Does the tee itself affect your shot?

[azgreg]

People often overlook that the tee was the most revolutionary piece of equipment introduced to golf.

No.
The most important equipment decision you'll ever make

 

[warbirdlover]

Tees are useful - they hold the ball off the ground, they can be used to clean the grooves on your clubface, pick hot dog spooge out of your teeth, mark the best shot spot for your scramble team, leave all kinds of interesting marks on the bottom of your driver. What they don't do is affect the flight or distance of your shot.

They can effect your shot if you don't put them in the ground correctly.

 

[SirMixALot]

Clarification: My buddy was talking about using an iron, so the ball is hit into the tee, not the club hitting the tee. I just can't see there being any effect, given the weight and forces involved.

 

[PaPaD]

Clarification: My buddy was talking about using an iron, so the ball is hit into the tee, not the club hitting the tee. I just can't see there being any effect, given the weight and forces involved.

I would agree. Seems like the ball would be on its way before the club strikes the tee.

 

[eclark53520]

Clarification: My buddy was talking about using an iron, so the ball is hit into the tee, not the club hitting the tee. I just can't see there being any effect, given the weight and forces involved.

Ball tee interaction is extremely slight. Although it feels like you're hitting the ball down into the tee, that's not what's actually happening. The loft of the club makes the ball exit up from the shot. The 'pinching' the ball between the club and ground is merely a teaching tool to get novice golfers to understand the movements involved in a proper iron swing. Yes, the club needs to be on a negative angle of attack, however, the ball is not accelerated in a downward fashion at any point (assuming proper contact with the club and not a super thin shot).

In the following video the angle of attack is pretty severely negative, however, the ball never moves in a downward fashion. It's immediately accelerated up upon contact with the face of the club. Same would happen on a tee, it's immediately lifted off the tee upon contact with the club.

EDIT: Here's an even better example

 

[TEA Time]

I leave hotdog spooge in my teeth...

Hotdog spooge is not the same as hot dog spooge.

Just to clarify...

 

[azgreg]

Clarification: My buddy was talking about using an iron, so the ball is hit into the tee, not the club hitting the tee. I just can't see there being any effect, given the weight and forces involved.

A little known golfer by the name of Jack Nicklaus said:

I always felt that air had less resistance than dirt. What puzzles me is when players take a tee, jam it all the way in the ground and then put the ball on top of it. Why is the tee there? You have the opportunity on a par 3 to tee it up, so why not take advantage of that and give yourself the best lie possible. In the fairway, when the ball sits on the ground, you might hit it thin or fat. But if you tee the ball a little higher on a par 3, you can make more of a sweeping swing, and you've just eliminated the two things you don't want to happen.

 

[TEA Time]

A little known golfer by the name of Jack Nicklaus said:

This. One of the first things I learned in junior golf is to tee it up on par 3s to give yourself a "perfect lie."

 

[PaPaD]

Hotdog spooge is not the same as hot dog spooge.

Just to clarify...

Thanks for that. Hot dog spooge doesn't get caught in your teeth like hotdog spooge.

 

[SirMixALot]

Hot dog = ewwwwww


Thanks Eclark, I love super slow mo! Case closed....

 

[subsonic]

WTF, man?!

geezers need to pay for golf somehow...

 

[vincequest]

Don't know how this thread got to hotdogs... but I think if you're blaming your shot on the tee, you're just lookin for an excuse!

 

[SirMixALot]

lol! No, there's is no excuse for my slice. I did find a tee Monday, it had an 'S' on the top of a really small head, just big enough to touch about 3 dimples of the ball. I couldn't get the ball to stay. Next time someone asks me for a tee, that's what they will get.

 

[Fairwaysplitter3320]

lol! No, there's is no excuse for my slice. I did find a tee Monday, it had an 'S' on the top of a really small head, just big enough to touch about 3 dimples of the ball. I couldn't get the ball to stay. Next time someone asks me for a tee, that's what they will get.

Those are the tees I use. They are called Stingers. I use the medium head, the tiny head is useless.

 

[eclark53520]

I just do this...