Rules Refresher – Dropping From Knee Height

By now we’ve all hopefully become accustomed to dropping from knee height rather than shoulder height. Here, though, we’re going to go over the finer detail of that, plus a few other key points to remember when dropping the ball in a relief area under various Rules.

‘Knee height’ always means the distance of your knee from the ground when standing, but you do not have to be standing to take a drop. ‘Knee height’ remains a constant for you regardless of what position you adopt; if it’s more comfortable for you to crouch down or kneel, that’s fine as long as the ball is dropped from where your knee would be when standing.

Dropping is one of those actions that your caddie is unable to take for you, so it must be the player who makes the drop, although in foursomes, either partner may do so. You may stand anywhere to take a drop, but the ball must land within the relief area.

You must let the ball fall straight down without exerting any influence (throwing, spinning or rolling) that could affect where it comes to rest, and the ball mustn’t touch your body or equipment before striking the ground, although there is no problem if it does so accidentally after hitting the ground.

All these elements combine to meet the demands of ‘dropping in the right way’. Essentially, if you, the player, drop the ball correctly from knee height and it lands within the relief area without hitting you or any of your equipment on the way down, that would be deemed a good drop.

If, however, you don’t drop correctly from knee height, the ball doesn’t land within the relief area or it hits you or your equipment on the way down, that would constitute dropping in the wrong way and you must redrop the ball, without penalty, as many times as it takes to drop in the right way.

This, however, should not be confused with the ball failing to come to rest within the relief area, which it must do. If this happens, you must try again. If the second drop does the same, you must then place a ball on the spot where the second dropped ball hit the ground within the relief area.

If it won’t stay at rest, you must try placing a second time, and if it still won’t stay at rest, you must place at the nearest spot not nearer the hole where it will do so. This spot must be within the same area of the course as your relief area, other than on the putting green, where it can be either on the putting green or in the general area.

“Knee height remains a constant for each player regardless of what position they adopt”