Man, am I glad I'm not the only one struggling with this. When I got my first handgun, a Glock 22, I read and studied a lot about the best way to shoot because...well, because I'm kind of a nerd. EVERYTHING I read and everything I was told said the pad was the way to go. I shot that Glock silly and I never got comfortable with it.
Recently, I bought a Springer XD .40 because the slimmer grip fits my smaller hands better. The very first thing I noticed during dry fire practice was that my trigger finger slid comfortably in a bit shy of the first joint, just behind the pad. It was natural and easy. When I shoot with the pad, I have to fiddle with my finger to get it in place. Now, with the XD, I let my finger go where it goes, and I work with that.
My shooting improved instantly. My grip is more comfortable and secure because my trigger finger feels right. Every aspect of both my hands on the gun feels better now.
I've been told that you've found a good piece if you can pick it up and point and have it feel natural, like an extension of your hand. For me, my trigger finger is an integral part of that feeling. The XD fulfills the former criterion, and my new finger placement fulfills the latter.
In a year of shooting my Glock with pad only, I practiced at many different distances on the range. At the longest, 20 yards, I never once put a round into center mass. The first time I took my XD out and started using the spot just before the crease, I put six out of twelve into center mass from 20 yards.
Works for me.