Part III: The Short Game
Lesson #47: The Seven-Fingered Shot

Here's a shot that may sound frighteningly difficult to play but isn't, once you've practiced it a couple of times. You use it when you're in the rough near the green and you have to play a high, soft shot that stops quickly after hitting the green. I adapted this technique from the bunker play tip Seve Ballesteros taught me several years ago.

Set up just as you would for a little flip shot - open stance, slightly open face on your wedge, weight about 60 per cent on your left side. Then make a swing as you normally would except, just prior to impact, loosen the grip pressure on the last three fingers of your left hand. Don't actually let go of the club, but do lighten the pressure to almost nothing.

The result will be that your right hand will take over and will flick the clubhead down, through, and steeply upward. The shot will rise quickly, descend softly, and come down like the proverbial butterfly with sore feet.

Illustration by Jim McQueen

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