Tip #60 - The Seven-Fingered Shot

To make the club flip upward through the ball, lighten your left-hand grip pressure as you swing through impact.

One of the most frustrating aspects of playing from the rough is the fact that it's difficult to develop any finesse. Particularly around the green, it's tough to make the ball land softly and stay near the target.

Recently, however, I developed a shot that can do some tricks. The idea originally came from one of the masters of touch, Seve Ballesteros. While practicing sand shots with me one day, he taught me something that I've since adapted to the rough.

Let's say you want to hit a high, soft shot over a bunker and make it stop near the pin. That's a tall assignment from the rough, but with this technique, it's possible.

After setting up for a high shot, make a normal swing, but just before impact, release the pressure in the last three fingers of your left hand. You don't really let go of the club, but you do lighten that pressure down to almost nothing.

The result is that your right hand flips through and under the left, flipping the clubhead under the ball and upward. At the end of the shot, the bottom of the club faces straight toward the sky. The shot flies very high, comes almost straight down, and sits tight after it lands.

- Greg Norman