Hands in front of ball = Closed face at Neutral

[skuzme210]

Been playing for just over a year.  The past couple months I've found myself needing to move my hands more and more fwd at address to feel comfortable.  7i for example, the end of my grip will likely point to my pocket vs the inside of my thigh, where it used to be(ball is slightly in front of middle of stance).  I even have them slightly in front of the ball with my driver (ball is inside my left heel).  If I put my hands closer to neutral, I'm hitting major pull-hooks, and it may be I'm just not getting my hands back out front when I start closer to neutral.  I'm pretty confident that hands in front is common/recommended, but that I'm a little extreme.  And also to note, I'm happy with what I'm doing as I'm carrying my 7i 180yds.  I just want to mentally understand as that helps me physically stay in form.

I asked my club pro about it in passing. He had me get to address and then had me hold the club out straight in front of me, parallel to the ground, and to relax my arms/grip......all done with my hands NOW back in line with my zipper.  My club face was way closed and he told me it needed to be square to my target and since I was closed, this is why I have the urge to move my hands more fwd since it basically opens the club face when I do this.

My question is, and assuming the tip is legit, if I'm addressing the ball with my hands fwd ... should I really be doing this little test from a neutral position to check the club face (like he had me do) or should I raise my hands up from the fwd position that I'm using??  In case that's hard to imagine, do I raise my hands from my zipper up ... or do I raise my hand from my pocket up?

I haven't asked him to clarify as I feel bad for asking to get a follow up on freebies.  And there is no telling when I'll be on the range again and he's free.

Thanks!

[mvmac]

No issues with having the hands forward at address.  You're correct, more forward tends to have the face pointing more to the right.  Club face does NOT need to be square to the target.  Why?  Because the ball primarily starts where the face is pointing at impact, not the direction of the path.  So to hit a draw, the face needs to be right of the target and the path further right.  Best players in the world do not have a "square" club face.  They have a pattern, draw or fade, and a face angle to match that pattern.

Good article to check out

http://thesandtrap.com/b/playing_tips/ball_flight_laws