I tend to struggle hitting short irons off a tee, and I was looking for some advice from the forum. I'm a 15 and have recently realised that I strike my short irons more consistently from the fairway than on par 3s, and I'm not sure whether this is a technical point or more of a personal mindset issue. Its possible that I become more tense on a short iron from the tee for some reason (audience?) and more prone to a bad swing - my misses can be either hitting it thin or (very!) fat.

- Is there any advantage in using a tee when hitting 8i / 9i / PW on a par 3, or are you generally best just hitting off the turf?

- When hitting a short iron off a tee, are there any setup or swing adjustments I should adopt? How about for longer irons?

im no pro so please ask them as well. That being said the greatest of all time said always use a tee. Its an advantage. If it wasnt youd be allowed to tee it anywhere on the course. Why not give yourself the best lie possible?

Personally, I hit my wedges poorly off a tee on short par 3s, I now just make sure I have a good lie and don't use a tee at all. It's a mental thing for sure in that I alter my swing and don't take normal divots (I seem to try to pick it clean off the tee), but its an easy fix for me and I just don't tee it up. On the other hand I hit hybrids and 3 wood miles better off a short tee, and mid irons kinda could go either way, so I just know myself I guess and make the adjustments.

yep, i heard tigers opinion on this once and he recommends always using a tee in this situation. golf is hard enough as it is, take every advantage you can get. and if you really believe teeing up is more difficult for you then ldo dont tee it up.

Tee it up, just lower. All you are trying to do is give yourself a perfect fairway lie.

Agree that no doubt the mental aspect is most of it. I have gotten to where I rarely use tees for anything but a driver and prefer it that way, but my typical swing arc is to hit down on a ball rather than pick it so to have a ball on a tee really wouldn't do me any favors and would presumably result in diminished results by hitting higher on the face.

I of course will use a tee if the teeing ground is ratty and uneven, and as it is I generally try to set it up on top of grass anyway which is akin to teeing it really low.

"Air offers less resistance than dirt."

Tee it juuust barely above the ground. The ball should pretty much look like it is sitting on the grass but in reality is teed just above it to give you just that little bit of extra assurance that you will make solid contact.

I tee my irons about 1/4" above ground and don't make any swing adjustment. Just hit it as if it's sitting on the ground. At address, my clubface rests on the ground as I do with all shots* even driver. So I'm not hovering at the ball or anything. My address starts at the very bottom so mentally it's as if that's where the ball is anyway.

I would say my follow through feels different though. But the results are always better. I sometimes straight-pull my fairway irons but almost always hit 6i-Wedges straight off a tee. No idea why.

Try hitting it off the ground and see how you like it. Just b/c it's better for most people doesn't mean you have to force yourself to do it. See if it works.

*except if I'm hitting out of a dry hazard or bunker of course. I do my best to not ground it at all.

Ehhhhhhhh teeing it any measurable distance off the ground seems like a terrible strategy. Makes it harder to hit down on the ball and still strike the ball in the center of the clubface. Up 1/4 inch means you're more likely to catch the ball high on the face and have the ball come off dead and end up 30 yards short

Not for high handicaps. High handicappers generally don't control low point very well; it generally happens behind the ball because of the weight being too far back and not having the ability to maintain lag. Most high cappers do better with it teed up because you can sweep it off the tee even if the low point of the swing already happened. It reinforces bad habits, but thats why it works.

It might not be 1/4" high. Could be less I mean I've never measured it. It's definitely not level with the dirt though.

I almost never hit tee'd irons short, and definitely not by 30 yards. I'm more likley to slice it 30 yards than come up that far short. Generally I'd say I get about 1/2 club extra distance when teeing as compared to hitting off the deck.

But yeah I have noticed plenty of tee stumps that look basically level with the dirt. I'm a high HC and wouldn't try that.

If I'm hitting a wedge into a par-3 I just take some broken half-tee off the ground and tee it low--it's not really any higher than it would be if it were directly on the grass, I'm just giving myself a good lie.

But if you hit it better without a tee, then hit it without a tee ldo.

jack says always tee it up, OBEY!

sometimes when I'm lazy and feeling confident about my ball striking I won't tee it up...But other than that I would tee it all the time.

There is a par 3 at my course that if I hit a full pitching wedge I will just fly the green but if I hit a gap wedge or a sand wedge depending on where the flag is I almost end up short. I cannot afford to do this as there is a bunker in front and a ditch that runs all along the front of the green.

I said in another thread though I only really like doing short pitches with my gap sand and lob wedge, I have the mizzy mp10 wedges and my pitching wedge come with my irons which has a cavity back which gives me a bit more confidence that I know is going to go the right distance, With the mp10s I have to hit clean and also I never know what type of flight I'm going to get on it.