The idea of the drill is to hit both the ball and the tee during your swing. The placement of the tee will determine what swing path you will need to take in order to make contact with both the tee and the ball. If you’re learning how to push the ball, place the tee to the right of your ball. For a pull, place the tee to the left. If you’re simply trying to get your swing along an ideal path, place the tee directly in front of your ball. The tee should be about four to six inches ahead of your ball.
With practice you should be able to change your swing on command to encourage the swing path you’re looking for. But more importantly, when you hit a push or pull by accident, you will know what you have to do to fix it.