Football Kicking Tee Rules: What’s Legal at Every Level
Tee rules differ between the NFL, college, high school and youth football — and high school rules differ state by state. Here’s how to find the answer that applies to you.
Start here: kicking tees are permitted for kickoffs at essentially every level of football. Where levels differ is field goals and extra points. In college and the NFL, those must be held by a holder — no tee. In high school and youth football, a tee is generally permitted for place kicks.
Height is the other variable: 1 inch is the college and pro standard, and 2 inches is the common high school height.
⚠️ Read this before anything else. This article explains how tee rules are structured and what the general landscape looks like. It is not a rule book. High school rules are set by individual state associations and are revised between seasons. The only authoritative answer for your team is your head coach or your state association’s current publication. Always verify before competition.
📋 What’s in this guide
- Why tee rules exist at all
- The rules at a glance
- NFL tee rules
- College football tee rules
- High school tee rules
- Youth football tee rules
- Why field goals use a holder
- How to verify your own rules
- What happens if your tee is illegal
- Common rule mistakes
- Frequently asked questions
- Your compliance checklist
Why Tee Rules Exist at All
It helps to understand the logic, because once you do, the specific rules stop feeling arbitrary and start being easy to remember.
A kicking tee gives the kicker an advantage. It lifts the ball off the turf, creates a clean contact window, and makes the strike more repeatable. The higher the tee, the bigger the advantage.
Rule makers balance three things:
- Competitive fairness. If tee height were unlimited, kickers would keep raising it until kickoffs became automatic touchbacks and field goals became trivial from distance.
- Player development. Lower tees demand better technique. As the level rises, the assistance drops, so skill separates players rather than equipment.
- Player safety. Kickoff rules in particular have been reshaped repeatedly in recent years around collision risk, and tee regulations sit inside that broader conversation.
That is why the pattern runs the way it does: the higher the level, the less help you get. Youth football allows the most assistance. The NFL allows the least.
Once you understand that tee rules exist to remove assistance as skill increases, you can predict most of them without looking anything up.
The Rules at a Glance
| Level | Kickoff tee | Typical height | Field goal / PAT |
|---|---|---|---|
| NFL | Permitted | 1 inch | Holder only — no tee |
| College (NCAA) | Permitted | 1 inch | Holder only — no tee |
| High school | Permitted | 2 inches (commonly) | Tee generally permitted |
| Youth | Permitted | 2 inches or taller | Usually permitted |
| Practice | Anything | Your choice | Anything |
📚 Notice the pattern: every level permits a kickoff tee. The real divide is field goals. That single distinction covers most of what people get confused about.
NFL Tee Rules
The NFL sits at the strictest end of the spectrum.
Kickoffs: a kicking tee is permitted, at the 1-inch standard. Champion Sports’ Ground Zero is one example of a tee used as an official NFL kickoff tee.
Field goals and extra points: no tee. Every place kick is held by a holder, who receives the snap, positions the ball, and holds it upright with a fingertip.
NFL kickoff rules have been through significant structural change in recent seasons as the league has reworked the play around safety and touchback rates. Kickoff formatting is one of the more actively revised areas of the rule book, so if you follow the pro game closely, expect the surrounding rules to keep evolving even where tee specifications stay stable.
College Football Tee Rules
College football broadly mirrors the NFL on tees.
Kickoffs: a 1-inch tee is permitted and standard.
Field goals and extra points: holder only, same as the pros.
This is the level where high school kickers most often get caught out. A kicker arrives on campus having spent four years on a 2-inch tee, hitting field goals off a tee, and now faces two changes at once: an inch lower, and a holder instead of a tee.
💡 If college is your goal: start practising with a holder and on a 1-inch tee well before you arrive. Both adjustments take weeks. Doing them simultaneously during pre-season camp is how kickers lose depth-chart position. Our 1-inch vs 2-inch guide covers the height transition in detail.
High School Tee Rules
This is where it gets genuinely complicated, and where most of the confusion on this topic lives.
High school football in the United States is governed largely by NFHS rules, but individual state associations adopt, modify and interpret those rules themselves. Some states differ from the national framework. Rules are also revised between seasons.
The general picture is that a 2-inch tee is the common standard, and tees are generally permitted for place kicks including field goals and extra points. But “generally” is doing real work in that sentence.
What this means for you practically
Do not rely on:
- What a kicker in another state told you
- What the rule was when your coach played
- A forum post with no date on it
- An article — including this one
Do rely on:
- Your head coach or special teams coordinator
- Your state association’s current published rules
- Your league or conference administrator
- The officials at your first scrimmage — ask them directly
⚠️ The trap: high school kickers often buy a tee online based on a generic “high school = 2 inch” claim, then discover their state or league has a different provision. Thirty seconds of asking your coach is worth more than any article on the internet, this one included.
