Though recreational golfers spend hours working on a golf swing, there are enough subtle differences between using irons and woods to consider practicing two golf swings. The biggest reason is the driver and fairway woods are more often used for distance, while the irons are for scoring and require more control.
Stance Width
When you are trying to hit the ball far with a driver or fairway wood, you should place your feet a little farther apart when taking your stance. That's because you will tend to swing a little harder, and widening your stance helps you maintain balance, which is key to hitting the ball solid in the center of the club face.
Distance to Ball
To swing well with an iron, you need to stand closer to the ball than with a fairway wood for the simple reason that driver and wood shafts are longer. Woods' shafts are longer because longer shafts help generate more clubhead speed and, therefore, more distance. The PGA rules of golf prevent any club other than a putter being longer than 48 inches.
More on Ball Position
Sam Snead, who won more U.S. PGA tournaments than anyone, recommended playing the ball forward in your stance with a driver -- even with the left heel if you're a right-handed player -- and gradually farther back in your stance as you progressed in the bag to the pitching wedge. Playing the ball forward with the driver helps to promote hitting the teed-up ball on the upswing, which increases distance.
Spine Angle
Before swinging a driver, you should tilt your spine a few degrees away from the intended target. Just like with the ball position forward, maintaining a spine angle tilted away helps deliver the club on an upswing to the ball on the tee. With an iron, the ball is on the ground or at ground level on a tee, and that requires you to hit down and through the ball, so the spine tilt should be more neutral relative to the target.
Swing Plane
The irons have shorter shafts, and you're standing closer to the ball, so the plane that the clubhead travels on in the backswing and downswing should be more upright than with the longer shaft of the fairway woods and driver. It's not a dramatic difference, but using the same swing plane with your irons as with your driver can cause inconsistent play.
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