Ask three kickers what they kick off and you will get three answers — off the ground, a one-inch, a two-inch — and at least one of them is kicking off the wrong option for where they are right now. The tee is the first equipment decision you make in this position, and it quietly shapes your contact, your plant, and your whole development curve.
Disclosure: Some links below are affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them, at no extra cost to you. That support keeps Kickers of Earth going, and I only point you toward gear I would hand a teammate.
This guide walks through each option, who it belongs to, and — more important — how to know when it is time to move to the next one. Because the tee you outgrow is the tee that starts costing you yards.
The Three Setups You Will Actually Use
Everything in this sport sits somewhere on one line: how high the ball starts.
| Setup | Who it is for | Why it matters | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Off the ground | College, NFL, and advanced high school kickers | Hardest contact geometry — the ball sits still and your swing plane has to do all the work | Shop off-the-ground tees |
| 1-inch tee | High school kickers, transition phase | Halfway house — enough lift to keep contact clean while you adjust to a shallower strike | Shop 1-inch tees |
| 2-inch tee | Youth and younger high school kickers | Raises the ball to where a developing leg can compress it properly | Shop 2-inch tees |
A quick note on rules before anything else: tee use is governed by your level. NFL kickers are off the ground. College is off the ground. High school rules in most states allow a tee on field goals — often up to one inch, and some youth leagues allow two — but your state and league rulebook is the final word. Never buy a tee before you have confirmed what you are allowed to use on Friday night.
What Changes When the Tee Gets Smaller
Here is the thing nobody tells young kickers: the tee is not just about height. It changes the geometry of your whole kick.
On a two-inch tee, the ball sits above your natural contact zone, so your plant foot, your knee, and your swing all adjust upward to meet it. The strike is forgiving. Drop the ball to a one-inch and that margin shrinks. Go to the ground and now the ball sits where your swing plane actually lives — which means every small error in your plant or your path shows up in the flight.
That is why the ground feels harder at first, and why it matters. Off the ground, you cannot hide. The kickers who make that transition cleanly are the ones who let their technique rise to meet the smaller margin, not the ones who muscle through it.
Height on the ball changes too. A teed ball gives you a slightly higher launch point for free. Off the ground, height has to come from your contact point and your swing — which is exactly why some kickers lose height the day they move down, and why I wrote a whole guide on how to get more height on field goals.
The Signs It Is Time to Transition
The transition should be driven by your contact, not by your grade level. A freshman with a mature swing can handle the ground early. A junior still compressing a two-inch ball inconsistently should stay where the flight is clean. Watch for these signals:
- You are consistently compressing your current tee — flight is tight and the sound is clean.
- Your height on a make barely changes kick to kick.
- Your plant and balance hold up on back-to-back full-speed reps.
- Coaches start commenting on your operation speed, not your range.
When you check all four, the ball is ready to come down. When you only check one or two, dropping down early just teaches you to scoop and lunge at the ball — a habit that is miserable to un-learn later.
The tell I care about most is consistency of contact, not distance. Distance will come. A kicker who makes clean, repeatable strikes off a smaller tee is ready for the next one, whether that happens at fifteen years old or seventeen.
How to Actually Make the Move
Do not flip a switch and start chasing fifty-yarders the first week. The transition goes badly when the goals change faster than the mechanics.
A four-week plan that works:
- Week 1 — Split reps. Half your volume on the old tee, half on the new one. Chart every kick: height, rotation, and where it crossed the goal line.
- Week 2 — Short first. On the new tee, work inside 30 yards until your contact looks identical to the old tee. Range comes later; contact comes first.
- Week 3 — Add pressure. Keep the distances moderate but add consequences — makes and misses count, you chart yourself, you kick tired at the end of a workout.
- Week 4 — Full move. All reps on the new tee. Keep the old tee in your bag for a reset day, but your default is now the next level.
The whole time, film your kicks from behind and from the side. If your swing plane changes when the tee changes, slow down and fix the plane before you add distance. I cover the details of that film work in how to easily transition field goal tees, and if you want a second opinion on your mechanics, this is when a kicking coach is worth considering.
The Off-the-Ground Reality Check
Once you are on the ground, expect a dip. Almost every kicker loses a little height and a little consistency for a few weeks before they gain it back plus more. That dip is not a crisis. It is your swing plane learning a new job.
What helps: shorten your expectations before you lengthen your range. Make everything inside 30 automatic again. Then 35. Then the deep stuff starts showing up on its own, because your contact is finally clean enough to support it.
And keep the two tees honest in your head — if you ever go back to a teed ball for a camp or a youth event, do not panic when it feels easy. It is easy. The ground is where the real work happens.
Where This Leaves You
Pick the tee that matches your current contact, transition on evidence rather than age, and move down in stages with a plan. If you want the deeper mechanics behind why that transition feels so different, I put the whole swing picture in my book, The Art of Kicking — grab the book on Amazon here or get the ebook on Gumroad (code KOE takes 10% off). Then read the off-the-ground vs tee transition guide next — it is the natural sequel to this one.