Youth Football Tee Rules
Youth football is the most permissive level, and also the most fragmented. Youth leagues are run by many different organisations, each with their own rule set.
Common features across most youth leagues:
- Tees are permitted for kickoffs
- Tees are usually permitted for place kicks
- Heights of 2 inches or taller are typically allowed
- Some leagues eliminate kickoffs entirely for younger age groups
That last point matters. A number of youth organisations have removed or modified the kickoff for younger divisions on safety grounds, replacing it with a ball placement. If your child’s league does that, a kickoff tee may not be needed at all.
💡 Parents: before buying anything, ask the league whether kickoffs are even used at your child’s age level, and whether the team supplies tees. Many do. You may not need to buy one for games at all — though a practice tee at home is still one of the best-value purchases in youth football.
Why Field Goals Use a Holder at Higher Levels
People often ask why the tee disappears for field goals as you move up. There are a few reasons.
A holder is faster. On a field goal the ball is snapped from scrimmage under a live rush. A holder can receive, place and spin the ball in about 1.3 seconds. Setting a ball on a tee under those conditions is not viable.
A holder can adjust. Snaps are imperfect. A holder can catch a wide or high snap and still get the ball down. A tee cannot react.
It preserves difficulty. A held ball is marginally less stable than a teed one, and that small extra demand is part of what makes place kicking a specialist skill at elite level.
Laces control. A holder spins the ball so the laces face the uprights. On a tee you set the laces yourself before the play, but you cannot correct after a snap.
How to Verify Your Own Rules
- Ask your head coach. Fastest and most reliable route. They deal with officials weekly and know your league’s current interpretation.
- Check your state association’s site. For high school, your state association publishes current rules and any state-specific modifications. Look for the current season, not an archived PDF.
- Ask an official at a scrimmage. Officials are generally happy to answer equipment questions before a game. Show them your actual tee.
- Check the date on anything you read. An undated forum post is worthless. Rules from three seasons ago may no longer apply.
- Re-check every season. Do not assume this year matches last year. Make it part of your pre-season routine.
What Happens If Your Tee Is Illegal
Consequences vary by level and by what exactly is wrong, but the realistic outcomes fall into three categories.
| Scenario | Likely outcome |
|---|---|
| Officials spot it pre-game | You are told to swap it — embarrassing, not costly |
| Spotted during the game | Tee removed; you may kick without one or use a team tee |
| Used on a live play | Possible penalty against your team, potentially a re-kick |
The genuine cost is rarely the yardage. It is turning up to a game and discovering you cannot use the equipment you have practised on all week. Suddenly you are kicking off a borrowed tee at an unfamiliar height in a live game.
Practical protection: keep a legal backup tee in your bag at your league’s standard height. If anything is ever questioned, you swap and carry on. It costs very little and removes the scenario entirely.
Common Rule Mistakes
❌ 1. Assuming national rules apply in your state
State associations adopt and modify rules themselves. National guidance is a starting point, not a guarantee.
✅ Fix: Confirm with your coach or state association every season.
❌ 2. Buying a tee before checking the rule
The order is backwards. People buy, then discover it is not legal for them.
✅ Fix: Confirm the height first, then buy once.
❌ 3. Thinking a kickoff tee works for field goals at any level
At college and pro level, field goals are held. A kickoff tee has no role there.
✅ Fix: Know which kicks at your level use a tee and which use a holder.
❌ 4. Using last season’s information
Kicking rules — kickoff rules especially — have been an unusually active area of revision.
✅ Fix: Re-verify each pre-season. Make it a routine item.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you use a kicking tee for a field goal?
It depends on your level. In high school and youth football, a tee is generally permitted for place kicks including field goals and extra points. In college and the NFL, field goals must be held by a holder — no tee is allowed.
For practice at any level, a tee is fine and is what nearly everyone uses.
What tee height is legal in high school football?
A 2-inch tee is the height commonly used in high school football. However, high school rules are set by individual state associations, which adopt and modify national guidance and revise it between seasons.
Confirm with your head coach or your state association before competing. This is the single most important verification step in this article.
Do NFL kickers use a tee?
For kickoffs, yes — a 1-inch tee. For field goals and extra points, no. Those are held by a holder who receives the snap and positions the ball.
NFL kickoff rules have been substantially reworked in recent seasons around safety and touchback rates, so the format of the play itself continues to evolve.
What happens if I use an illegal tee?
Most often officials catch it before the play and simply require you to change it. If an illegal tee is used on a live play, your team may face a penalty and the kick could be replayed.
