The Reverse Pivot: The Power-Sapping Move You Need to Fix
You make what feels like a big, full swing. You move your body around a lot. But when you strike the ball, it feels weak, and the shot comes out as a high, floating slice or a poorly-struck thin or fat shot. If this is a familiar story, you might be making one of the biggest power-sappers in golf: the reverse pivot.
A proper golf swing is a dynamic weight shift. You load pressure into your trail side on the backswing and then transfer it powerfully into your lead side on the downswing.
A reverse pivot is, as the name suggests, the exact opposite of that. The golfer's weight moves onto their lead foot on the backswing, and then falls back onto their trail foot on the downswing. Your body is moving in the opposite direction of the club's momentum. It’s like trying to throw a ball while falling backwards – all your power is gone.
Where Does a Reverse Pivot Come From?
This incorrect weight shift is usually caused by a misunderstanding of how the body should move in the backswing.
- Trying to Keep Your Head "Still": This is probably the most common cause. A golfer hears the advice to "keep your head still" and takes it too literally. In an effort to keep their head perfectly stationary, they tilt their spine towards the target on the backswing. This upper body tilt is what forces their weight onto their lead foot. A little bit of natural head movement during a good turn is fine; a rigid head that causes a tilt is not.
- Swaying Instead of Turning: Many players slide their hips away from the target on the backswing (a "sway") instead of rotating them. When the lower body slides out from under the upper body, the upper body must tilt back towards the target to maintain balance. This action again pushes the weight onto the lead foot.
- Lack of Flexibility: Sometimes a reverse pivot is a compensation for a physical limitation. If a player lacks the hip or thoracic (upper back) mobility to make a full turn, they might lift their arms and tilt their body to try and get the club to the top, which can easily lead to a reverse weight shift.
How to Load and Unload Correctly
Fixing a reverse pivot is all about learning the feeling of a proper turn and weight transfer. You need to load into your trail side like a coiled spring.
- Feel the "Load" in Your Trail Hip and Heel: A great backswing thought is to feel like you are loading pressure and weight into the glute and heel of your trail foot (your right side for a right-hander). Your trail leg should feel stable and strong, like a post you are turning against. At the top of your backswing, you should feel you could easily lift your lead foot off the ground.
- Feel Your "Right Pocket Go Back": To promote rotation instead of a sway, feel your trail hip pocket turning directly behind you, away from the ball. This encourages a turn around a stable centre rather than a lateral slide that can lead to the reverse tilt.
- Feel Your Lead Shoulder Work "Down": During the backswing, your lead shoulder shouldn't just turn levelly. It should feel like it's turning down under your chin. This helps you maintain your spine angle and ensures you are rotating your upper body correctly over a stable lower body, which keeps your weight on your trail side.
- The "Step" Drill: This is a fantastic drill to learn the proper sequence. Start with your feet together. As you begin your backswing, take a step to the right with your trail foot, planting it firmly to feel the load. As you begin your downswing, take a step to the left with your lead foot, planting it to feel the weight transfer forward before you swing through. This exaggerates the motion and makes the correct sequence feel natural.
Once you replace that backward-falling motion with a dynamic, forward-moving sequence, you'll unlock a huge amount of effortless power. Your contact will become more consistent, and that weak slice will start to turn into a powerful, compressed golf shot.
Quick Recap
The reverse pivot is a momentum killer. You shift upper body toward the target in the backswing, then fall away in the downswing. Low point drifts behind the ball; strike quality disappears.
Setup fingerprints
- Stance too narrow: you have to sway for balance.
- Ball too far forward: you chase it with the chest, then retreat.
- Weight centered on toes: you’ll tip around rather than rotate.
Rebuild the base
Set a stance width that matches the club – wider for longer clubs, narrower for wedges – while keeping balance neutral (ankles, knees, hips stacked). Place the ball relative to the lead heel. With that foundation, pressure can move into the lead side on the downswing so the low point lives ahead of the ball.