Swiss Golf Simulators All venues Map By canton By city Open now Near me For business

2 October 2026 · 9 min read

Dropping a ball in golf: knee height, relief area and what applies when the ball rolls

From knee height, straight down, into the relief area: how you drop under Rule 14.3. Plus the size of the area by option, the rolling ball and the penalties.

Dropping a ball in golf: knee height, relief area and what applies when the ball rolls — post image

When you drop, you let the ball fall straight down from knee height yourself, and it must not touch you or your equipment. It has to come to rest in the relief area. If it rolls out, you drop a second time, and after that you place it where the second drop first touched the ground.

That is Rule 14.3 of the Rules of Golf by the R&A and USGA. Below you find how big the area is, what applies when the ball rolls and what a wrong drop costs. I read the rule texts on randa.org on 2 October 2026.

How to drop correctly

Rule 14.3b names three conditions. If you miss one, the drop is wrong.

  • You drop the ball yourself. Your caddie and everyone else may not.
  • You let go of the ball from knee height. It falls straight down without you throwing, spinning or rolling it, and before it lands it touches neither your body nor your equipment.
  • The ball falls into the relief area. You may stand inside or outside the area while you drop.

Knee height is the height of your knee when you stand upright. You do not have to stand while dropping, says the rule. Before the 2019 rules the ball was dropped from shoulder height, since then from knee height (Golf Magazin). You may use the original ball or another ball, newly at each drop. If you improve the relief area before or while dropping, Rule 8.1 applies.

Where you drop: one or two club-lengths

The relief area is the area the ball has to fall into. Its size and position depend on the rule you take relief under. It is measured from a reference point, in club-lengths. A club-length is the length of the longest club in your bag, the putter excepted (definitions). A typical limit reads: not nearer the hole than the reference point. Depending on the rule, there is also a limit on which part of the course the area may lie in.

Relief underReference pointSize of the area
Rule 16.1b, free relief in the general area from an abnormal course conditionnearest point of complete reliefone club-length
Rule 16.3b, embedded ballspot in the general area right behind the ballone club-length
Rule 14.6b, stroke and distancespot of the previous strokeone club-length
Rule 17.1d and Rule 19.2b, back on the linespot on the line where the dropped ball first touches the groundone club-length in any direction
Rule 17.1d, lateral, red penalty area onlyestimated point where the ball last crossed the edgetwo club-lengths
Rule 19.2c, lateral, unplayable ballspot of the balltwo club-lengths

So in this table two club-lengths apply only to lateral relief. Which options you have when and what they cost is in Ball lost, out of bounds, in a penalty area, in Unplayable ball and in Relief without penalty.

You do not have to measure the area to the centimetre. The rule requires such determinations to be made promptly and with care, and says they often cannot be precise. If you do what can be expected under the circumstances, your reasonable judgment is accepted, even if a video later shows it to be wrong (Rule 1.3b). The rule names estimating or measuring when dropping explicitly.

What happens when the ball rolls away

After it lands the ball may roll. What matters is where it comes to rest (Rule 14.3c). The procedure has three steps:

What happensWhat you do
The first drop stays in the areaRelief is complete, and you play the ball as it lies.
The first drop comes to rest outside the areaYou drop a second time.
The second drop also comes to rest outsideYou place a ball on the spot where the second drop first touched the ground.
The placed ball does not stayYou place it on the same spot a second time. If it does not stay again, you place it on the nearest spot where it stays, not nearer the hole. That can be outside the area.

If the correctly dropped ball hits you, your equipment or anything else before it comes to rest, there is no penalty. Where it stops afterwards counts. Intent changes that: if the rolling ball is deliberately deflected or stopped, you drop again, and that drop does not count towards the two. If a player or their caddie deliberately deflected or stopped the ball, that player gets the general penalty: two penalty strokes in stroke play, loss of hole in match play. There is one exception: if the ball had no reasonable chance of coming to rest in the area, there is no penalty, and the drop counts as one of the two.

Back-on-the-line relief has a particular feature. The spot where the ball first touches the ground determines the area. From there the ball may roll one club-length in any direction, just not nearer the hole than the original spot (for a penalty area, the point where it crossed the edge), and in the same area of the course that the ball first touched. If you must drop again, you may change the spot on the line, nearer the hole or further away. The area then moves with it.