The bigger practical problem is being forced to kick on unfamiliar equipment mid-game. Carry a legal backup tee to eliminate the risk.
Are kicking tee rules the same in every state?
No. High school football rules are administered by state associations, which can adopt state-specific modifications. Two neighbouring states can differ.
This is exactly why we keep pointing you to your coach rather than giving a definitive number — there genuinely is not one national answer for high school play.
Does my youth league even use kickoffs?
Possibly not. 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 directly. If they do not use kickoffs at your child’s level, you may not need a game tee at all — though one for practice at home is still worthwhile.
Keeping a Rules Record
The single most useful habit for a kicker dealing with rules that vary and change: write things down.
- Note the answer and the source. “2-inch tee legal for placekicks — confirmed by Coach in August” is far more useful in November than a vague memory.
- Date it. Rules change between seasons, and a dated note tells you when to re-verify.
- Keep it with your equipment. A note in your kit bag beats one in a drawer at home.
- Re-verify each pre-season. Make it a fixed item on your pre-season list alongside checking your tee for cracks.
- Share it with new teammates. Incoming kickers routinely arrive with assumptions from a different league or state.
📚 Why this is worth the two minutes: almost every equipment-legality problem a kicker encounters traces back to acting on a half-remembered answer from a previous season or a different level. A dated note eliminates the entire category of problem.
Questions Worth Asking Your Coach
To make the verification conversation quick and complete, ask these five things once, at the start of the season.
- What tee height is legal for us this season? The headline question, and the one that determines what you buy.
- Are tees permitted for field goals and extra points at our level? Generally yes in high school, no above it — but confirm rather than assume.
- Has anything changed from last season? Coaches attend rules briefings; you do not. This question catches revisions you would otherwise miss.
- Does the school supply tees, and at what height? Determines whether you need your own for games or only for home practice.
- Who should I ask if a question comes up mid-season? Knowing the right person saves time when something unexpected happens.
Five questions, two minutes, and you have covered essentially every equipment-legality issue you are likely to face all year.
Final Word on Rules
This guide has hedged repeatedly, and that hedging is the accurate answer rather than an evasion. Kicking rules genuinely differ by level, genuinely differ by state at high school level, and genuinely change between seasons. Any article that gave you one confident number would be wrong for a substantial share of readers.
What does not change is the method: ask your coach, check your association’s current publication, confirm with an official at a scrimmage, write down what you learn with a date on it, and repeat the whole exercise every pre-season. Do that and you will never be the kicker whose tee gets rejected before a game.
📚 A note on why this matters more than it sounds. Equipment legality feels like administrative trivia right up until the moment an official inspects your tee before a play-off game. The cost of getting it wrong is not usually a penalty — it is being forced to kick on borrowed equipment at an unfamiliar height, in the most important game of your season, with no chance to adjust. Two minutes of verification in August removes that scenario entirely.
The habit that solves this permanently
Ask five questions in August, write the answers down with a date, keep the note in your kit bag, and repeat next pre-season. That takes about two minutes annually and eliminates essentially every equipment-legality problem a kicker is likely to encounter, including the ones caused by rules quietly changing while you were not looking.
Verify once, write it down, re-check each pre-season. That simple routine is the whole answer to a topic that otherwise generates more confusion than almost anything else in kicking.
💡 The one-sentence version: tees are permitted for kickoffs everywhere and for field goals only at high school level and below, heights run 1 inch at the top and commonly 2 inches in high school, and because state associations set and revise their own provisions the only answer that protects you is the one you get from your own coach.
Your Compliance Checklist
- Asked your head coach the current legal tee height
- Checked your state association’s current rules, not an archived version
- Confirmed whether tees are allowed for field goals at your level
- Confirmed whether your league uses kickoffs at all (youth)
- Bought the correct height after confirming, not before
- Packed a legal backup tee in your bag
- Showed your tee to an official at a scrimmage
- Diarised a rule re-check for next pre-season
- Practising on the same legal height you will compete on
- If college-bound, already training with a holder and a 1-inch tee
The bottom line: tees are allowed for kickoffs everywhere; the real divide is field goals, where college and pro require a holder. Height runs 1 inch at the top levels and commonly 2 inches in high school. But because high school rules are set state by state and revised between seasons, the only answer that protects you is the one from your own coach or state association. Ask once, write it down, re-check next year.
Keep Going
📏 1-Inch vs 2-InchWhat that extra inch actually changes
🧮 Tee Height CalculatorA height recommendation for your setup
🔍 Gear DatabaseBrowse every piece of kit we cover
This article explains how football kicking tee rules are structured and is informational only. It is not an official rule book and does not constitute a ruling. Always confirm current regulations with your head coach, league administrator, or state association before competition.