The Single Pivot Swing

I have seen great players play off their left side, but never off their right side. Hogan, Nicklaus, Trevino, and Venturi all appeared to reverse their weight on the backswing. They did not; they merely stayed on their left side.


The single-pivot is not new; many of today’s players do it in some form. Watch the right hip of the long hitters and the direction the right hip goes in the backswing. Then watch the right leg to see if it gets steeper during the backswing. I think you will be surprised at what you see, which is only what you did not notice before.
Let’s define the single-pivot swing. The single-pivot swing turns the right shoulder and hip behind the spine and into the left side brace during the backswing. The downswing and the follow-through are the result of the left shoulder and hip pulling behind the spine, taking the right shoulder and hip through impact. An easy analogy is to picture a door, which is hinged on one side. The door opens and closes on one axis. This is the principal applied with the single-pivot swing.
When the right hip and shoulder turn behind the spine, the left hip and shoulder turn in front of the spine. There is no need to be concerned with what the hands and arms are doing after they have been set in their position at address because they are just reacting to the right-side coil during the backswing.
After moving into the left side brace by the backward coil of the right hip, all that remains is to rotate the right hip around and through the left side. All swing parts will be pulled through impact as a reactionary move to the rotation of the left hip and shoulder behind the spine in the direction of the target. Meanwhile, the right hip and shoulder follow through, rotating around the left leg.
Tony Manzoni, original co-founder of Callaway Golf and for decades an established golf instructor, is head coach of the men’s golf team at College of the Desert.