You're Correct!

It may seem strange to you, the concept of focusing on the golf clubs handle during your golf swing. The handle is at completely the opposite end of the club to the club head and it is the club head and how this is presented back to the golf club through impact that is vital to the golf balls strike and shot direction.

However, focusing on the handle and having that in the correct position will mean that as a consequence you have the club head in the correct position as the two are contacted together via the shaft of the golf club.

Consequently, if the handle position is correct, the club head position must also be correct and therefore you will have control over your golf shots.
Having the handle of the golf club in the correct position will mean that the club head will be moving on plane, or at the correct angle around your body and if you can achieve this, you will hit your best golf shots as the club head will swing correctly through impact to allow you to hit straight, long and correct trajectory golf shots.

From your address position, you want to focus on moving the golf club away from the ball on your back swing so that the butt end of the handle points parallel left of the target (right handed golfers) when the shaft of the club is parallel to both the ground, around hip high. Once you have achieved this, point the butt end of the handle down towards the target line by the time your hands are chest high. From here, complete your back swing keeping the butt end of the handle pointing down the target line on your right, so that at the top of your back swing, the butt end of the handle is pointing away from the target but is parallel to it.

A great drill to work on to practise this is to place an alignment pole on the ground to represent the target line and then hold another alignment pole behind the club and your left arm as you hold the golf club. As you now swing back, you will be able to see where the alignment pole is pointing, which is showing you where the handle is pointing.

To return the handle back to the golf ball correctly, simply pull the handle down towards the ball so that it follows the target line until it is pointing at the golf ball. Ideally, you want to have the butt end of the handle pointing towards the target but parallel left of it when the handle is back at right hip high.

The position of the handle is absolutely crucial and certainly matters during your golf swing if you are going to have control over the golf club and the club head. As the handle is attached to the club head via the shaft, if the handle is in the correct position it follows that the club head must then also be in the correct position.

Focusing on the handle of the golf club may initially appear unhelpful towards improving your golf as it is neither the object being struck nor the object doing the striking. However, it is connected to the object doing the striking, the club head and as this is the moving object, with the golf ball remaining static, focusing on the handle rather than the ball gives you control over the moving club head.

It is true that the club face is 85% responsible for the direction that the golf ball flies in. However, learning to swing the club head on plane will allow you to control the club face more accurately through impact. Controlling the handle of the golf club will give you ultimate control over the club face.