You're Correct!

To hit consistent, crisp iron shots, it is ideal to have the shaft angle leaning forward at impact. When you view the golf swing from a face on position, you should aim to see the handle/grip of the club in front of both the club face and the ball at impact.

This forward leaning angle of the shaft assists in producing a ball before ground contact and also a slightly descending angle of attack at impact.

Another element to improving your shaft angle at impact is your weight distribution at impact. If your weight hasnt moved laterally enough forward at impact you will have a hard time to achieve the ideal shaft angle. At impact, the majority of your weight should be on your lead leg with your hip centre in front of the golf ball.

There is also the motion of having too much shaft lean at impact. You are likely to launch the ball too low from this position. A good check point for the amount of shaft angle at impact with an iron shot would be approximately 10 degrees forward towards the target.

The majority of club and recreational golfers have their handle leaning too far back at impact which usually results in adding loft to the club face. There are many training aids designed to help golfers with this swing problem, but taking a lesson to help fix your swing issues is highly recommended.

Having the shaft leaning backwards at impact is a very common position amongst recreational and club level golfers. This position is usually fixed by making a change somewhere else in the golf swing. If the club is severely out of position before impact we sometimes have no choice but to lean the shaft backwards in order to make contact with the golf ball.

If you find your trail arms wrist flexing at impact you will find it impossible to have the shaft angle of the club leaning forward. Keep that trail wrist extended at impact in order to achieve the forward shaft lean essential to optimize your iron shots.