A question on de-lofting the club at address.

A long time ago an "old & bold" golfer at my club saw me pushing my hands forward slightly just before my backswing and told me I shouldn't as I was changing the loft of the club and affecting the ball flight. I'm not talking about a huge amount, really only 1-2 inches maybe and only with my irons and hybrids.

I've been looking at a few different swings both on here and pro swings I've seen and noticed a few that do the same. Ernie Els comes to mind in particular.

I also recently bought some new Tommy Armour EVO clubs and when I was trying them out the golf store guy mentioned that I should have my hands in front of the ball at address (and therefore some forward shaft lean) to allow me to take a divot.

Does anyone have thoughts on this? I've played with the movement recently at the range (as well as some other adjustments) and have had some better contact with my irons.

I'd be interested to hear if anyone else does this and what the effect is on ball flight.

You're in good company, Ben Hogan used and recommended a "forward press" to initiate the back swing.

Scroll down on this link to 'Forward Press':

http://golftips.golfsmith.com/takeaway-golf-swing-tips-1641.html

From what i've seen with the players i know best, delofting and strongly pressing hands forward, leads to lower ball flight.  If turf hard and flat, drives are loooong worm burners.  Seems this style very suitable to Links courses as flight often below winds and the run up to the  greens is  smooth.

All this may be pretty obvious.

I think there is very little correlation to where your hands sit at address and where your hands are going to be at impact, and thus, what your ball flight is going to be.

The guy at the golf store was correct if he meant to say impact instead of address.

I happen to have my hands pretty far forward at address and I have no trouble hitting the ball high.

I just the forward press as a trigger to start my backswing (also on putts/ chips). At impact, the shaft is back to 'normal'.

I don't move my hands forward to initiate the swing, but they are forward at address, pointing at my left hip for most irons, but the longer the iron the less forward my hands get, it's a slow progression to the driver which points at the belt buckle.

Well, i disagree that there is no correlation between shaft lean at address and shaft lean at impact.  When you guys say things which imply that imprinting is useless, that is where i get off your boat.  I surely believe that if you do not practice correctly what you want to achieve then any achievement will be due to luck.

Of course a skilled golfer can assume nearly any address position for demo purposes and still have a favorable impact position. But generally seems best to practice what you want to achieve, not the opposite.