Not every relief ends with a drop. On the putting green you place the ball on the nearest point of complete relief when you take free relief from an abnormal course condition (Rule 16.1d). And when two correct drops have come to rest outside the area, you place, as in the table above. How placing a ball works in detail is in Lifting, marking and cleaning the ball.

Dropping in a bunker

In a bunker the procedure stays the same, the limits change. For free relief in a bunker, the nearest point of complete relief and the relief area must be in the bunker (Rule 16.1c). For an unplayable ball in a bunker, the ball must come to rest in the bunker for back-on-the-line and for lateral relief (Rule 19.3a). Only with an extra penalty stroke, so two penalty strokes in total, may you drop outside the bunker on the line going back (Rule 19.3b). For an abnormal course condition in a bunker it costs one penalty stroke (Rule 16.1c). The rules in the sand and the shot out of it are described in Out of the bunker.

Dropped wrongly: what it costs

MistakeConsequence
Your caddie drops, the ball is thrown, spun or rolled, it is not dropped from knee height, it touches you or your equipment before the ground, or it lands beside the areaYou drop again, as often as needed. A wrong drop does not count towards the two drops.
You play the wrongly dropped ball, and it lies in the relief areaOne penalty stroke
You play it from outside the area, or you play a placed ball that should have been droppedThe general penalty: two penalty strokes in stroke play, loss of hole in match play
You notice the mistake before you hitNo penalty, you correct it

You may correct a mistake in dropping without penalty, but only before you play the ball (Rule 14.5a). If you were in the right area and only the procedure was wrong, you stay with the same rule and the same option. If you dropped in the wrong place, you may choose any option under the same rule (Rule 14.5b).

What this means for you

A worked example. Your ball lies unplayable in a bush in the general area, and you take lateral relief (Rule 19.2c). That costs one penalty stroke. The reference point is the spot of the ball, the area measures two club-lengths and lies no nearer the hole. Your first drop rolls out, so you drop a second time. If that one rolls out too, you place the ball where the second drop first touched the ground. The rule does not name the second drop or the placing as a penalty, so it stays at one penalty stroke.

  • Choose the option first and find the reference point.
  • Estimate the size: one or two club-lengths, measured with the longest club except the putter.
  • Stand upright, let the ball go from knee height, do not throw it.
  • If it lies in the area, you play it. If not, you drop once more.

On to the directory

Dropping belongs to the round on the course. The shots before it you practise in a bay. Golf simulator for beginners explains the first visit, the map shows the venues by canton, and the directory lists 110 indoor venues (own entries, as of 2 October 2026). What changes in the rules themselves is in Golf rules 2026: what changes.

Frequently asked questions

From what height do I drop a ball in golf?

From knee height, which is the height of your knee when you stand upright. The ball falls straight down without throwing, spinning or rolling, and touches neither you nor your equipment before it lands (Rule 14.3b). Before the 2019 rules the height was the shoulder.

How many club-lengths may I drop?

Usually one club-length, for example for free relief in the general area (Rule 16.1b), for stroke and distance and for back-on-the-line relief. Two club-lengths apply to lateral relief at a red penalty area (Rule 17.1d) and to an unplayable ball (Rule 19.2c).

What applies in golf when the dropped ball rolls away?

If the correctly dropped ball comes to rest outside the relief area, you drop a second time. If that one also rolls out, you place a ball on the spot where the second drop first touched the ground (Rule 14.3c).

How do I drop in a bunker?

For free relief in a bunker the relief area must lie in the bunker (Rule 16.1c). For an unplayable ball in a bunker the ball must come to rest in the bunker for back-on-the-line and lateral relief. You drop outside the bunker there only for two penalty strokes in total (Rule 19.3).

What happens if I dropped the ball wrongly?

You drop again, as often as needed, and a wrong drop does not count towards the two drops. If you play the wrongly dropped ball from the area it costs one penalty stroke, from outside the area the general penalty of two strokes in stroke play (Rule 14.3b).

Sources