Best Kicking Tee for Kickoffs: 6 Options Worth Your Money
Kickoffs reward height and hangtime, not just distance. The right tee helps you get under the ball — here’s how to pick one that suits your level.
Quick answer: for kickoffs you want a dedicated kickoff tee in heavy rubber, at the height your league allows — commonly 2 inches for high school, 1 inch for college and pro. A kickoff tee tilts the ball backward so you can get underneath it for lift. A flat field goal tee will not do the same job.
Below are six options grouped by who they suit, plus the things that actually matter when you are choosing. If you want the broader picture first, start with our complete kicking tee guide.
📋 What’s in this guide
Why Kickoff Tees Are Different
A kickoff and a field goal ask for opposite things from your equipment, and that is why the tees are shaped differently.
A field goal needs to be fast and flat. You want the ball travelling toward the uprights quickly, on a low trajectory that gets over the rush without hanging in the air. A placement tee sits the ball nearly upright to support that.
A kickoff needs the opposite. You want height and hangtime, because every extra tenth of a second in the air is another few yards your coverage team travels before the returner catches it. A booming low kickoff that arrives before your coverage does is worse than a shorter, higher one.
So kickoff tees tend to be:
- Shaped to tilt the ball backward, opening up the underside so you can get beneath it
- Heavier at the base, because you are swinging harder and approaching faster
- Textured on top, so the ball does not creep or rotate as you run up
- Taller where the league permits it
Hangtime is what turns a kickoff from a gift into a weapon. The tee that helps you get underneath the ball is doing more for your coverage team than an extra five yards of distance.
What Actually Matters When Choosing
Legal height comes first
Before anything else, confirm what your league allows. Commonly 2 inches for high school and 1 inch for college and pro — but high school rules are set state by state and revised between seasons. Ask your coach. Our tee rules guide explains how to verify properly.
Material: rubber, not plastic
Heavy rubber grips turf so the tee does not slide when you plant, stays flexible in cold weather instead of going brittle, and survives seasons of being struck. Hard plastic is cheaper but slides, cracks in cold and can split. For kickoffs specifically — where you are running at the ball — a tee that shifts is a real problem.
Base weight and grip
Kickoffs involve a longer, faster approach than field goals. A light tee can move as you arrive. Heavier bases stay put.
Top surface texture
A textured top holds the ball still. On a windy day a smooth tee lets the ball rotate or creep while you are still running up, which is how you end up striking the laces without realising.
Colour, genuinely
Orange tees get found. Black tees get lost in long grass at dusk. This sounds trivial until you have spent ten minutes searching a field after practice.
On prices and ratings: we deliberately do not print them. Both change constantly and stale numbers mislead readers. Each button below opens live Amazon results so you see current pricing, availability and real buyer reviews. Always confirm height legality for your league before buying.
The 6 Kickoff Tees
Champion Sports Ground Zero Kickoff Tee
Best Overall
The Ground Zero is used as an official NFL kickoff tee, which tells you most of what you need to know. Textured top surface grips the ball so it stays put during your approach, and a heavy base keeps the tee planted in wind.
✅ What’s good
- Official NFL kickoff tee pedigree
- Textured top stops ball creep
- Heavy base resists wind and slide
- Survives full seasons of use
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Built for kickoffs, not placements
- Heavier to carry than budget options
- More tee than a casual user needs
👤 Best for: Kickoff specialists at high school level and above who want equipment used at the top of the sport.
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CHAMPRO 2" Heavy Rubber Kickoff Tee
Best for High School
CHAMPRO is a fixture in school equipment rooms, and this sits at the 2-inch height commonly used in high school football. Simple, heavy rubber, and priced so programs can buy several without wincing.
✅ What’s good
- Matches the common high school height
- Affordable in team quantities
- Rubber grips turf and handles cold
- Nothing on it to break or lose
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Fixed height, no adjustment
- Not legal for college or pro
- Plain, functional design
👤 Best for: High school kickers and coaches equipping a squad who need a legal, durable, no-nonsense tee.
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FORZA Football Kicking Tee (2")
Best All-Weather
FORZA build their tees from ultra-durable black rubber and rate them for use in any weather condition. Available in both 1-inch and 2-inch, so you can match your league or own both for training across heights.
✅ What’s good
- Rated for any weather condition
- Both standard heights available
- Rubber stays workable in cold
- Sensible for year-round training
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Black disappears in long grass
- Heights sold separately
- Less common in US school supply channels
👤 Best for: Kickers training year-round through rain, frost and heat, and anyone wanting both heights.
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Wilson Football Kicking Tee
Best Known Brand
Wilson is one of the most established names in football equipment, and their kicking tees are widely stocked and easy to replace. If you value being able to buy the exact same tee again in two years, brand ubiquity has real value.
