You're Correct!

You need to adjust your set up position specifically your hand and ball position and this will alter the trajectory that you launch the ball at.

If you are looking to hit higher and lower golf shots so that you can escape trouble, it is a really good idea to learn how to control the trajectory that you hit the ball at. If you have got overhanging branches and you are needing to hit the ball lower to escape from the trees, or to get back into position if you are blocked out by a tree, knowing how to hit a lower trajectory shot is really going to help. Similarly, if you are in a position where you need to go up over a tree, or you need to hit a higher shot into a green because there is a pond, or bunker in front of it, with a very tight flag position, being able to hit a higher trajectory shot will really help you keep the score down.

In order to hit higher or lower shots and deliberately control the trajectory of the shot you want to hit, you initially need to adjust your hand and ball position at set up. Take up your normal set up position for the shot you would be hitting. The ball position, if you were hitting your short irons, would be in the centre of your stance and then this would gradually move to the left (if you are a right handed player) as the club gets longer, until you have got the ball opposite the inside of your left big toe for your driver. Your hand position, if you are hitting an iron shot, should be to the left of the ball, so that your hands are ahead of the ball.

If you want to hit a higher shot, you would simply move the ball position more forward than usual and you would move your hand position back slightly. Take a slightly more forward ball position for the particular club and make sure your hands are positioned slightly further back. The best way to focus on doing this is to get the shaft of the club aiming at your belly button rather than aiming towards your left hip, or to the left side of your body. That will get you to hit the ball higher because you will catch the ball slightly on the up swing with the new ball position and as you pull your hands back you will notice that the club face leans back more and you actually increase the loft of the club which will also give you a higher trajectory.

If you want to hit the ball lower, it is the reverse of this. Simply place the ball further back in your stance than you usually would so that it is more towards your right foot, if you are a right handed golfer, and you push your hands forward more. This does the opposite to what we have just discussed for the higher shot. If the ball goes further back in your stance, it will catch the ball on the down swing of your swing arc and so you will not have as much loft on the club face as you connect with the ball and it will give you a deliberately lower trajectory shot.

Work on adjusting your set up position and you should see that you will hit the ball at different trajectories, depending on how you have set up to hit that shot. If you work on that on the practise ground and then take it on to the course, you should find that you can escape trouble a lot easier and that you lower your golf scores.

This action will have a small effect on the height of the golf shot but really it is only one part of a number of changes that are required to hit the ball lower, out of trouble.

Leaning back as you swing through impact may feel like you are going to hit the ball higher, but in fact you will actually mis-hit it and produce a short, low shot instead.

Leaning back will result in you striking the ground before the ball and as such, you will produce a very short shot as the club head speed will be transferred into the ground, rather than the ball.