Dear Dixon Golfer,
Thanks for the crisp questions!
Elbows hang naturally vertical beneath the shoulders, at least when the golfer stands on level ground. If the stroke is made by moving the shoulders and the arms and hands all as a unit, this "unitizing" of the body parts renders hand position irrelevant. In fact, it also renders elbow position irrelevant. So, the objective is to use the most relaxed setup and the least static tension to hold this "unitized" shape, and this results in elbows below shoulders with an "homogeneous muscle tone" throughout the hands, arms, and top of back along the shoulder frame.
There is a little-known relationship between gravity, hanging arms and hands, and putter lie angle and setup postures. The elbows hang vertically beneath the synovial-fluid ball-socket joint of the shoulder, but the forearm angles out of vertical due to muscle development about the elbow joint, which is designed to close only one way on flexing (the opposite direction that the knee joints close on flexing). This angle of the forearm out of vertical compared to the upper arm is the SAME angle between the forearm and the long axis of the hand as it hangs vertically in gravity off the end of the forearm.
The path from shoulder joint to finger tip of a normal person standing relaxed in gravity is a ZIG (upper arm vertical), a ZAG (forearm angled out of vertical), and a ZIG (hand hanging vertically same as upper arm). This relationship creates the LIFELINE of the palm, as the heavy meat of the thumb pad is folded down by gravity out of the line of the forearm, making a fold line in the flesh of the palm. Thus the LIFELINE matches the FOREARM when the ZIG-ZAG-ZIG relationship persists between upper arm, forearm, and hand. And this means that when the hand is positioned straight off the forearm (as usual, in the "I swear" posture or the "look a my palm" posture) and the palm is examined, the ANGLE formed by the line of the foream and the lifeline is the SAME angle as that formed by the upper arm and the forearm hanging in gravity. The lifeline is a permanent record of the relationship of the upper arm and forearm "carved into the palm by gravity" whenever the person lets their arm hang relaxedly when standing in gravity, which is quite often.
Lifeline ZAG of forearm and ZIG of lifeline, a permanent record made by gravity of the forearm angle out of vertical:
Harold Swash showing shaft line matching forearm line with handle edge along lifeline of palm:
Now, when the golfer adopts a setup posture that hangs the arms and hands "naturally" (on level surface), it is an interesting boon that if he places his palm on the handle so that the lifeline fits along the top edge of the handle, and the sole is flat on the surface as it should be, then the line of the putter shaft matches the line of the forearms. This is a natural hanging of the arms and hands into which the putter design is "fit" with an apporpriate lie angle. Well, this appropriate lie angle is the SAME angle as that between the upper arm and the lower arm when hanging naturally, and this is also the SAME angle as that between the forearm and the lifeline when the hand is extended out of the forearm. This setup "unitizes" the tool of the putter into the body in a natural way, with the ZIG of the upper arm maintained, the ZAG of the forearm maintained, the ZIG of the hand maintained, the ZAG of the lifeline matching the forearm and the putter shaft, and the ZAG of the putter shaft matching the lifeline and the forearm. This greatly simplifies how the brain incorporates the sense of the tool as an attachment or extension of the body when the brain moves the arms-holding-putter as a unit.
With reference to your question about the hands too near or too far, the short answer is, yes, but only if the golfer lets the static muscle tone that unitizes the setup of arms and hands and putter "give way" during the stroke. So long as the golfer keeps the muscle tone to keep the "triangle" intact, the hands won't tend to alter in relation to the thighs or feet at all during the stroke. If the hands are too far out from the body to start, but the muscle tone of the "triangle" stays intact, the hands won't come any closer in to the body or go any further away. Likewise, if the hands start too close in, but the muscle tone of the "triangle" stays intact, the hands won't come any closer in to the body or go any further away. This is the case, at least, when the golfer "moves the shoulders to move the whole", without independent action of the arms apart from where the shoulder action sends them.
But let's examine in more detail what causes the hands to drift inward or outward, as they obviously do for many folks.
One of the best tips I've seen about putting setup comes from Hillary Lunke, who says that after adopting the address posture, check it by letting the right (rear) hand drop off the handle: if it swings back towards the legs, the hands are too far out from the legs and feet; if the hand swings out towards the nose, the hands are too close to the legs and feet; if the hand swings ONLY SIDEWAYS OFF THE HANDLE, then the hands are the correct distance out from the legs and feet. (Todd Sones has taught Hillary Lunke, and uses this test as well.)
But lets back up a bit. The setup starts with soling the putter flat to the surface, aimed at the target. Then the golfer "brings" his body to the handle without disturbing the aim or the flatness. To do this, the golfer FIRST hangs his arms and hands naturally, and then walks the hands out to the handle, WITHOUT REACHING OUT TO THE HANDLE. When the feet deliver the hanging hands to the poised handle, then the golfer grips the handle and stops creeping forward. Doing it this way, and then testing with letting one hand drift off the handle, the hand will always drift only sideways, and never nearer or farther from the feet.
If you observed from behind in a down-the-line perspective a golfer bending forward in a putting setup with arms and hands hanging naturally, the shoulders and elbows would be directly above the balls of the feet (for balance) hanging vertically, with the forearms angled slightly forward so the hands would be just off the toes of the feet, and the sweetspot of the putter will be wherever an extension of the line of the forearms meets the ground. Ideally, this spot on the ground will also happen to be directly beneath the eyeballs, and the golfer may have to adjust his neck bend to make this come out right while keeping his gaze direction of eyeballs aimed straight out of the face. But in any event, there is a critical dimension in human bodies -- the distance up from shoulder sockets to eyeballs. Typically, this distance is about one grip length (10 inches) or thereabouts on just about every adult (+ or - about 1-2 inches at most, with about 80-90% right on 9-10 inches). In the putting address posture, with the shoulders slightly canted out over the balls of the feet, and with the line of the neck parallel to the surface, then this dimension also sets the distance of the ball and sweetspot out from the balls of the feet (about 10" or the same as the specific golfer's shoulder-eyeball measurement). This is the MINIMUM distance the ball should ever be played out from the balls of the feet. From the tips of the toes, this is about two putterhead lengths or so out to the ball. If the forearm-lie angle requires a spot farther out from the feet, the golfer can accommodate this situation by adjusting the line of his neck tilting forehead upward while keeping his gaze straight out. The end result is arms and hands hanging naturally, forearm line matches lifeline matches shaft line of a flatly soled putter, and a straight-out gaze looks at the sweetspot and ball. Then the hand-off test will result only in the hand swinging sideways off the handle. All as should be.
So the hand positions that you describe in the question are really only "bad form" in the setup posturing. A good setup doesn't ever have this problem.
Cheers!
Geoff Mangum
Putting Coach and Theorist
PuttingZone.com
Golf's most advanced and comprehensive putting instruction.