hybrid and wood a lot better with a short tee... but somehow I cannot hit irons properly with the small tee... hence I hit them without it nowadays..

Will the tee actually help our iron shot? How should we place our ball in relative to our normal position to take advantage of the small tee?

I'm not really qualified to give any advice, but just wondering how high do you tee up for your iron shots of the tee?