The motion of a simple pendulum in nearly elliptical orbits is studied to determine the direction of precession due to various effects. With a pendulum of small angle, an extra magnetic attraction toward the center of force causes forward precession, whereas a magnetic repulsion causes retrograde motion; both these effects are described by a simple mathematical model. A pendulum with a larger angle of swing undergoes marked forward precession and this effect can be calculated to second order in the angle of swing. By contrast, a two‐dimensional motion with an extra perturbation designed to simulate the effects of a large angle of swing yields a small retrograde effect.