Five Lessons

[Dariusz J.]

I really like this part. (honest) Unsure of the first part (omitted) but that's all it is, uncertainty.
I roughly do the same thing...some amount open when I want to be open...some amount closed when I want to be closed.
(for path reasons, shot shape, or whatever)
Never could be bothered to make sure my feet were exactly parallel.

Think also about this - the diagonal stance gives a much better base for a human body weight. The bigger surface the base has the easier is to be in balance through the motion and, what is even more important, the easier is to use the ground shear forces comparing to when all body parts are in line with each other. Human feet are very small in relation to the entire body mass that they must keep in balance, especially during such a dynamic motion as the golf swing is. Hogan achieved it not only by widening his stance but also via different position of feet in all possible planes. Pay special attention to his foot work before starting to swing...as he would have looked for a stable stance that guaranteed the most effective usage of the ground forces later on.

Whenever I try to turn my hips open in the downswing...disasterous results have been sure to follow. In the past anyhow. Shannnnnnk...!

Most probably because you lose your tush line and the distance between your hands and the ball shortened. Pelvis is being built with two joints hence we cannot treat it as an unit, especially taking into account the necessity of CoG transfer to the lead leg.

Cheers