I am having real trouble getting my hands ahead of the ball and taking a divot past the ball. I can only get the feel I am looking for by placing the head of my irons 3 or 4 inches behind the ball at address. Something must be wrong with my normal setup or hand position at address?

The beautiful thing is golf is that the golf ball doesn’t care how, all it knows is what’s happening at impact. I am always open with my students to whatever it takes to make their best impact. If you’re comfortable with it and it helps you create better impact and doesn’t negatively affect anything else, it’s the right thing to do for you.