Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Irons & Hybrids Review

[erock9174]

I went with D, 3HL, 7W, 5H, 5i-AW, 54, 58. I also have the 4H, which will be interchangeable with the 7W as far as gapping goes.

Was curious what your carries are with the PW, AW and 54* ?
My set coming has the PW and AW and SW. I doubt I would use the 55* Set SW, but my current wedge setup is 56* and 60* and with the AW being 47* that would be a 9* gap between it and my 56*. That seems like too much.

 

[erock9174]

Driver / 3hl / 3h / 5-9, PW, AW, GW / 54 / 58

I love the set GW. I do take some full swings with it, so I elected to stay with the set GW instead of a traditional 50* wedge.

I also have a heavenwood and UW I rotate out for the 3h and 5i if needed

Are you playing the Smoke or Smoke HL's?

 

[xThor]

Are you playing the Smoke or Smoke HL's?

Smoke

 

[Just_Brad]

I was trying to think back tonight, how well I was hitting the Smoke 7i in February when I thought I was hitting it really good. Pulled up the numbers from the GC3 that I logged.

Then compared it to how I was hitting it yesterday in a lesson, trying to fix path issues.

The bad shots yesterday were on par with the good from Feb. The good ones were consistently more carry, and more total. Foreign swing concept, incorporating things, working on path and impact.....and was consistently 10 yds farther. Really good ones, 15 yds farther.

I cannot explain how encouraged I was, even after 15-20 minutes of working on something, that the distance I was seeing is back, but is further than before.

Still work to do, and ready to do it. These irons are still surprising the heck out of me!!

 

[BigMac]

Was curious what your carries are with the PW, AW and 54* ?
My set coming has the PW and AW and SW. I doubt I would use the 55* Set SW, but my current wedge setup is 56* and 60* and with the AW being 47* that would be a 9* gap between it and my 56*. That seems like too much.

PW around 115, AW around 105. I very rarely full swing the 54°, but it's around 90. I'm a lot more comfortable with a partial swing AW than I am with full swinging the 54° or 58°.

 

[erock9174]

PW around 115, AW around 105. I very rarely full swing the 54°, but it's around 90. I'm a lot more comfortable with a partial swing AW than I am with full swinging the 54° or 58°.

Thanks for the info. We must swing right around the same speed. Are you around 140-145 carry with the 7i?

 

[El Rayo X]

Was curious what your carries are with the PW, AW and 54* ?
My set coming has the PW and AW and SW. I doubt I would use the 55* Set SW, but my current wedge setup is 56* and 60* and with the AW being 47* that would be a 9* gap between it and my 56*. That seems like too much.

Honestly, the PW in the set is a 9i, the GW is a PW and the AW is a GW.
Nearly the same lofts as the irons in my old set with those names.
I hit them the same as my old set, now they have different markings on the bottom. PW-115-120, GW -105, AW- 95
I do like that the 6 is actully a 5 that I can hit.

 

[JonD]

These were the winners in my fitting this morning. Hit a ton of irons, but the final choices were between the JPX923 forged, the PING i530s and the Smoke. More distance with the same dispersion. Also more consistent distance than my Apex 21s. I'm sitting here obsessing over set makeup and whether or not I need the AW & GW to gap with my 54/58 setup. I'm sure just the AW is fine, but wanted to see if anyone had any feedback there. Going with both will cost me a club somewhere else I'm not sure I'm willing to give up.

Edit: I should add that we definitely settled on heavier is better for my swing. Will be moving from 95g MMTs into the 115-120 range. It was a tie between the Elevate 115s and the DG 120s. Need to make a choice there. May just go with the Elevates to save a few bucks. I want to be in graphite long term but the fitter didn't have a ton of options, and none in that ballpark in graphite.

 

[El Rayo X]

These were the winners in my fitting this morning. Hit a ton of irons, but the final choices were between the JPX923 forged, the PING i530s and the Smoke. More distance with the same dispersion. Also more consistent distance than my Apex 21s. I'm sitting here obsessing over set makeup and whether or not I need the AW & GW to gap with my 54/58 setup. I'm sure just the AW is fine, but wanted to see if anyone had any feedback there. Going with both will cost me a club somewhere else I'm not sure I'm willing to give up.

Edit: I should add that we definitely settled on heavier is better for my swing. Will be moving from 95g MMTs into the 115-120 range. It was a tie between the Elevate 115s and the DG 120s. Need to make a choice there. May just go with the Elevates to save a few bucks. I want to be in graphite long term but the fitter didn't have a ton of options, and none in that ballpark in graphite.

