How to Choose a Football Kicking Tee: A Buyer’s Walkthrough
Six decisions, in order. Get the first one right and the rest are easy.
Decide in this order: legal height → tee type → material → colour → spare → budget. Most people start at budget and work backwards, which is how they end up with a tee they cannot legally use.
📋 What’s in this guide
Step 1: Legal Height
This decision eliminates most of the market, so make it first. Commonly 2 inches for high school and 1 inch for college and pro; youth leagues generally allow 2 inches or taller.
But high school rules are set by state associations and revised between seasons, so the only answer that protects you is your coach’s. Our rules guide explains how to verify properly, and our height comparison covers what the difference actually does to your ball flight.
⚠️ Ask before you buy. Thirty seconds of asking prevents the most expensive mistake in this guide — a tee you cannot use in a game.
Step 2: Tee Type
| You mainly kick | Choose | Because |
|---|---|---|
| Kickoffs | Kickoff tee | Backward tilt helps you get under for hangtime |
| Field goals / PATs | Placement tee | Holds the ball upright for a flat, fast trajectory |
| Both | One of each | Inexpensive; the flight difference is obvious |
| Learning / mixed ages | Adjustable or youth | Grows with the kicker |
Step 3: Material
Heavy rubber, essentially always. It grips turf so the tee stays put in wind, stays flexible in cold instead of going brittle, and survives seasons of being struck and stepped on.
Hard plastic is cheaper and lighter, which is fine for occasional backyard use. But it slides, cracks in cold, and can split. If you kick regularly, rubber pays for itself.
Step 4: Colour
This sounds trivial and is not. Orange tees get found; black tees get lost in long grass at dusk. Ask any coach who has spent ten minutes searching a field after practice.
If you want black for looks, mark it with bright tape or a paint pen.
Step 5: Buy a Spare
Tees vanish — borrowed, left behind, lost in grass. A cheap legal spare in your bag means a missing tee never costs you a session, or worse, forces you to kick a game on unfamiliar equipment.
💡 Mark everything. Initials in paint pen. In a shared equipment room, unmarked tees become communal property remarkably fast.
On prices and ratings: we do not print them — both change constantly and stale figures mislead. Each button opens live Amazon results so you see current pricing, availability and genuine buyer reviews.
6 Options by Situation
CHAMPRO 2" Heavy Rubber Kickoff Tee
If You Play High School
Sits at the 2-inch height commonly used in high school football. Heavy rubber, simple shape, priced so programs can buy several.
✅ What’s good
- Matches the common HS height
- Affordable in quantity
- Handles cold and wet
- Nothing to break
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Fixed height
- Not legal college/pro
- Plain design
👤 Best for: High school kickers and coaches equipping a squad.
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CHAMPRO 1" Field Goal Tee
If You’re College-Bound
The college and pro standard height. Sits the ball low and upright, which forces genuinely clean contact and exposes flaws immediately.
✅ What’s good
- College-standard height
- Builds transferable technique
- Stable in wind
- Compact
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Unforgiving of low contact
- Frustrating for beginners
- Less natural lift
👤 Best for: Kickers preparing for the next level, and anyone wanting honest feedback.
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Champion Sports Ground Zero Kickoff Tee
If Kickoffs Are Your Job
Used as an official NFL kickoff tee. Textured top grips the ball so it does not shift during a fast approach; heavy base stays planted in wind.
✅ What’s good
- NFL kickoff tee pedigree
- Textured top prevents ball creep
- Very stable base
- Season-proof build
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Kickoff-specific
- Heavier to carry
- More than casual users need
👤 Best for: Kickoff specialists who want what the top of the sport uses.
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FORZA Football Kicking Tee
If You Train Year-Round
Ultra-durable black rubber, rated for any weather condition, and available in both 1-inch and 2-inch so you can own each.
✅ What’s good
- Rated for all weather
- Both heights available
- Stays workable in cold
- Good for training across levels
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Black is easy to lose
- Heights sold separately
- Less common in US school channels
👤 Best for: Kickers training through rain, frost and heat all year.
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Pro Down 2" Placekick Tee
If You Want a Cheap Spare
A straightforward rubber placekick tee from a long-established brand. Nothing clever — which is exactly what a bag spare should be.
✅ What’s good
- Good value
- Established brand
- Handles volume reps
- Ideal backup tee
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Basic design
- Check height suits your league
- Not kickoff-specific
👤 Best for: Anyone buying a second tee, or grinding high-volume practice.
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Adjustable / Youth Kicking Tee
If You’re Buying for a Child
Adjustable height means it grows with a young kicker, or covers a mixed-age group off one tee. The extra lift helps beginners get the ball airborne.
✅ What’s good
- Grows with the kicker
- Covers mixed ages
- Builds early confidence
- Good family value
⚠️ Keep in mind
- More parts to lose
- Often not game-legal higher up
- Will be outgrown
👤 Best for: Parents buying a first tee and youth coaches.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What size kicking tee should I buy?
