[dlam]

You are correct.
Hit THROUGH the ball not AT the ball.
You will notice that a properly struck ball will have the divot in front of the ball, this is a consequence of hitting through the ball.
When one is hitting at the ball the divot starts at the ball or behind the ball resulting in thin shots.
You will have this notice this feeling immediately.

Hitting at the ball
Sometimes it can lead to problems like flipping.
Most golfer feel that it is natural to aim at the back of the ball then hit it thin
Want that pure flush feeling so next time flip their wrist.

If you use the hitting protocol then I would suggest using aiming point technique.
choose a spot in front of the ball to HIT AT. This insures you hit through the ball and still have a target to HIT AT.

If you use a swinging protocol the pivot will rotate the clubface and produce square clubface at contact, normally in a pure swinging technique one doesn't
feel the need to hit at the ball. You feel that you are naturally swinging and ball is in the path of the swing.
The problem with swinging is that ball placement has to vary with different clubs.So with swinging protocol I tend move ball positions relative to different clubs.

In hitting I use standard ball position and vary my aiming point.