The correct drop is from knee height, straight down, without touching you or your equipment, landing in the relief area. Know when to re-drop and when to place.
What is the correct way to drop a golf ball?
Drop from knee height, straight down, without the ball touching you or your equipment, and let it come to rest inside the relief area (Rule 14.3). Since the 2019 rules change, no shoulder-height drops, no tossing with spin.
The step-by-step procedure
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1. Position | Stand in or near the relief area. You can stand outside the area to drop, as long as the ball lands in the area. |
| 2. Drop | Hold the ball at knee height and release it straight down. It must not touch you or your equipment before hitting the ground. |
| 3. Rest | The ball must come to rest in the relief area. If it rolls out, re-drop once. If it rolls out again, place it where it first touched the ground on the re-drop. |
When do you re-drop?
- Rolls more than two club-lengths from where it hit the ground
- Comes to rest outside the relief area
- Rolls nearer the hole
- Rolls back into the same condition you took relief from (e.g., the cart path)
Drop vs place: know the difference
Most relief is by drop. You place the ball when: replacing a moved ball, playing from a wrong green, or after a second bad re-drop.
Quick answers
How do you properly drop a golf ball? Stand at the relief area, hold the ball at knee height, and release it straight down. It must come to rest in the relief area (Rule 14.3).
Do you drop from shoulder height in golf? No. The 2019 rules changed the drop height to knee height.
When do you re-drop a golf ball? When it rolls out of the relief area, nearer the hole, more than two club-lengths, or back into the condition you took relief from.
When do you place instead of drop in golf? When replacing a moved ball, dropping on a wrong green, or after two failed re-drops.