Commonly 2 inches for high school, 1 inch for college and pro, and 2 inches or taller for youth. But confirm with your coach first — high school rules are set state by state and revised between seasons.
Rubber or plastic?
Rubber for anyone kicking regularly. It grips turf, survives cold without cracking, and lasts seasons. Plastic is fine for occasional backyard use but slides and can split.
Do I need separate tees for kickoffs and field goals?
If you do both jobs, yes — ideally. Kickoff tees tilt the ball back for hangtime; placement tees hold it upright for a fast flat trajectory. Tees are cheap enough that owning both is sensible.
How long will a kicking tee last?
A quality rubber tee used regularly should last several seasons. Replace it when you see cracks, when the base stops sitting flat, or when the ball no longer sits securely.
Matching a Tee to Your Situation
The five-step process gets you to the right category. This table gets you to the right specific choice.
| Your situation | Height | Type | Priority feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Youth beginner | 2" or taller | Youth / adjustable | Extra lift for confidence |
| High school placekicker | 2" (verify) | Placement | Legal height, durability |
| High school kickoff specialist | 2" (verify) | Kickoff | Backward tilt, heavy base |
| Does both jobs | Your legal height | One of each | Correct tilt for each role |
| College-bound | 1" plus your legal 2" | Both | Technique transfer |
| Coach buying for a squad | Team legal height | Kickoff | Bulk value, durability |
| Backyard casual | Any | Any rubber | Cheap and findable |
Questions to Ask Before You Buy
- What height is legal in my league this season? Ask your coach, not the internet. High school rules are set by state associations and revised between seasons. This one question eliminates most of the market and prevents the most expensive mistake available.
- Does my program already supply tees? Many school teams do. You may only need your own for home practice, which changes what is worth spending.
- Am I kicking off, placing, or both? Different jobs want differently shaped tees. Doing both and owning one tee means compromising on at least one.
- Where and when will I train? Year-round in a wet, cold climate points strongly toward rubber rated for all conditions. Summer-only backyard use is far less demanding.
- How likely am I to lose it? Honest answer for most kickers: quite likely. That is an argument for orange, for marking it, and for buying two.
Common Buying Mistakes
❌ 1. Buying before checking the rule
The order is backwards, and it is the most common error. People buy on price or a recommendation, then find the height is not legal for their level.
✅ Fix: Confirm with your coach first, then buy once.
❌ 2. Copying a friend at a different level
Their tee is right for their league and role, which may be nothing like yours.
✅ Fix: Buy for your own level and your own job.
❌ 3. Choosing hard plastic to save money
It slides on turf, goes brittle in cold, and can split when struck. The saving evaporates when you replace it mid-season.
✅ Fix: Heavy rubber for anyone kicking regularly.
❌ 4. Using a kickoff tee for placekicks
The backward tilt that helps kickoffs makes field goals climb when you want them flat.
✅ Fix: Match tee type to the job. Own both if you do both.
❌ 5. Owning exactly one tee
Tees get borrowed, left on fields and lost in long grass. One tee means one lost tee costs you a session.
✅ Fix: Buy a cheap legal spare and mark both with your initials.
Looking After It
A good rubber tee should last several seasons. What shortens that is almost always storage rather than use.
- Rinse mud out of the ridges after wet sessions — dried mud stops the ball seating properly, which reintroduces the inconsistency the tee exists to remove.
- Keep it out of hot cars. Sustained heat can warp rubber over time, and a warped base does not sit flat.
- Store it flat, not crushed under heavier gear in the bottom of a bag.
- Inspect before each season for cracks in the rubber and check the base still sits level.
- Replace it when the grip goes. When the ball no longer sits securely, the tee is actively costing you accuracy on every rep.
When to Upgrade or Replace
| Sign | What it means | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Ball shifts on the tee | Grip surface worn | Replace now |
| Visible cracks | Rubber degrading | Replace before the season |
| Base does not sit flat | Warped, likely heat damage | Replace |
| Tee slides during approach | Base grip gone | Replace |
| You changed level | Height may now be illegal | Verify, then buy correct height |
| You added kickoff duties | Need a tilted kickoff tee | Add a second tee |
💡 The upgrade that actually matters: most kickers do not need a better tee — they need the right tee for their league and role, plus a spare. Spending more on a premium tee while using the wrong height is a common and entirely avoidable mistake.
