Hand position at setup for my driver

[jfrain2004]

My swing has gone under the knife with my golf Instructor big time this year and finally startinig to see the benefits on the course. The "hope I don't duff this one with my mates looking" feeling is being replaced with "I hope them boys are looking when I nail this f**ker"

Out on the course last evening and I was hitting some decent drives but all were starting straight, going a bit too high and fading right 10 or 20 yrds. I play the ball for my driver in a straight line with the inside of my left foot as per my golf instructor but noticed that when I have my hands level with the inside of my left thigh ( ie, an inch or two behind the ball ) that the fade is replaced with a straighter more penetrating flight. I always setup with my hands in front of the ball with my irons and hybrids ( I guess hands are level with inside of my left thigh ) but is it the case with this "Hands level with inside of left thigh" rule at setup that they will be behind the ball for the driver?  (  next lesson is not for 3 more weeks so may not see the Pro in the mean time )

[LettucePray27]

I speculate that it actually has less to do with the actual hand position, but more to do with how the shoulders relate to the the hands. In other words, the closer the hands are to your sternum the more square your shoulders will be to the target line. With all things equal you can manipulate your shoulders square with hands forward, however it is harder to achieve that position naturally. Try to hit a couple drives with your club and hands at your center point and see how it affects flight. You may be surprised how straight your drives become because your shoulder are staying square to the target line for a longer duration of time naturally. Listen to your instructor first and formost, but playing around with hand positioning will help you understand how your body reacts during the swing. The farther forward the hands *typically* the more open your shoulders will be when you are playing the ball forward.