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If you want to hit your best golf shots and achieve accuracy, length and a solid connection over and over again, then you need to swing through impact with your hands ahead of the golf ball and club head.

If your hands lead through impact then you strike the golf ball from a very strong position. You will deliver a downward striking action from the club head and you will be releasing your wrists to deliver maximum club head speed into the golf ball, producing maximum shot length. Having your hands in front of the golf ball results in you returning the club head back to the golf ball with the correct amount of loft on it, so that you hit the golf ball at the correct height.

If your hands are behind the golf ball through impact, then you have already released the club head and imparted maximum club head speed into your swing. This means that because the club head is travelling at maximum speed before it strikes the golf ball, it is then beginning to decelerate after this point, so the club head is slowing down as it hits the golf ball and maximum shot length is not achieved.

With your hands behind the golf ball and the shaft leaning backwards rather than forwards at the target, the club head returns back to the golf ball with more loft on it. This will result in a higher trajectory golf shot than usual and the higher the ball is hit into the air, the less it travels forward and towards the target.

With your hands forward of the golf ball as you strike the club head into the ball, you will also achieve a downward striking action as you hit. The club head will strike the ball first and then the ground, giving you a really solid contact between the club head and the golf ball.

Having your hands back, or behind the club head through impact produces a very weak hit and connection. With your hands back, the shaft of the club head leans back so that the handle is further away from the target than the head. This adds loft to the club to produce too much height on your shots and it also promotes a wristy, flicking action through impact that makes a solid connection very difficult.

A down ward hitting action in the club head is achieved by having your hands forward and in front through impact. If your hands are back of the golf ball then the club head will arrive first and will be making an upward swinging action that will promote mis-hit golf shots.

Having your hands in front of the golf ball at impact provides a solid, well struck shot with a great trajectory. However, pushing your hands too far ahead at impact will de-loft the golf club face and produce lower trajectory golf shots than you want. Have your hands ahead of the ball, but only just.