Path of hands through impact

Question
Hey Eddie,

This may seem like a "DUH" question but it's one I can't recall ever heard being asked in this or any other instructional forum.  I haven't seen it discussed in golf magazines and no instructor of mine has mentioned it either so I thought I'd bring it up here:

At impact, the toe of my club was digging in and it didn't matter which club, from wedge to fairway wood.  Initially, I thought my clubs needed to be fitted (which I did) but then I had an epiphany and realized that maybe my hands were too far from my body at impact causing the toe to dig in first.  As I looked back at previous swings, it dawned on me that, through impact, I was making a straight line from my shoulders to the ball which was causing the toe-down effect.  As I mentioned nobody had ever told me to bring my hands closer to my body (making an angle) so I never thought it was a problem.  After all that, here's my question:

Should the hands pass through their original setup position (i.e. directly below the shoulders) when moving through impact?  If at setup the hands are approximately 5-6 inches or so from the body, should they be that same distance from the body at impact?

I know it only seems logical considering that when the club is properly soled on the ground, there is an obvious angle between the arms and club shaft, but since nobody has mentioned it before, I'm not sure if I'm on the right track!  Am I crazy or is this correct?  Thanks!

Answer
Jason:

No, good question.  If the arms and shaft are straight at impact, the toe would dig in.  There still needs to be that angle between shaft and arm at impact, although the hands would be slightly higher than they are at address.  I catch students moving their hands away from their body as they swing into impact (like you described) and I simply have them set up and I'll stand in front of them and hold my club length wise across their wrists, ask them to swing the club back to the top and in slow motion, return it to impact.  The hands should be able to come right back to impact under my club.  It's amazing how often they hit the club.  So a little training in slow motion will help you retrace your steps back to the impact area in a better striking position.  At impact, there should still be a slight angle between shaft and arm.  

Eddie Kilthau
PGA Member