The extra club scenario was solved for me with the AI Smoke Hybrids being stron lofted as well.
The 5h is 24*, 2* stronger than my G410 was, and Cally's 4h is 21*, again 2* stronger. I hit it nearly as far and high as the 5wd, maybe ten yards shorter carry
So for me, I pulled the 5wd from the top for some courses, or pull my 54*-58* wedges and put in a 56* only. I'm considering the wedge scenario for my Scotland trip, since most advise agaist the lob wedge on the links anyway.

 

[BigMac]

Thanks for the info. We must swing right around the same speed. Are you around 140-145 carry with the 7i?

Yep, 7i is right in that neighborhood. My swing speed is around 90 (give or take a couple mph) with driver.

 

[JonD]

The extra club scenario was solved for me with the AI Smoke Hybrids being stron lofted as well.
The 5h is 24*, 2* stronger than my G410 was, and Cally's 4h is 21*, again 2* stronger. I hit it nearly as far and high as the 5wd, maybe ten yards shorter carry
So for me, I pulled the 5wd from the top for some courses, or pull my 54*-58* wedges and put in a 56* only. I'm considering the wedge scenario for my Scotland trip, since most advise agaist the lob wedge on the links anyway.

Yeah I figure there'll be some gapping work on both sides of this set once I settle in. Specifically concerned about the wedges here so far. I think I'll probably go 5-AW, see how it shakes out and adjust accordingly. If I can drop one of my two hybrids this definitely becomes a non issue.

 

[Just_Brad]

Yep, 7i is right in that neighborhood. My swing speed is around 90 (give or take a couple mph) with driver.

Results not affected by you being 7 feet tall all.

 

[brians]

I know it was talked about a little while ago, but what are people’s bag makeups looking like? I’m thinking D, 3w, 5-PW, AW, 50, 54 and 58. With putter that leaves me one slot where right now I carry a 5w and a 4h. My 5w is like 215-220 and 4h is 200-205. 4h is probably better out of rough situations that 5w and good for punch outs etc.

I went with
Driver Max D 10.5
3W HL
Then a long gap to
7W
5 hl Hybrid
6hl Hybrid
7 hl - AW 54,58 putter

I like having at least a couple of hybrids in the bag to help where the woods can’t

 

[Nasdamus]

Yeah I figure there'll be some gapping work on both sides of this set once I settle in. Specifically concerned about the wedges here so far. I think I'll probably go 5-AW, see how it shakes out and adjust accordingly. If I can drop one of my two hybrids this definitely becomes a non issue.

I've been trying to figure this out too but like better options at the top of the bag, So you'll go AW (46*) then to your 54*?

 

[JonD]

I've been trying to figure this out too but like better options at the top of the bag, So you'll go AW (46*) then to your 54*?

That's what I'm thinking for the initial purchase. If it doesn't gap well, then I'll have to figure out if I go set GW or specialty wedge. My current set goes 48 to 54 and I don't have any gapping issues there. I'm probably overthinking all of this.

 

[brians]

I know it was talked about a little while ago, but what are people’s bag makeups looking like? I’m thinking D, 3w, 5-PW, AW, 50, 54 and 58. With putter that leaves me one slot where right now I carry a 5w and a 4h. My 5w is like 215-220 and 4h is 200-205. 4h is probably better out of rough situations that 5w and good for punch outs etc.

Would the 4H leave a better gapping to the irons for you but leave a larger gap to the top then? It’s such a tough call to make.
I’ve always wanted a 15th club so I could swap depending on the par 5’s and lengths of par 4’s that day and make the call before the round.

 

[Nasdamus]

Would the 4H leave a better gapping to the irons for you but leave a larger gap to the top then? It’s such a tough call to make.
I’ve always wanted a 15th club so I could swap depending on the par 5’s and lengths of par 4’s that day and make the call before the round.

I think so. Right now at the top i have 40, 45, 50 then 54/58. These would be 37, 42, 46, 50 then 54/58. My bottom of bag is D then 3w which is 230-235. I have a 5w then 4h now, so one of them have to go (or swap both to a 3h).

 

[brians]

I think so. Right now at the top i have 40, 45, 50 then 54/58. These would be 37, 42, 46, 50 then 54/58. My bottom of bag is D then 3w which is 230-235. I have a 5w then 4h now, so one of them have to go (or swap both to a 3h).

Swapping for a 3h would take care of the cutting out a club conundrum.
It’s such a risk/reward club though…

 

[El Rayo X]

I think so. Right now at the top i have 40, 45, 50 then 54/58. These would be 37, 42, 46, 50 then 54/58. My bottom of bag is D then 3w which is 230-235. I have a 5w then 4h now, so one of them have to go (or swap both to a 3h).

I don't worry about gapping much at the top of the bag, ie; Driver, 3wd, and maybe even the next club. It's just not really relevant to my game.
I want them to go as far as possible, in most scenarios, and TBH, distances at the top of bag are less consistent overall.

