Addressing the ball is not the ruling.

Resolve movement before penalty

1. Establish whether the ball left its original spot and came to rest on another spot.
2. Identify the most likely cause using all reasonably available information.
3. Choose among the four Rule 9 causes: natural forces, the player or caddie, an opponent in match play, or an outside influence.
4. Check the area of the course, particularly whether the ball is on the putting green.
5. Decide whether the ball is replaced or played from its new spot.
6. Only then apply any penalty and check whether an exception removes it.

Oscillation is not automatically movement

Rule 9.2a treats a ball as moved only when it is known or virtually certain that it left its original spot and came to rest on another spot. A ball that rocks or oscillates but returns to the same spot has not moved under the Rules.

If the evidence only suggests that movement might have occurred, the ball is treated as not having moved and is played as it lies. Video, nearby marks, witness evidence, wind, slope, and the player's actions can all be relevant.

Rule 9 limits the possible explanations

• Natural forces: wind, water, or gravity.
• The player: including the player's actions and caddie.
• The opponent: including the opponent's caddie in match play.
• An outside influence: such as another player in stroke play, a spectator, or an animal.

The cause matters because it changes both the next spot and the penalty. If it is not known or virtually certain that the player, opponent, or an outside influence caused the movement, Rule 9.2b treats natural forces as the cause.

Replace the ball and check for one stroke

If it is known or virtually certain that the player or caddie caused the ball at rest to move, Rule 9.4a normally requires replacement on the original spot, estimated if necessary. Rule 9.4b normally adds one penalty stroke.

Standing close to the ball or grounding a club nearby is evidence, not automatic proof. The ruling considers the timing, the player's actions, the lie, weather, slope, and every other reasonably available fact.

Accidental movement is penalty-free

Under Rule 13.1d, there is no penalty when the player, opponent, or another player in stroke play accidentally moves the player's ball or ball-marker on the putting green. The ball is replaced on its original spot, or that spot is marked again.

This exception covers accidental contact during practice strokes, address, marking, and other preparation on the green. Deliberately lifting a ball without authority remains a different Rule 9 question.

Wind normally means play the new spot

If wind, water, or gravity moves a ball at rest, Rule 9.3 normally imposes no penalty and requires the player to play from the new spot.

There is a major putting-green exception: after a ball on the green has been lifted and replaced, it must be replaced again if natural forces move it. If it had not yet been lifted and replaced, it is normally played from its new spot.

A moving ball after the backswing is not replaced

If a ball begins moving after the player starts the stroke or the backswing and the player completes the stroke, Rule 9.1b says not to replace it. The ball is played from wherever it comes to rest after that stroke.

A penalty can still apply if the player caused the initial movement. The special procedure changes where the ball is next played; it does not automatically erase responsibility for causing it to move.

Not every player-caused movement costs a stroke

Rule 9.4b removes the penalty in several defined situations. These include movement while the player is allowed to lift or move the ball, accidental movement while searching for or identifying it, accidental movement on the putting green, and accidental movement while taking reasonable actions under another Rule.

Reasonable actions can include marking, lifting, replacing, measuring, removing a movable obstruction, or determining a relief area. Replacement may still be required even when the penalty is removed.

Three similar pictures, three outcomes

• Club brushes grass and the rough ball rolls: if the player's action is known or virtually certain to be the cause, replace it and normally add one penalty stroke.
• Wind moves an untouched fairway ball: no penalty; normally play from the new spot.
• Putter accidentally nudges a ball on the green: no penalty under Rule 13.1d; replace the ball.

Do not replace a wind-moved ball automatically

Off the putting green, replacing a ball that natural forces moved can put a ball into play at a wrong place. Conversely, failing to replace a player-moved ball can also lead to a wrong-place penalty.

The correct sequence is always movement, cause, course area, exception, procedure, then penalty—not “address means one stroke.”

Source material

• R&A/USGA Rule 9 — Ball at Rest Lifted or Moved
• R&A/USGA Rule 13 — Putting Greens
• Official Clarifications to Rule 9

Version check

This page applies the jointly governed R&A and USGA 2023 Rules of Golf, effective 1 January 2023, with Additional Clarifications updated 1 July 2026. “After address” is used here as the familiar search phrase; the operative tests come from current Rules 9 and 13.