Budget: What to Spend and Where
Kicking tees are among the cheapest pieces of equipment in football, which makes it worth being clear about where money actually helps and where it does not.
| Spending decision | Worth it? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Correct legal height | Essential | Wrong height is unusable in games |
| Heavy rubber over plastic | Yes | Lasts seasons rather than months |
| A second tee as a spare | Yes | Cheap insurance against a lost tee |
| Both 1" and 2" for training | If progressing | Eases the college transition |
| Separate kickoff and placement tees | If you do both jobs | Genuinely different ball flight |
| Premium branding | Rarely | Build quality matters; the logo does not |
| Novelty colours or designs | No | Visibility aside, purely cosmetic |
The pattern: spend on correctness and durability, not on prestige. A correctly-sized rubber tee from any established brand outperforms a premium tee at the wrong height every single time.
Buying for a Team or Program
Coaches and program managers have a different problem from individual kickers.
- Buy in quantity at the team’s legal height. One consistent height across the squad means kickers can share and substitute without recalibrating.
- Prioritise durability over everything. Shared equipment gets thrown into bins, left on fields and used by athletes who did not pay for it. Heavy rubber is the only sensible choice.
- Buy more than you think you need. Attrition in a shared equipment room is real. A 20% overage is not waste; it is planning.
- Choose high-visibility colours. Orange tees get returned to the bin. Black ones get lost in the grass and get replaced next season.
- Number or mark them. Even simple numbering reduces losses noticeably.
- Keep at least one of each type. A kickoff tee and a placement tee, so your specialists can train for their actual jobs.
Buying for a Child
Parents face a specific version of this decision, usually with no football background to draw on.
- Check with the league first. Some youth organisations have modified or removed kickoffs for younger age groups entirely, in which case a game tee may not be needed at all.
- Ask whether the team supplies them. Many do. A home practice tee may be all you actually need to buy.
- Go taller rather than shorter. Extra lift helps a developing kicker get the ball airborne, and early success is what keeps children engaged with the position.
- Consider adjustable. It grows with them and covers siblings or friends of different ages.
- Do not over-buy. A tee and a correctly sized ball is a complete starter setup. Nets and shoes can wait until you know the interest is lasting.
📚 Perspective for parents: a kicking tee is one of the lowest-cost entry points into any football position. For the price of a single pair of cleats you can equip a child to practise a genuine specialist skill in the back garden — and kicker is the position where late starters remain most competitive.
Your Final Decision, Summarised
If you want the whole guide compressed into one paragraph: ask your coach what height is legal, buy that height in heavy rubber, pick the tee type that matches whether you kick off or place the ball, choose a colour you can find in grass, buy a cheap second one, and mark them both. That set of decisions covers almost everything that matters, costs very little, and takes about ten minutes to get right.
Everything beyond that — premium brands, novelty designs, multiple heights — is refinement for kickers who have already got the basics correct and know specifically why they want more.
A Quick Word on Where to Buy
Kicking tees are sold through several channels and each has trade-offs worth knowing before you order.
- Online marketplaces give the widest selection and easiest price comparison, plus genuine buyer reviews that often mention durability across a full season — exactly the information product descriptions omit. The downside is you cannot handle the tee first, so check the stated height carefully rather than judging from a photo.
- Team equipment suppliers stock the brands schools actually use and tend to be accurate on specification. Better suited to bulk orders than single purchases.
- Local sporting goods stores let you feel the weight and rubber quality in person, which genuinely tells you something. Selection is narrower and prices are usually higher.
- Your own program. Worth asking before spending anything. Many teams have spares in a bin, and most coaches would rather lend one than have a kicker not practising.
Whichever route you take the checklist is unchanged: confirm the legal height first, insist on heavy rubber, match the type to your job, and add a spare while you are ordering.
📚 One final reassurance. This is a low-stakes purchase in every way except one. Get the height wrong and the tee is useless to you; get the height right and almost any well-made rubber tee will serve you for several seasons. Spend your energy on the one question that matters and treat the rest as detail.
💡 Where to go from here. Once your tee is sorted, the complete tee guide covers setting it up correctly and practising with it properly. If you are weighing the two standard heights, our 1-inch versus 2-inch comparison explains exactly what that extra inch does to your ball flight and to your technique over time. And if you handle kickoffs as well as placekicks, the kickoff tee guide covers the differently shaped tee that job needs.
Get that one decision right and everything else about choosing a kicking tee becomes straightforward detail rather than a real problem to solve.
Buying Checklist
- Confirmed the legal height with your coach
- Chosen kickoff, placement, or one of each
- Picked heavy rubber over hard plastic
- Chose a colour you can find in grass
- Marked it with your initials
- Bought a legal spare for the bag
- Checked what your program already supplies
- Practising on the same tee you compete with
The bottom line: legal height first, type second, rubber third. Those three decisions cover almost everything that matters. Colour and spares are small choices that save you real irritation later.
Keep Going
📏 1-Inch vs 2-InchWhat the height changes
⚖️ Tee RulesVerify what’s legal for you
🧮 Height CalculatorGet a recommendation
As an Amazon Associate we may earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Confirm tee legality with your coach before competition.