Tees – High vs Low; does it really matter?

This is a topic that creates healthy debate and confusion amongst kickers.

It comes as no surprise given the variety of tees players are using, plus those available for purchase. In this post I want to address the question of ‘should I be kicking off a high or low tee?’ plus offer some clarity to other relevant questions.

So... My answer without a doubt – a lower tee.

I know what some of you high tee advocates are thinking… kicking off a high tee works for me!!! I know, I’ll get to answering that statement soon.

The reason for my answer of kicking off a lower tee is very simple.

The higher the tee, the more you move away from a natural leg swing.

The more unnatural your leg swing becomes the more adjustments you need to make to your technique in order to kick the ball, and this leads to a reduced likelihood of progressing your ability to an advanced level.

I’ll give you two examples.

Firstly, shift your attention to the game of soccer (or football for my European friends) for a moment. If I were to stand a rugby ball up next to a soccer ball and compare the location of the sweet spot between the two, it would be roughly the same height.

Now we know in soccer that around 99% of all kicks are made from off the ground, some are low drive kicks, some are high and curling, and some travel a considerable distance – 60m plus! Yes folks 60m plus; all from off the ground!

Now if it hasn’t become obvious already, I ask the question… Why do we even need to kick off a tee??? Our soccer playing counterparts can do it off the ground no problem; the location of the sweet spot for them is roughly equal if not slightly lower to the ground, so why do we continue to see rugby players teeing the ball up on ‘tower’ tees?

Well I’ll give you the answers…

“So I can get more height on the ball” or “I kick the ground when I use a lower tee”.

Sound familiar? Well those answers don’t totally wash with me.

The picture at the top is of me making a 50m field goal – off the ground.

I think there is plenty of height on that ball too.

Secondly, as your leg swings through to make contact with the ball it will come to a point just prior to/and during contact where it will transition from descending to ascending. Meaning, as you foot passes the lowest point in it’s leg swing it now travels in and upward motion into your follow through and finish.

The lowest point of your leg swing is approximately the ankle of your non-kicking or plant foot. Now this is fairly low to the ground, and when you observe your kicking foot travel past this point, its sweet spot – the hard bone on the top of the arch, will be slightly higher than your ankle; however, this spot will not be any higher than where the sweet spot would be located on the ball.

The point – with correct foot positioning at contact, ankle locked with toes pointed out; there is no reason why proper contact with the ball can’t be made from off the ground.

Moving on to those who kick from a high tee ‘Because I tried it and it works for me’.

Firstly, please don’t get me wrong here, there are many good kickers who use a higher tee with very high success rates, and in some cases it is the better option for them, for example if they have very limited movement about the ankle joint due to an injury and cant find the correct foot position, or if they are an established player late in their career who have used a high tee for ever and a day, then the focus shifts to maximizing accuracy and distance within the realms of that tee and technique.

But my real issue here revolves around optimizing ones ability. Considering what is relative and what is absolute. Extracting the maximum out of someone from both a physical and mental perspective.

I’ve just completed my book for players and coaches about the art of kicking. Learn more about Kicking Essentials: The Ultimate Guide for Players and Coaches here.

Included is a section on the fundamental skills of kicking (some of which may come as surprise to many), where I discuss at length the application of each to your kicking technique, and the importance of them occurring if you desire to kick the ball with accuracy and distance.

With any skill, the “fundamentals” are the elements which form the basis or foundation for optimal execution; the things that need to happen; things which are absolute.

Relative things are the individual preferences of your technique, like how many approach steps you take, or what you do before you approach the ball. But it must be understood that if these individual preferences take you too far away from what is absolute, then your ability to perform optimally becomes compromised. 

I ask frankly, ‘How good do you want to be...?’

Sounds pretty full-on for just talking about the height of your tee right...

I am always keen to engage in discussion. Any thoughts on this topic? Please share below...