The way you set up to the ball naturally determines the shape and plane of your swing with the irons. That’s why it is so important you work on your posture and your alignment, to give yourself the best chance of repeating a good swing.
Here I have a 6-iron, for which I like to have the ball pretty much in the middle of my stance, while my weight is evenly balanced between the feet. As you can see, my hands are only fractionally ahead of the ball with this mid-iron, the hands relaxed on the grip.
To create a good athletic posture, you simply bend over from the hips, flex the knees, and stick your butt out. That’s important as it enhances the quality of your spine angle, leaving your arms free to hang down comfortably from the shoulders. As you can see, the alignment of the feet, hips and shoulders is square to my target.

From a good set-up, I want you to focus on this concept of a ‘two-step’ backswing. The first move again sees the left arm work comfortably across the chest as you gently turn your upper body away from the target. There is nothing complicated about this move. All you are doing is controlling the swing with a gentle turn of the stomach and shoulders, the hands passive to this point. Check the position of the clubface when you get it to here. As the shaft reaches parallel, the toe should be pointing up towards the sky.