‘If you’re caught on a golf course during a storm and are afraid of lightning, hold up a 1-iron. Not even God can hit a 1-iron.’ – Lee Trevino
This quote from Lee Trevino at the time made complete sense, driving irons used to be the stuff of nightmares for golfers.
But with advancements in club technology they are not easier to hit than ever, so much so pros like Rory McIlroy have started adding them to their bags again.
In short driving irons are longer irons, with strong lofts, and bulkier heads when compared to regular irons.
They serve a specific purpose on tour as they outperform hybrids and fairway woods in windy conditions.
That being said, should the average golfer consider adding it to their set?
Below you will find out how and when to hit a driving iron, what makes them different from regular irons, and which is the best overall, hybrids, fairway woods, or driving irons.
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Who Shouldn’t Use A Driving Iron?
Driving irons are not for everybody, and they can blow up your scorecard if you have no business using one.
I’ll keep it real simple, if you have a slow swing speed or ball speed and don’t consistently hit the sweet spot with your regular irons, you have no business using a driving iron.
To get the most from these irons, you need to swing fast in a controlled fashion and have a consistent swing.
In order for the ball to compress properly and launch into the air you need to have these two things. Otherwise, you’ll hit low spinny shots that run along the ground.
Besides you can get similar results with a hybrid which are much easier to hit or stick with your muscle back/game improvement irons. I go into more detail of the strong points of driving irons, fairway woods, and hybrid at the end.
Basically, these irons are suited for low handicap golfers on the lower end of single digits.
Hitting Driving Iron Off The Tee Box Strategy
As you would imagine, a driving iron is designed to be hit from the tee box in place of your driver, hence it’s an incredibly creative and whitty name…
But how and when should you use this iron to get the best results?
Let’s start with the how first. Hitting a driving iron is not a whole lot different than hitting any other long iron you will just need to push it a little further up in your stance.
And while you may get away with not using a tee on a par 3 with your wedges or irons, to get the best results you will need to tee the ball up.
The driving iron has little to no loft and needs to be hit with tones of speed so using a tee will make things easier.
It’s important you don’t try help the ball into the air though, let the speed and the loft do the work.
Now let’s dive into when you should use it for your tee shots.
These irons are ideal for windy conditions on the course as they have a low and piercing ball flight that helps it cut through the wind—making it a safer option than driver on windy days.
Playing a tight par 4 or 5 when getting it in the fairway is vital and is perfect for the driving iron.
It might be tempting to hit your driver to get the extra distance, but when you have no room for error keeping in play should always take priority.
Lastly, remember that the ball flight will come out low so if there is an obstacle or hazard you need to carry, then the driving iron may not be the tool for the job.
Hitting Driving Iron Off The Fairway/Rough Strategy
Although the driving iron is meant to be hit from the tee box you can absolutely use it everywhere else on the course.
But the situations it will come in handy from off the tee will be rare. Let’s start with the fairway.
Hitting it from the fairway will require the same swing and approach from the tee, however, I myself like to bring the ball back toward the center by about an inch.
Now there is no tee, so it’s going to come out lower and run along the ground more than it usually would.
All this in mind the best scenario for this shot is attacking a par 5 as there won’t be many par 4s long enough to warrant this shot, unless you hit a terrible first shot.
If there are water hazards or bunkers before the green then this club will get you into trouble more time than not. In this case better to lay up with a shorter iron.
Trying to hit driving iron out of the rough is something I would highly advise against. Unless you have the power of the Hulk to cut through the rough like butter, you will fail most of the time.
These irons actually cut through the rough easier than your traditional long irons but it’s still not a smart move for most golfers.
However, let’s say your ball is lying on top of the rough, then bombs away my friend. In this scenario, nature has teed the ball up for you so just imagine you’re on the tee box and swing.
Driving irons make for great recovery clubs too, if you’re buried in the trees and need something to keep it low you couldn’t ask for a better club.
Differences Between Driving And Regular Irons?
There are a few differences in terms of how they look which I will tell you about below, obviously you already know the ball goes further so I won’t bore you with any of that stuff.
Firstly, driving irons are slightly longer in length than any of your regular irons, which is perfectly normal and can be seend across all the different club types.
A 7 wood isn’t going to be as long as a 3 wood and the same goes for irons.
Driving irons also have a longer clubface than a traditional iron to make it easier to make good contact at high speeds.
Lastly, the biggest noticeable difference between the two is that driving irons are bulkier, or have more mass in the club head.
The majority of this weight is positioned around the sweet spot and towards the sole of the club. This all works together to make it easier to hit and easier to launch into the air.
So in a nutshell you could say driving irons are easier to hit, so why doesn’t everyone use them?
Well, like we touched on earlier, unless you have the raw speed/power to get the ball moving you’ll never get consistent or optimal results using these irons.
Differences In Performance Driving Irons & Woods
Driving irons, woods and hybrids what is the difference and where does each club type excel?
Well it all depends on the golfer and their ability first of all so we will get that sorted first. Overall, a hybrid will be the easiest and most forgiving to hit from the three.
Most golfers don’t have the speed needed to hit a driving iron properly and they also tend to struggle with controlling fairway woods with most suffering from slices or hooks.
Hybrids on the other hand don’t require tones of speed and are more forgiving than woods.
Next up removing player ability out of the scenario, in terms of accuracy and control the driving iron wins this one.
A driving iron in the right hands will have a tighter dispersion and can be easier to shot shape if needed.
Fairway woods can be wild at the best of times and hybrids accurate cannot provide the same level of control as a driving iron can.
Now, when it comes to distance there can only be one winner and it’s of course the fairway woods.
I don’t feel I need to go into much detail here, the shafts are longer and they’re rammed full of distance-enhancing tech that shorter-shafted hybrids and irons can’t compete with.
Lastly, it comes down to launch and ball flight. It’s not easy to pick one or the other here so I’ll have to call it a tie between them all.
Without specifying what the situation is no one ball flight is better than the rest. In windy conditions, the driving iron takes it with ti’s penetrating ball flight, off the tee box a 3 wood would take it and on an approach shot you’d want a hybrid.
And that’s about as fair as I can get. No one club is superior to the rest as it depends on the situation and the golfer using them.
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