✅ What’s good
- Very widely available
- Easy to replace with an identical unit
- Trusted football equipment name
- Straightforward, proven design
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Check the specific height before buying
- Range varies by retailer
- Not a specialist kickoff-only design
👤 Best for: Kickers who want a dependable, easily replaceable tee from a name they already know.
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Fisher Athletic Kickoff Tee
Best for Programs
Fisher is a long-standing supplier of football equipment to schools and colleges. Their kicking tees are built with institutional use in mind — the kind of gear that gets thrown in a bin with forty other items and still works next season.
✅ What’s good
- Built for institutional wear and tear
- Established school-supply brand
- Holds up under shared team use
- Consistent build quality
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Less common in consumer retail
- Fewer colour options
- Priced for programs, not bargain hunters
👤 Best for: Coaches and program managers buying equipment that will be shared, abused and expected to last.
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Pro Down Kickoff Tee
Best Budget Workhorse
A straightforward rubber kickoff tee from a long-established football brand. Nothing clever, which is precisely the point — it is the tee you leave in the bag all season and stop thinking about.
✅ What’s good
- Good value for high-volume practice
- Established football equipment brand
- Handles repeated striking
- Fine as a backup tee
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Basic design, no refinements
- Check height suits your league
- Not a specialist pro-level tee
👤 Best for: Kickers grinding out volume reps, and anyone wanting a cheap legal spare for the bag.
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Comparison Table
| Tee | Best for | Material | Level | Standout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champion Ground Zero | Overall | Heavy rubber | HS → Pro | Official NFL kickoff tee |
| CHAMPRO 2" | High school | Heavy rubber | Youth → HS | Team-buy friendly |
| FORZA | All weather | Durable rubber | All | Both heights available |
| Wilson | Availability | Rubber | Youth → HS | Easy to replace |
| Fisher | Programs | Heavy rubber | HS → College | Institutional durability |
| Pro Down | Budget / spare | Rubber | Youth → HS | Value for volume reps |
💡 Buy two. One in the bag, one at home. Tees get lost, borrowed and left on fields constantly. A cheap legal spare means a missing tee never costs you a session — or a game.
Getting More Hangtime From Your Tee
The tee only helps if your setup and strike take advantage of it.
- Set the tilt deliberately. For kickoffs you want a pronounced backward lean, opening the underside of the ball. This is the single biggest thing your tee does for you — use it.
- Laces forward, always. The laces are hard and uneven. Striking them produces unpredictable flight. On kickoffs, where you are running up fast, check them right before you start your approach.
- Press the tee into the turf. A seated tee will not move when you plant. A perched one can.
- Strike below the centre. Hangtime comes from contacting beneath the ball’s midpoint. That is what the backward tilt is there to let you do.
- Keep your approach identical. Same steps, same angle, same speed, every time. The tee gives you a repeatable ball position — waste it with an inconsistent approach and you gain nothing.
- Hold your finish. Follow through toward your target and hold it for a beat. If you cannot hold your balance, you were leaning.
Want a structured kickoff session? The Drill Generator builds one around your focus and available time, and the Weather Impact Planner helps you think through wind adjustments before you go out.
Mistakes to Avoid
❌ 1. Using a field goal tee for kickoffs
A flat placement tee holds the ball upright, which is the opposite of what a kickoff needs. You lose the backward tilt that helps you get underneath.
✅ Fix: If you do both jobs, own both tees. They are inexpensive and the flight difference is obvious.
❌ 2. Chasing distance and ignoring hangtime
A low bullet that outruns your coverage gives up a big return. Distance without hangtime is not a good kickoff.
✅ Fix: Have someone time your hangtime with a phone stopwatch. Track it alongside distance.
❌ 3. Buying a light plastic tee
Kickoffs involve a fast approach. Light tees shift, and a shifted tee ruins the kick before you touch it.
✅ Fix: Heavy rubber, every time.
❌ 4. Not checking legality before purchase
People buy on price or a recommendation, then find the height is not legal for their league.
✅ Fix: Ask your coach first, buy once. See our rules guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What tee do NFL kickers use for kickoffs?
NFL kickoffs use a 1-inch tee. Champion Sports’ Ground Zero is one example of a tee used as an official NFL kickoff tee, with a textured top surface for grip and a heavy base for stability.
Field goals and extra points at that level are held by a holder, not placed on a tee.
Can I use the same tee for kickoffs and field goals?
You can, but you will get better results from a dedicated tee for each. Kickoff tees tilt the ball backward for height and hangtime; placement tees hold it more upright for a fast, flat, accurate trajectory.
