Marine propulsion control system and method with isolated rotation control

A marine propulsion control system for a marine vessel comprising:

• a plurality of marine drives configured to propel the marine vessel in each of a surge direction, a sway direction, and a yaw direction, wherein the plurality of marine drives includes at least two rear marine drives;
• a joystick configured to receive an isolated rotation input to demand rotation about a bow of the marine vessel or rotation about a stern of the marine vessel, and to receive a surge demand input, a sway demand input, and a yaw demand input, wherein each of the surge demand input, the sway demand input, and the yaw demand input includes a magnitude and a direction;
• wherein the joystick includes an oblong handle having a length that is aligned with a long axis of the marine vessel and a width that is less than the length;
• a control system configured to:
• control the plurality of marine drives to effectuate vessel rotation about the bow of the marine vessel or about the stern of the marine vessel based on the isolated rotation input and the yaw demand input, and to effectuate surge movement of the marine vessel based on the surge demand input, and sway movement of the marine vessel based on the sway demand input;
• and
• wherein controlling the plurality of marine drives to effectuate the rotation about the bow of the marine vessel and the rotation about the stern of the marine vessel includes adjusting a splay angle between the at least two rear marine drives to control a point of rotation of the marine vessel based on the isolated rotation input, wherein the splay angle between the at least two marine drives is an angle less than 180 degrees.