The secret teeing trick tour pros use for better drives – and why you should copy it

You might never be able to hit drives quite like a tour pro, but you can copy how they tee up their golf ball to improve your tee shots.

Most golfers know that choosing the best golf ball for your game can make a huge difference to performance, but how much attention do you pay to how you tee up your ball?

Lots of golfers make use of alignment aids on their golf ball when putting, whether that’s a pre-printed Triple Track or a hand-drawn Sharpie line. But few players realize how much golf ball markings can help on tee shots, too, giving you an easy aid for alignment, angle of attack, and club path, while providing feedback on your ball striking.

Aside from putting or winter rules, the tee box is the only time you can pick up your ball and therefore make use of any alignment markings on it.

It’s something most professional golfers take advantage of, and whilst teeing your ball up like a pro won’t take you from shooting 140 to playing on the PGA Tour, it’s such an easy way to give yourself a little extra help.

But how can markings on your golf ball help you hit better tee shots?

Step 1: you’ve got to draw the line somewhere

Draw a line around your golf ball. You can choose to have it around the entire circumference of the ball or just a portion. Some golfers find a misaligned line distracting on approach shots, when you don’t have the freedom to pick up your ball and point it at your target, which is why many favour a line that only goes round 1/4 or 1/3 of the ball.

I’d recommend using a guide to draw your line, unless you have hands as steady as Tiger Woods. Which, let’s face it, you probably don’t.

Step 2: decide what you want help with

There are several ways you can use your line.

The straight line

You can point it straight at your target to serve as a visual alignment aid, similar to what you might do on the putting green. An added benefit is that the line will be imprinted onto your clubface at impact, giving you visual feedback on where you struck it. If you notice you’re consistently hitting it out of the heel, for instance, you can make adjustments or at least know this is something to work on in your next lesson or practice session.

Pointing your line straight down the target is the most common approach, but there are other options you might not have considered, including one that’s popular among tour pros.

The equator

If you’re trying to create a more upwards angle of attack your driver, you can place the line horizontally (like the earth’s equator) and then focus on making impact below that line with an upwards strike. Several tour players use their line in this way, including Bob MacIntyre (pictured at the top of the page) and Tommy Fleetwood (pictured below).

The club path

If you’re trying to change your club path, you can angle the line so it’s pointing in-to-out or out-to-in – depending on what you’re trying to achieve –  and then focus on delivering your club to match that line.

If you want to help your club path and attack angle, just angle the line and tilt it, then focus on delivering your club along the line.

I’m not for a moment suggesting that a Sharpie line will instantly fix all of your swing flaws, but having such a clear thing to focus on can make a huge difference to how you deliver the club and has the added benefit of quieting those overly technical thoughts that typically only make matters worse.

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