1-Inch vs 2-Inch Kicking Tee: Which One Do You Actually Need?
One inch sounds like nothing. On a kicking tee, it changes your launch angle, your contact point, and whether your tee is even legal on game day.
Short answer: use a 2-inch tee if you play high school football, and a 1-inch tee if you play college or professional football. Youth leagues generally allow 2 inches or taller. If you are only practising, the 1-inch tee will make you a better kicker faster — but the 2-inch tee will make you feel better about your kicks today.
That covers the decision for most people. The rest of this guide explains what that extra inch actually does to your ball flight, why it trips up kickers moving between levels, and how to train on both without confusing yourself.
📋 What’s in this guide
The Quick Verdict
If you want the decision made for you, here it is in one table.
| Your situation | Use this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| High school kicker | 2 inch | The common legal standard at that level |
| College kicker | 1 inch | The NCAA standard height |
| Youth football | 2 inch or taller | Extra lift helps developing kickers |
| High schooler targeting college | Both | Game-legal 2", plus 1" to build technique |
| Practising alone, any level | 1 inch | Exposes flaws instead of hiding them |
| Complete beginner | 2 inch | Early success keeps you going |
⚠️ Before you buy anything: confirm the current height rule with your coach or your state association. Rules are revised between seasons and vary by association. A tee that is legal in one league can draw a penalty in another.
What One Inch Actually Changes
An inch does not sound like much. But your foot is only making contact with the ball for a few thousandths of a second, and where it makes contact decides everything. Moving the ball up an inch moves your entire contact window.
It changes your launch angle
When the ball sits higher, your foot naturally meets it lower on the ball’s surface relative to its centre. Striking lower on a ball sends it up. So a 2-inch tee produces a steeper, higher trajectory with the same swing.
That is genuinely useful when you need to clear a line of tall players, or when a young kicker cannot yet generate enough leg speed to get the ball airborne on their own.
It changes your margin for error
This is the part people underestimate. On a 1-inch tee there is barely any room beneath the ball. Come in slightly low and you hit turf before ball — a chunked kick that goes nowhere.
On a 2-inch tee you have twice the clearance. Slightly low contact still catches ball rather than ground. The kick might not be perfect, but it will be respectable. For a developing kicker, that difference between “bad kick” and “acceptable kick” is the difference between sticking with it and giving up.
It changes what your practice teaches you
Here is the trade-off nobody mentions when you buy your first tee. A forgiving tee forgives — which means it also hides. If a 2-inch tee turns your mediocre strikes into decent kicks, you never find out your strikes are mediocre.
A 1-inch tee is a harsher coach. It tells you the truth about your contact on every single rep, whether you want to hear it or not.
The 1-Inch Tee in Detail
The 1-inch tee is the standard at the college and professional level. It lifts the ball just enough to clear the turf and no more.
What it does well
- It builds real technique. With almost no margin underneath, you have to strike cleanly. Kickers who train on 1-inch tees develop more precise contact because nothing else works.
- It produces a flatter, faster ball. Less launch angle means the ball gets to the target quicker — useful on field goals where a slow, high ball gives the rush time to get a hand up.
- It is stable. A low tee has a low centre of gravity, so it is less likely to be shifted by wind or a scuffed approach.
- It transfers upward. If college is the goal, the technique you build here is the technique you will need.
What makes it hard
- It is unforgiving. Low contact means turf first, and a chunked kick.
- You supply all the height. No help from the tee — lift comes from your technique alone.
- It can dent confidence. A beginner on a 1-inch tee will miss a lot early. Some quit before it clicks.
📚 Worth knowing: in college and the NFL, field goals and extra points are held by a holder rather than placed on a tee. The 1-inch tee at those levels is for kickoffs and practice. If you are a high school kicker moving up, you are also learning to work with a holder.
The 2-Inch Tee in Detail
The 2-inch tee is the common high school standard and the most widely used height in youth football.
What it does well
- It gets the ball up. The extra inch creates natural launch angle, which matters most for kickers still building leg strength.
- It forgives imperfect contact. Twice the clearance means slightly low strikes still produce usable kicks.
- It builds confidence quickly. More good outcomes early keeps young kickers engaged, and engagement is what produces improvement.
- It suits kickoffs. Height and hangtime matter more than a flat trajectory on kickoffs, and the extra lift helps.
What to watch out for
- It can mask flaws. Technique problems stay hidden because the tee compensates.
- It creates dependence. Years on a 2-inch tee calibrates your contact point to that height.
- It is illegal higher up. Too tall for college and pro play.
