Seve Ballesteros - why did he take this shot off the knees?

[nevets88]

It looks like he could have stood. Maybe to keep it low?

[Golfingdad]

Looks to me like he probably wouldn't have been able to see the ball if he was standing.  Or even would have had to swing through the branch if standing.  Or maybe he was just showing off.

Either way, pretty impressive.

[nevets88]

When's the last time someone hit a shot on his or her knees in tournament play recently?

[Ernest Jones]

Tiger out of bunkers at least a couple times this year.

[boogielicious]

It looks like he could have stood. Maybe to keep it low?

Because he wanted to give the other golfers a chance.

[nevets88]

Here is a pretty good explanation from another discussion space.

by kneeling down he flattened his swing plane considerably. this allowed him clearance under the branches, an extremely low trajectory, and the potential for an extreme hook. it looked like he needed to play to the right of the trunk and then hook it back to match the fairway, so this would be ideal.

with the equipment of the day and the location/nature of the shot, I really can't imagine him hitting one as low with the same accuracy while standing up. this was probably the highest percentage way to play a reeeally low percentage shot.

http://www.reddit.com/r/golf/comments/1o0e3x/seve_off_the_knees_with_a_wood_junk_in_the_way/cco1qz1