When Callaway Golf recently released the new vision for the Great Big Bertha it was met with a lot of attention, mostly on the price, but here at THP our focus fell more on the company introducing their new “Forged Carbon” material. Why? It very clearly presented the opportunity for a dramatic change in driver design and weight manipulation. Immediately thoughts went to just what the new material could mean for the main releases from Callaway and how it could change the paradigm.
Turns out, we were close.
Say hello to the newest driver lineup from Callaway Golf, the Paradym.
The New Era of Driver Design
Callaway has been riding a rocket ship lately and releases like the Rogue line in 2022 cemented their hold at the top of the game when it comes to metalwoods. In 2023 we are not getting the next Epic release, instead it is Paradym.
While yes, clearly the marketing team had some say in that name with its trendy spelling, root word certainly seems to fit here as Callaway might have just opened a whole new world of possibilities. That potential centers around the previously mentioned Forged Carbon. For those who didn’t pay attention in the recent GBB release, this material is proprietary to Callaway and utilizes bundles of carbon fiber which are then forged into shape. This is notable because it means that any shape and thickness can now be created out of carbon, and without sacrificing strength or stiffness.
That is the centerpiece of the new Paradym Drivers. Callaway has combined their Triaxial Carbon with the new Forged Carbon to create the 360 Carbon Chassis, creating the entire mid-section of the driver out of carbon fiber which is 44% lighter. Now, before the internet attacks saying that carbon sole/crown combinations aren’t new, you are right, however this is a 360-degree design which for the first time ever features no internal cage.
Weight savings like that in the center of the designs mean that Callaway could push weight to where it is most effective in the rear and face of the clubheads. In all three heads, a notable amount was placed rearward to help increase MOI, but much also went to the front through the fine tuning and evolution of other notable Callaway technologies.
Yes, this year there is a new version of Jailbreak which is now more wishbone shaped through an evolution of geometry. The function here is still to maximize horizontal and torsional stability to ensure the energy is being transferred from the face to the ball, and not being lost through the head itself. All the while, they still managed weight savings of 33% compared to Rogue’s Jailbreak design.
The biggest reason for the change is Callaway’s continued investment to stay way out at the forefront of A.I in club design. As the A.I. has improved, they have realized that Jailbreak and their face designs are a team rather than individual players in the design. As the face design changes with each release to maximize performance, so too must the Jailbreak.
Where the face design is concerned, what was once just a topographic design, the A.I. is now considering more parts of the driver heads like the transition, flange, and aforementioned Jailbreak. Flash Face may have kicked this off on a race for speed, but this new Face Cup and Forged Titanium Face not only chase speed and spincistency but using new testing programs to create topographies on the face which maximize the launch conditions as well as downrange dispersion.
It is in all of this that Callaway is touting the Paradym lineup to be more accurate downrange than any other driver lineup the company has produced. Callaway feels like they continue to have the most advanced technology on the market in all areas, and with three models in the Paradym lineup they also believe they have something for everyone.
Callaway Paradym Driver
The meat and potatoes of the Paradym lineup, this is the driver which should appeal to the most golfers with the highest MOI combined with a more refined shape that is not as stretched as the Rogue Max was. Callaway believes that this head will appeal to both groups who were players of the Rogue Max as well as the Max LS.
Thanks to the creation of such massive weight savings via the 360 Carbon Chassis also means that the Adjustable Perimeter Weighting (APW) is present in the Paradym with no performance tradeoffs for the first time. The APW alone should allow for up to 12 yards of fine tuning (15 when you use the Opti-Fit adapter as well). Here, you get the adjustability while not sacrificing the MOI.
The Paradym will be available in 9.0, 10.5, and 12.0 degree options.
Callaway Paradym X Driver
Finally, Callaway is getting back on board with featuring an in-line driver which offers more draw bias and higher launch conditions without slapping “DRAW” all over the naming. This alone should increase the number of golfers who look at this head, right or wrong, that is the reality.
This is the largest head of the three and is more elongated front to back while still maintaining curvature to the rear of the shaping. While there is draw bias, Callaway is quick to emphasize there should be many Rogue Max players who will be most comfortable in this shape.
The Paradym X does not offer APW since it has a specifically focused weight placement in the rear of the design, but it does still use Opti-Fit for some adjustment. The X will be available in 9.0, 10.5, and 12.0 degree versions.
Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond Driver
Finally, the Triple Diamond is present and accounted for in the Paradym lineup. Naturally, this is the most compact head of the three, but Callaway is boldly stating that it is also the exact head design which will be on Tour and utilized by their Tour Staff with many already in-play.
While there is no APW here either, there are instead a changeable 14g/2g weights which can be flipped to fine tune the Triple Diamond. Callaway’s internal testing claims there is about 250 RPM’s difference depending on the placement of the heaviest weight, with spin and launch increasing in the rear position.
The Paradym Triple Diamond will be offered in 9.0 and 10.5 degrees as usual, but this year there is also an 8.0° loft which was clamored for by both Tour Staff as well as many others.
The Details
Each of the new Paradym Driver designs will come in at $599.99 and feature Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips as well as four primary premium shaft offerings. The Aldila Ascent PL Blue is the lightweight option while the Project X HZRDUS Silver/Black and Mitsubishi Kai’li White round out the other choices.
While Callaway has never been a company to shy away from hyping their releases, they also have a tremendous track record of following through. Will Paradym deliver? Time will tell, but it will surely be a fun journey to follow.
