Mental Mondays: Tee Up On The Correct Side

Weekenders don’t often take full advantage of the tee box. Too often, players spike the ball down in the center of the teeing area, without regard for the shape of the hole or the location of the hazards. Worse, when they do set up to one side, it’s often the wrong one.

The natural inclination when presented with a hazard is to tee up as far away from the hazard as possible. Unfortunately, the natural inclination is also often the wrong one.

To maximize the geometry of a hole, a better strategy is to tee up on the same side as the hazard. Slicers and straight hitters then can aim at an angle diagonally away from the hazard, bringing the maximum amount of fairway into play. Hookers can aim parallel to the hazard and rely on their hook to curve the ball away back to the fairway. Either way, the geometry works for you.

More advice. On a dogleg left, tee off from the right. On a dogleg right, tee off from the left. Again, it’s all about the geometry.

Finally, all other things being equal, slicers should tee up on the right side, and play diagonally to the left side of the fairway. Hookers should tee up on the left side and play across to the right. In both cases, the idea is to play the ball so that it comes back into the fairway, rather than trying to prevent it from going out.

This tip is an excerpt from The Five Inch Course: Thinking Your Way To Better Golf. The complete book is available in Kindle format and paperback at Amazon.com, in http://bit.ly/JnPR6j” title=“Nook format”>Nook format at Barnes and Noble and in the iTunes bookstore.


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3 thoughts on “Mental Mondays: Tee Up On The Correct Side”

  1. It is usually about 3-4 yards wide at the most, which side of the tee box shouldn’t really make any difference, but it does!

    Reply
  2. This is great advice and something that I do every weekend on the golf course. For me playing a draw I always try to tee up on the far left of the tee box to get the best angle of the fairway.

    Reply

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