For my skating friends who talk about "open" and "closed" hips - this diagram gives a nice visual for the anatomy behind the terminology. (My hippie friends already know about angles of version.) I have severe anteversion (see "B" in the diagram). Those of you who are "open hipped" are more like "C" in the diagram. Dance and skating are both much easier for "A" and particularly "C" people. Many coaches who have normal or open hips don't understand how challenging it is for closed-hip people to do even simple things like Mohawks, although twizzles, hydroblades and loops may be easier.
There is a limit to how much external hip rotation you can get if your anatomy is similar to "B" - but there are ways to maximize what you have. "Turnout" includes external hip rotation as well as rotation from the knee and ankle/foot. Once you reach the end of your external hip rotation, no amount of stretching is going to change the alignment of your bones.
Pre-PAO, I was able to get a lot of hip rotation because my hips weren't in their sockets, so they turned more easily. However, this caused bad things to happen, including lack of stability, arthritis, and labral tears. My body learned to turn out below the knee to get things to happen, but my on-ice movement and alignment never looked correct to me when I watched myself on video or saw myself in photos. It all makes sense now.
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