I've almost made our garden keeper obsolete for the last year. I I cut the grass with a sand wedge all the time. If you know precisely what you want to achieve it's a great way of rehearsing new moves. But I need some grass to clip to make it work for me.
And even after 20 years of golf I still get ball-struck from time to time. One way to get out of it for me is then to make a few swings without a ball.