A step-by-step guide for a consistent pivot motion in your golf swing

May 18, 2023

In this week’s blog we’re at the half way point of covering our brand new Pure Your Irons Blueprint. Over the last couple of weeks we’ve covered steps 1 and 2, so today is all about step 3- the back swing pivot motion.

This is arguably one of the most important topics in the blueprint, because if you want to strike your irons pure then you’ll need a centred pivot.

Ensuring you have the correct kind of pivot will help you swing more on plane and help you get the low point past the golf ball with your irons. So to begin, we’re going to cover how to analyse your own swing and pivot motion.

Filming your swing from front on

From the front on position you want to draw a line vertically from your trail ankle up to your trail hip, we’ll call this the backswing line. You also need to put a circle around your head when you are in your address position. You can do all of this within the Me and My Golf app, so be sure to download it HERE if you haven’t already.

In the backswing, look at where the leg goes. Keeping it on the backswing line is fine, and it’s also alright if your leg is slightly inside of the line. Your head should be free to move around within the circle slightly as you swing, but it should remain in the circle throughout the swing and not go outside the lines.

If your leg or head move outside of these lines then that is considered a ‘sway’ motion and not a pivot, and this sway motion is going to negatively impact your ability to get the low point after the ball.

Filming your swing from down the line

When swinging back you’ll see how much your hips are turning, if you get a bit of a gap between your legs that’s fine. Make sure you pay attention to where your belt buckle is pointing and where your back is. You should aim to feel as though you are turning your back towards the target.

A lot of times when we cover this topic with our students and they begin to notice that they sway, they over-compensate by swinging with no turn at all. But if you do sway, then we want to replace that with a good pivot turn. The antidote to sway is good rotation- try to remember that every time you’re working on this aspect of your swing.

Another thing that we recommend all players to do, is test their hips mobility if they find they have a tendency to sway in their back swing. We cover all the details on how to test this in step 3 of the blueprint.

If you do find that you lack some hip mobility, then here are a couple of things you can do to make the rotation feel a bit easier. You can flair your trail foot out away from target and this helps to increase your ability to turn. Or similarly you could move your trail foot back slightly, effectively closing your stance a little bit, and this will aid more rotation.

When it comes to practicing this new pivot motion, we’ve got some great drills to help you solidify that new feeling in your swing. So, if you want to check them out for FREE, then simply out the form below.

When you sign up you’ll have free access to the membership and all of our coaching plans for 7 days, giving you plenty of time to make great progress through our Pure Your Irons blueprint!