 

[Jetcap]

Ordered and played the HL irons for two rounds. I'm a bit disappointed. My Rouge ST max irons feel better and for me perform better. Same shaft. FC 80 Steelfibers.

 

[Scooby45]

the smoke hybrid has a really pleasing crack to it when testing tonight

 

[Landy]

Ok I went back to hit the Smoke AI's and now I see what everyone is saying. I guess the first time just wasnt in the groove.
Came back home and pulled the specs of my Paradym from my Callaway fitting and ordered a set of Smoke AI's and adjusted to -1/2" on the long irons and - 1/4" in the short irons as the Smoke is a longer iron.
Plus took advantage of the 50% trade-in with Callaway. The new set will be here Thursday!

They're here...
OK they arrived last night. Will hit them this weekend. But I noticed I didnt order the GW, but just the AW. Need to order the GW today in order to help with the gapping. The AW is 46 and my Jaws wedge is a 56/12 so I need that 50* GW.
Glad I listened to everyone here and made the switch from the Paradyms. These do look much better at address(helloooo ball...). Sorry the Honeymooners.

 

[JonD]

Gonna be calling in my order today. Can't wait to get these in hand.

 

[mikeg_74]

I had my first range session with the Smoke irons. Transitioning from the Mizuno JPX 921 Forged, there is a lot to live up to from a looks and feel standpoint. Performance wise the 921’s offered plenty of distance and surprisingly decent forgiveness away from center. The 921’s have been in the bag for about 2 yrs now so I’m pretty dialed in with the distances & overall performance.

Today I wanted to see what my distances were through the bag, and more importantly focus on the feel. Here are some thoughts & for those following along, my set up is 5-AW | UST Mamiya Dart 105 F4 1*

Feel/Sound - This would be the area where I would be the most critical. I’ve been used to the Mizuno feel and while I was prepared to give the Smoke a break bc I was hitting range balls, I wasn’t ready for what I was feeling/hearing. Now YMMV but for me the “click” I was expecting to hear from a hollow body design wasn’t there. Especially with firmer range balls that I was hitting. I’m not saying the click wasn’t there, but it was way more muted than I expected. Even hits away from center didn’t give a negative experience to my ears or hands.

Performance- I had flags today at 82/122/156/173/193/228/256

The 82 flag was just warm up/target practice for my wedges. I took the AW and I was covering it easily and able to run a fee lower and check up.

The 122 flag was my AW and PW swings. My old clubs this would be my Pw all day and my GW I could stretch to get there but I rather swing easy. The Smoke AW was covering this number easy and that is basically a 1/2 or full club longer than my old set. The PW was covering that with more carry and with a nice ball flight. I made some mental notes here for sure

The 156/173 flags got the 6i-9i treatment. My 9i or 8i won’t get 150 but there was a little mound between the 122 and 156 flag where these were landing. Again the ball was jumping off the face, feeling pretty soft at impact. If I had to guess the 9i was hitting the 135ish range and rolling out . The 8i on a couple of good swings hit the 156 landing area and that is big for me. I moved onto the 6 and 7 irons and really wanted to see how my dispersion looks. I’m very comfortable with the 7 and with the 6 it becomes a little more of a challenge at times. The 7i was consistently covering the 156 flag and on a couple of swings it flew past it. The 6i was covering the 156 easy and I was routinely seeing the balls covering or landing close to the 173 flag. I think I can get more out of my 6i, but the 7i was just launching the balls and I was shocked how easily they were carrying the 156 flag. Results from the 7i


The 5i and me have a delicate dance we maneuver. At times it’s the best club for me and sometimes it’s petulant child who won’t go to bed until they get a cookie. This club is rarely a full swing club but when it is I need at least 180 out of it. Today it could be honeymoon but I liked the results. Poor swings were landing at the 173 flag and good swings were carrying that easily and rolling up to the 193 flag. I did tee it up and loved the ball flight I saw with the distance landing where I expected. Overall I had no complaints from the long irons.

Through the bag I’m comfortable saying I was seeing 1/2 to a full club longer than my 921’s. The biggest surprise today was the feel at impact. It was soft and dense and not what I expected a hollow body to produce. I really want to get these out in the course with my gamer golf ball to get a good idea of what my yardages are. I suspect the carry will increase over the range balls so I’m anticipating a new carry distance.

 

[Nasdamus]

Great feedback! What do you think of the Dart 105 F4 ? Is that what you had in your Mizuno's? I am down to final shaft decision. I currently have Modus 105s with a 7i swing speed of 91-92mph. I can't find a 105x anywhere to test with the Callaway's, nor can i find a Dart 105 which have been recommended.