Jan 2019 rules height a ball should be dropped

[jim8flog]

Not the first time the dropping procedure has been changed.... and we're all still alive. I don't recall any significant issues the last time.

I got less arm ache the last time it changed.

Looks like the new method is going to give me back ache.

For years I have always bent over at the knee to avoid back ache. Think I might mark up a club so I can bend at the knee.

 

[*TQ*]

Im not sure that there should be a penalty for dropping from higher as the result of a higher drop is very unlikely to benefit the player with the greater likelihood of a less controllable playing position

Dropping from higher makes it more likely the ball will roll out of the area it is allowed to come to rest in meaning the ball can be placed giving a better lie than if it had been dropped.

I am so looking forward to those "Oh Sh1t" moments where force of habit takes over. You can just see it - you are on the other side of the fairway, you see your FC drop it from shoulder height, he hits it and you amble over and inform him...

I can see there being a huge amount of these, clubs really need to up their communication I was aware of the change but not the penalty for the drop being too high.

 

[rulie]

Dropping from higher makes it more likely the ball will roll out of the area it is allowed to come to rest in meaning the ball can be placed giving a better lie than if it had been dropped.



I can see there being a huge amount of these, clubs really need to up their communication I was aware of the change but not the penalty for the drop being too high.

It's exactly the same as now - if a player drops a ball from too high or too low and then plays it, there is a one stroke penalty. (Rule 20-2a)

 

[duncan mackie]

I can see there being a huge amount of these, clubs really need to up their communication I was aware of the change but not the penalty for the drop being too high.

I'm not sure that this is a communication issue - accepting that if people don't get a message it's one by default!

The message can only really be that the rules are changing. Beyond that point you can only support people's interest (or otherwise) in the rules and provide material for them to use.
There is absolutely no way that anyone can suddenly become aware of all the changes, and every nuance, as a result of any 'communication'. 99.9999% weren't with the ones we have basically lived with since the 'new code' rules came in some decades ago.

On the other hand, if you take this particular rule, I'm not sure how there can be any confusion? The rule states 'must' (quite a few times!) be dropped from knee height - it's always been a principle that if you don't follow a must instruction there's going to be a penalty involved...
As to what the penalty will be, that starts to fall into the observation above...no one is going to learn all of the situations straight away.
In this case as long as the ball was played from the relief area when dropped (from the wrong height) it's one shot. If the ball had rolled outside the relief area it would be the 'general penalty'.
The combinations are huge, as they were under the old 20, and not even the players version of the rule book covers the penalties in detail!
Here's a couple of closely related situations to consider from a penalty perspective -
1. The ball lands on the toe of your golf shoe (it sticks out below the knee 🤣) and comes to rest in the relief area. The player makes a stroke at it. Penalty?
2. The ball is dropped from the correct height, lands in the relief area, bounces across to hit your golf shoe then comes to rest in the relief area. The player makes a stroke at it. Penalty?
3. The ball is dropped from the correct height, lands outside the relief area, comes to rest in the relief area and the player makes a stroke. Penalty?

IMO the vast majority of the people making the rules presentations at clubs would wish to check the rule book before betting on many such questions, for some time to come.