4 Wood Vs 4 Iron – Which Club To Use And When

The 4 iron is a very famous club in golf, included in most bags while the 4 wood can be just as useful but doesn’t garnish as much attention.

The 4 Wood has a large head and sweet spot as well as being one of the longest club in golf behind the driver and 3 wood.

The 4 Iron is a shorter club that offers less distance but more precision and accuracy to target a certain spot on the green.

4 Wood Overview

The 4 Wood is a versatile club, most useful from a nice lie on the fairway but also useful from the tee and the light to mid rough.

The 4 wood bludgeons the ball in the direction of the green, it is more of a sledgehammer than a precision tool like the 4 iron.

That being said, the 4 wood can be easy to launch, and if you hit it well, consistently straight and in the direction of the green.

Common problems with the 4 wood are getting enough launch on the club and possibly slicing the ball and that is the case, you be better of with a 3 hybrid or starting your woods with a 5 wood.

Better players will also be able to work the ball with a draw or fade quite effectively with a 3 wood.

Because a lot of beginners struggle to hit the ball well off the tee with their driver, they can get a lot better performance with a 3 or 4 wood for driving.

This would typically happen for players with slower swing speeds and re configuring the driver would be the optimal solution and having fairway woods with higher lofts – ie 4 and 7 wood instead of 3 and 5.

That being said, the 4 wood is a very effective club for hitting 190 yards plus from the fairway.

4 Irons Overview

In golfs long and traditional past, woods and irons were the only mid to long range clubs, that has changed in recent times with the introduction of hybrids.

Irons have had to up their game in response and what we see today is more distance, forgiveness and consistency from clubs like the 4 iron.

Another change that has happened in golf irons is that the lofts have been getting stronger and what used to be a 3 iron is now marketed as a 4 iron. Heck some iron sets now only start from the 4 iron, but that is what used to be a 3 iron, loft wise.

The 4 iron is going to be a lot more precise than the 3 wood. You can aim for the green with a 3 wood but you can aim for the pin with 4 iron.

The 4 iron can be used from the tee, the fairway and from light/mid-heavy rough with its pronounced loft and undercut.

The 4 iron can also generate decent spin to stop the ball dead or move it left to right with a draw/fade.

These are two long to mid range clubs that can both easily be found in a single golfers bag.

The 4 wood is longer, lower launching with more roll while the 4 iron is more precise, more workable and produces higher shots with less roll out.