Head-to-Head Comparison
📏 1-Inch Tee
- College and pro standard
- Flatter, faster ball flight
- Very small margin for error
- Builds precise technique
- Stable in wind
- Can frustrate beginners
📏 2-Inch Tee
- Common high school standard
- Higher natural launch angle
- Forgiving of low contact
- Builds confidence fast
- Good for kickoff hangtime
- Can hide technique flaws
| Factor | 1-Inch Tee | 2-Inch Tee |
|---|---|---|
| Typical level | College, pro | High school, youth |
| Ball flight | Flatter, faster | Higher, more arc |
| Margin for error | Minimal | Roughly double |
| Best for | Field goal accuracy | Kickoff hangtime |
| Technique feedback | Brutally honest | Softened |
| Beginner friendly | No | Yes |
| Wind stability | Better | Good |
| Long-term development | Stronger | Needs a transition later |
Which Is Legal at Your Level?
Legality is the one factor that overrides every other consideration. The best tee in the world is worthless if an official makes you remove it.
| Level | Typical tee height | Field goals |
|---|---|---|
| NFL | 1 inch | Holder only |
| College (NCAA) | 1 inch | Holder only |
| High school | 2 inches (commonly) | Tee generally permitted |
| Youth | 2 inches or taller | Usually permitted |
⚠️ Treat this table as orientation, not authority. High school rules are set state by state and revised between seasons. One question to your head coach settles it permanently. Ask before you buy.
Moving From 2-Inch to 1-Inch
This transition catches out more kickers than almost anything else in the sport. A kicker dominates high school on a 2-inch tee, arrives at college, drops to 1 inch, and suddenly cannot get the ball up.
Nothing has happened to their leg. Their contact point is simply calibrated an inch too high. Every strike is now catching the ball slightly higher than intended, killing the launch angle.
How to make the switch cleanly
- Start early, not on arrival. Begin mixing in 1-inch reps at least a season before you need them. Cramming the adjustment into pre-season camp is how kickers lose depth-chart spots.
- Expect it to feel wrong. The first fifty kicks will feel low and heavy. That is your body recalibrating, not evidence that something is broken.
- Go back to short range. Drop to 20 yards and rebuild. Chasing distance during a technique change just embeds compensations.
- Film it from behind. The contact point change is nearly impossible to feel and obvious on video. Ten seconds of phone footage beats an hour of guessing.
- Give it three weeks. Most kickers who train consistently need two to three weeks before the 1-inch tee stops feeling foreign.
💡 The shortcut nobody uses: spend one session a week on a 1-inch tee from the moment you start kicking seriously, even if you play on 2 inches. The transition then never happens — you were always able to do both.
How to Train on Both Heights
Owning both tees is cheap and it is the single best setup for a developing kicker. But you have to be deliberate, because switching randomly mid-session teaches you nothing.
Keep them in separate blocks
Do all your 1-inch work, then all your 2-inch work. Do not alternate kick by kick. Your body needs a run of consistent reps to settle into a contact point.
Use the 1-inch for diagnosis
Start your session on the 1-inch tee while you are fresh. It tells you the truth about your strike that day. If you are catching turf repeatedly, that is real information about your plant foot and your approach.
Use the 2-inch for game prep
Finish on your game-legal height. The last impression your body takes into the week should match what you will face on Friday.
Track them separately
Log 1-inch and 2-inch results as different data sets. Blending them hides the pattern you actually want to see — whether the gap between them is closing. Our Training Progress Tracker makes that easy.
Mistakes Kickers Make With Tee Height
❌ 1. Buying the height a friend recommended
Your teammate plays a different level or a different position in the kicking game. Their tee is right for them.
✅ Fix: Buy for your league and your role, confirmed with your coach.
❌ 2. Practising all week on the wrong height
Training on 1 inch and playing on 2 inches — or the reverse — means your calibration is wrong at the only moment that counts.
✅ Fix: Always finish sessions on your game height.
❌ 3. Blaming your leg for a tee problem
Kickers switch height, lose distance, and conclude they have got weaker. They have not — they are mis-striking.
✅ Fix: After any height change, assume calibration before conditioning. Film from behind and check contact point.
❌ 4. Staying on the forgiving tee forever
The 2-inch tee feels better, so some kickers never touch a 1-inch. Their technique plateaus without them noticing.
✅ Fix: Use the 1-inch tee as a weekly diagnostic even if you never compete on one.
❌ 5. Changing height and distance at once
Switching to a new height while pushing for range gives you two variables and no way to know which is failing.
✅ Fix: Change one thing at a time. New height means short range until it feels normal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a 2-inch tee legal in high school football?
A 2-inch tee is the height commonly used in high school football, and tees are generally permitted for place kicks at that level. However, high school rules are set by state associations and are revised between seasons.
Confirm the current rule with your head coach or your state association before your first game. It is a thirty-second question that prevents a penalty.
Can I use a 2-inch tee in college football?