Given how inexpensive tees are, owning one of each is a sensible investment if you perform both roles.
Does a taller tee mean longer kickoffs?
Not directly. A taller tee raises your launch angle, which produces more height and hangtime rather than pure distance. For kickers who struggle to get the ball up, that extra angle can add overall distance too.
For a kicker who already strikes cleanly, too much height can trade forward travel for altitude. Distance ultimately comes from leg speed and clean contact.
How much hangtime should I aim for?
It varies by level, but more hangtime is almost always better because it gives your coverage team time to close. Track it with a phone stopwatch from foot contact to catch, and work to improve your own baseline rather than chasing a universal number.
Log it alongside distance so you can see whether gains in one are costing you the other.
Do youth leagues even have kickoffs?
Not always. A number of youth organisations have removed or modified kickoffs for younger age groups on safety grounds, replacing them with a ball placement at a set yard line.
Ask your league before buying a kickoff tee for game use. A practice tee at home is still worthwhile either way.
Getting the Most From Your Kickoff Tee
Buying the right tee is the start. Using it deliberately is what produces the hangtime.
- Run a tilt test in your first session. Five kicks at each of three tilt settings, timing hangtime and pacing distance. Most kickers discover their habitual tilt is not their best one.
- Press the tee in firmly every rep. Your kickoff approach is fast and long; a perched tee can shift as you arrive.
- Check laces immediately before you start. Not thirty seconds earlier — wind moves balls.
- Keep the tee clean. Mud in the ridges stops the ball seating and quietly costs you consistency.
- Carry a spare. Kickoff tees get left on fields more than any other piece of kit, because they are the last thing you touch before running downfield.
💡 The tilt test is the highest-value fifteen minutes available to a kickoff specialist, and almost nobody runs it. Your tee has a setting that produces your best distance-and-hangtime combination, and you will not find it by guessing.
Kickoff Tee Care
Kickoff tees take the hardest contact of any tee and live outdoors more than most equipment.
- Clean the textured top. Grip is the whole point of a kickoff tee; caked mud removes it.
- Check the base regularly. A base that no longer sits flat will shift during your approach.
- Store flat and cool. Heat warps rubber; weight deforms it.
- Mark it clearly. Kickoff tees get left on fields more than any other item, because you kick and immediately run downfield.
- Replace when the ball creeps. If the ball shifts on the tee during your run-up, the grip surface is finished.
Final Thought on Kickoff Tees
A kickoff tee is a small purchase with a disproportionate effect, because the backward tilt it provides is doing work your leg would otherwise have to do alone. Get a dedicated one in heavy rubber at your legal height, run a tilt test to find your best setting, and keep the top surface clean so the ball does not creep during your approach.
Then spend your energy on the things that actually vary week to week — your approach consistency and your hangtime — rather than on further equipment. The tee is a solved problem once you have bought the right one.
📚 Last practical reminder. Whatever kickoff tee you choose, buy a second one. Kickoff tees are lost more often than any other item a kicker owns, for the simple reason that you strike the ball and immediately sprint downfield in coverage, leaving the tee behind you on the field. A cheap legal spare in your bag means that a forgotten tee costs you nothing more than mild irritation.
The short version
Dedicated kickoff tee, heavy rubber, legal height, textured top, weighted base, in a colour you can find. Run a tilt test to locate your best distance-and-hangtime combination, keep the grip surface clean, and carry a spare because you will leave one on a field at some point this season.
Choose the tee that suits your level and your role, set it deliberately every rep, and then stop thinking about equipment and start measuring your hangtime — because that is the number that actually improves with attention.
Buying Checklist
- Confirmed the legal kickoff tee height with your coach
- Chosen a dedicated kickoff tee, not a flat placement tee
- Picked heavy rubber over hard plastic
- Checked the base is weighted enough to stay put
- Looked for a textured top surface
- Chose a colour you can find in long grass
- Bought a legal spare for the bag
- Practising with the same tee you will compete on
- Tracking hangtime as well as distance
- Setting laces forward before every approach
The bottom line: get a dedicated kickoff tee in heavy rubber at your league’s legal height, with a weighted base and a textured top. Then use the backward tilt properly — strike beneath the ball’s midpoint and chase hangtime, not just yardage. That combination does more for your coverage team than any amount of raw leg strength.
Keep Going
⚖️ Kicking Tee RulesWhat’s legal at every level
📏 1-Inch vs 2-InchWhich height you actually need
🏈 Drill GeneratorBuild a kickoff session today
As an Amazon Associate we may earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Product availability and pricing change frequently — always check current details on Amazon before buying. Confirm tee legality with your coach or governing body before competition.