The open stance in golf can be beneficial for tricky lies and various shot distances. It can also help if you have a natural tendency to slice the ball. While golf professionals typically teach you to take a square stance by lining up your feet parallel with the target line, an open stance allows you to attack a hole from a different angle and to navigate around bunkers and lakes.
Drive
Typically, only players who have complete control of their swings will hit a drive with an open stance. An open stance encourages the ball to draw to the left, if you are a right-handed golfer. If you are capable of hitting a controlled draw shot, you can use it on fairways that bend to the left. Fairways that have an extreme turn are called doglegs and are generally not ideal for draw shots. On such holes you are generally better off hitting the ball straight down the fairway, or carrying it straight onto the back of the dogleg if you can hit that distance with a square stance.
Approach
Mid-iron approach shots from the fairway are not always straight. Often, you'll have to maneuver around trees, bunkers or water hazards to get the ball on the green. You can use an open stance and hit a draw shot if the green is flanked to the right with any type of hazard. The open stance shot encourages the ball to fly toward the left side of the green, thereby avoiding the hazards on the right. Naturally, if the flag on the green is positioned on the left, an open-stance draw shot would also be advantageous.
Bunker
One of golf's most dreaded shots is the bunker shot. To successfully lift your ball out of a bunker, your form and technique must be nearly perfect. A ball that's buried in the sand requires lots of power and drive from the hips. You must create enough force and club speed to drive the clubhead down and through the sand. An open stance enables you to produce more hip action when driving the club downward. It also allows you to create a large and wide follow-through as you turn to face the target.
Uphill Lie
Uphill lies can present very challenging shots. One common shot that gives golfers a headache is an uphill lie around a green. In such situations, the ball is buried in the rough, which means a firm shot is needed to get the ball out, yet the green is only a few feet away, which means the shot must be soft enough to avoid overshooting the putting surface. The open stance can help you address the ball in a way that gently lifts it from the rough while putting back spin on the ball to encourage it to check-up once it hits the green. The stance also helps you balance yourself, since your back foot is below the ball.
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