No. College football uses a 1-inch tee for kickoffs, and field goals are held by a holder rather than placed on a tee. A 2-inch tee is not legal for competition at that level.
If you are a high school kicker with college ambitions, start working on a 1-inch tee well before you get there.
Does a 2-inch tee make you kick farther?
Not exactly. It makes the ball go higher for the same swing, which can produce more distance for kickers who struggle to generate launch angle on their own. For a kicker who already strikes the ball cleanly, the extra height can actually cost distance by trading forward travel for altitude.
Distance comes from leg speed and clean contact. The tee only affects how that energy is angled.
Which tee height is better for kickoffs?
Generally the taller option, because kickoffs reward hangtime as much as distance. Getting the ball high gives your coverage team time to travel downfield.
Dedicated kickoff tees are often shaped to tilt the ball backward for exactly this reason, letting you get underneath it for maximum lift.
Should a beginner start on 1 inch or 2 inch?
Start on 2 inches. A beginner needs to experience successful kicks to stay motivated, and the extra clearance produces far more of them.
Once you can consistently get the ball airborne and on-line, start mixing in 1-inch reps. Building that habit early means you never face the difficult transition later.
How much difference does one inch really make?
More than it sounds. Your foot contacts the ball for a few thousandths of a second, so the exact point of contact determines the outcome. Moving the ball up an inch moves that contact point measurably lower on the ball, which changes launch angle noticeably.
Most kickers switching heights need two to three weeks of consistent reps before the new height stops feeling strange.
Owning Both Heights: A Practical Setup
For any kicker with ambitions beyond their current level, owning both tees is the single cheapest developmental advantage available.
| Session | Tee | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Start of week | 1 inch | Diagnostic — honest feedback on your contact |
| Mid week | Game height | Volume and grooving |
| End of week | Game height | Pressure work; correct game calibration |
The logic is straightforward. The 1-inch tee tells you the truth about your strike, because it punishes anything imprecise. Your game-height tee keeps your contact point calibrated for competition. Using them in that order means you get honest feedback early in the week and correct timing by the weekend.
💡 The kicker who never faces the transition is the one who has been kicking on both heights all along. Two tees cost very little between them and remove what is otherwise the most disruptive adjustment in a kicking career.
Which to Buy First If You Can Only Buy One
Straightforward answer: buy your legal game height first, always. A tee you cannot use in competition is a training aid, not equipment, and training on a height you will never compete on miscalibrates your contact point.
Add the second height when you have spare budget and a reason — specifically, when you are realistically working toward a level that uses the other height. Buying both on day one as a beginner is unnecessary; buying both as a college-bound junior is one of the best small investments you can make.
Final Verdict on Height
Buy your legal height and treat the other one as a training tool. The 2-inch tee flatters your current kicking; the 1-inch tee improves your future kicking. A serious kicker eventually wants access to both, and between them they cost less than most single items of football equipment.
What matters more than either choice is that you practise on the height you compete on. A kicker who trains all week on one height and plays on another has miscalibrated their contact point at the only moment that counts, and no amount of talent compensates for that.
📚 Closing thought on the transition. The kickers who struggle most moving from high school to college are almost never the ones who lacked leg strength. They are the ones who arrived having never kicked off a 1-inch tee, discovered their contact point was calibrated an inch too high, and had to rebuild during pre-season camp while competing for a job. Spending one session a week on the other height from the start turns that crisis into a non-event.
The practical summary
Buy your legal height for competition, add the other one when you have a genuine reason, and keep them in separate practice blocks so your body settles into a consistent contact point rather than averaging between two. Finish every session on your game height so the last impression your nervous system takes into the week matches what you will face on Friday night.
Final Verdict
- High school? Buy a 2-inch tee — confirm with your coach first
- College or pro? Buy a 1-inch tee
- Youth? 2 inches or taller for confidence and lift
- Ambitious high schooler? Own both, train on both deliberately
- Practising alone? The 1-inch tee gives more honest feedback
- Complete beginner? Start on 2 inches, add 1-inch reps once airborne
- Keep the two heights in separate practice blocks
- Always finish your session on your game height
- After any switch, drop back to short range for two to three weeks
- Film from behind — contact point changes are invisible by feel
The bottom line: pick the height your league allows, then use the other one as a training tool. The 2-inch tee makes today’s kicks look better. The 1-inch tee makes next season’s kicks better. A serious kicker eventually wants both, and they cost less together than most other pieces of football equipment cost alone.
Keep Going
📏 Tee Height CalculatorGet a height recommendation for your setup
🎯 Kicker Match QuizMatch your profile to the right gear
🏈 Drill GeneratorBuild a session around your focus
This guide is informational and is not a substitute for your league’s official rule book. Confirm current tee regulations with your coach or governing body before competition.