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Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Irons & Hybrids Review

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SuperStroke
Got a chance to hit an Ai Smoke 7 iron today. They had the same shaft I have in my irons so that was nice.

Very solid when I did my part and loved the carry distances!

Really like the price point on these irons
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The hybrids are still in my opinion the understated heroes of this line. I recently got them out and they saved me repeatedly on holes where I needed to consistently advance the ball.

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This is my crazy long par 3 but I know I can get a GIR easily with these hybrids and consistently round after round.

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Is the head on the HL and Max/Fast identical except for the loft differences. Just wondering where the weight savings take place in the Max/Fast?
 
jjfcpa said:
Is the head on the HL and Max/Fast identical except for the loft differences. Just wondering where the weight savings take place in the Max/Fast?
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I believe the headweights are a bit lighter, plus lighter shaft and grip.
 
jjfcpa said:
Is the head on the HL and Max/Fast identical except for the loft differences. Just wondering where the weight savings take place in the Max/Fast?
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Are you asking about hybrids or irons?
 
Bryndom said:
The hybrids are still in my opinion the understated heroes of this line. I recently got them out and they saved me repeatedly on holes where I needed to consistently advance the ball.

View attachment 9242573


This is my crazy long par 3 but I know I can get a GIR easily with these hybrids and consistently round after round.

View attachment 9242574


View attachment 9242575
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I need to go hit the hybrids. I've been looking to replace my 3H and gave it some serious thought with the Paradym X last year, but didn't end up pulling the trigger.
 
The Ai Smoke 4HL is such a sneaky good club. The confidence it inspires at address with a slightly closed face drives me to step up and hit a nice draw every time. The best thing about this club is if I am in between distances I can either step on the pedal and ask for a few more yards or take some off.

On longer par 3’s 185 - 205 this has been my go to club and I’m left with the feeling that I don’t have to worry about running it through the green with the launch and decent angle the club is going to give me.

Don’t sleep on them…
 
Bryndom said:
The hybrids are still in my opinion the understated heroes of this line. I recently got them out and they saved me repeatedly on holes where I needed to consistently advance the ball.

View attachment 9242573


This is my crazy long par 3 but I know I can get a GIR easily with these hybrids and consistently round after round.

View attachment 9242574


View attachment 9242575
Click to expand...
Love the way these look at address. From the looks of the shot it appeared to hold up pretty well on the green too!
What club in your bag did this replace?
 
mson said:
I need to go hit the hybrids. I've been looking to replace my 3H and gave it some serious thought with the Paradym X last year, but didn't end up pulling the trigger.
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They are unbelievable.
I have a 5HL and a 6HL.
Swapping those longer irons out of the bag for these has been unbelievable.
As @Mmaynard11 mentioned above, being able to throttle it back a bit is great for awkward lies etc. if I ever tried to let up like that with a longer iron, my swing wouldn’t make it through.
Such fun clubs to hit!
 
mson said:
I need to go hit the hybrids. I've been looking to replace my 3H and gave it some serious thought with the Paradym X last year, but didn't end up pulling the trigger.
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They're definitely worth trying out to see if they're a good fit for you. Hybrids aren't "sexy" clubs so they tend to get overlooked and not talked about as much, but Callaway did a great job with these.
 
Mmaynard11 said:
The Ai Smoke 4HL is such a sneaky good club. The confidence it inspires at address with a slightly closed face drives me to step up and hit a nice draw every time. The best thing about this club is if I am in between distances I can either step on the pedal and ask for a few more yards or take some off.

On longer par 3’s 185 - 205 this has been my go to club and I’m left with the feeling that I don’t have to worry about running it through the green with the launch and decent angle the club is going to give me.

Don’t sleep on them…
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Is it the forgiveness and confidence inspiring look at address that makes you more comfortable stepping on it vs. other clubs in this spot? Obviously one can do that with any club, but it doesn't always go well, at least for me.

The HL is definitely intriguing. Not always an issue for me, but certainly do run through greens when I'm not hitting it my best.
 
brians said:
Love the way these look at address. From the looks of the shot it appeared to hold up pretty well on the green too!
What club in your bag did this replace?
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It was a Paradym 4h, we just went 3h and 4h in smoke like we had in Paradym
 
mson said:
I need to go hit the hybrids. I've been looking to replace my 3H and gave it some serious thought with the Paradym X last year, but didn't end up pulling the trigger.
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It’s time!
 
mson said:
Is it the forgiveness and confidence inspiring look at address that makes you more comfortable stepping on it vs. other clubs in this spot? Obviously one can do that with any club, but it doesn't always go well, at least for me.

The HL is definitely intriguing. Not always an issue for me, but certainly do run through greens when I'm not hitting it my best.
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The forgiveness for sure knowing that if I don’t hit it well I’m not going to penalize myself that much.
 
I kind of want a full set. These are fun.
 
ddec said:
I kind of want a full set. These are fun.
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I need to hit the Smoke irons again. Should I make a trip over to THP HQ?
 
BigMac said:
They're definitely worth trying out to see if they're a good fit for you. Hybrids aren't "sexy" clubs so they tend to get overlooked and not talked about as much, but Callaway did a great job with these.
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Aren’t sexy but they’re a staple in my bag that I don’t change as often as other clubs. Need to hit a fairway? Hybrid. Need a solid approach from 200-220? Hybrid. I’m 100% satisfied with my Mavriks but these will definitely be hit in comparison once I figure out some other pieces.
 
I'm wondering at what point are the spin numbers that I am seeing from rhe irons too low? I need to get on something that shows descent angle to see more info.

Spin, too much spin, not enough spin.... I just don't understand any of it.
 
Just_Brad said:
I'm wondering at what point are the spin numbers that I am seeing from rhe irons too low? I need to get on something that shows descent angle to see more info.

Spin, too much spin, not enough spin.... I just don't understand any of it.
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It's a good question and not always as black and white as people want it to be.

First of all, what sim/monitor are you using? If it's not measuring spin this is all just guesstimates anyway.

Second, it's all a balancing act between launch, spin, and ball speed. I'd definitely look more at descent angle, your ability to stop the ball on the green, and ball flight in general rather than getting too fixated on a spin number. Yes, your spin numbers on the last page with the Smoke are on the low side, but I wouldn't stress about it until you are seeing negative outcomes on the course. At those speeds with a 7 iron, launching high and spinning low isn't the worst thing in the world. It's boosting your carry number and I think you'd be surprised at how playable it could be in real life.
 
Hawk said:
It's a good question and not always as black and white as people want it to be.

First of all, what sim/monitor are you using? If it's not measuring spin this is all just guesstimates anyway.

Second, it's all a balancing act between launch, spin, and ball speed. I'd definitely look more at descent angle, your ability to stop the ball on the green, and ball flight in general rather than getting too fixated on a spin number. Yes, your spin numbers on the last page with the Smoke are on the low side, but I wouldn't stress about it until you are seeing negative outcomes on the course. At those speeds with a 7 iron, launching high and spinning low isn't the worst thing in the world. It's boosting your carry number and I think you'd be surprised at how playable it could be in real life.
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Thanks Hawk!

So far it is all on a GC3. I need to look more into what the available data points are that I should be tracking, instead of what it is showing by default.

Until I get on a course, shooting at actual greens, I am not super worried about it, and even then with a 5 or 6 iron I probably don't care. 7 iron to GW where I am doing approaches where I would like to hold a green are more the worry.

It is all a waiting game at this point until thaw, to see what the actual end product is going to be.
 
Just_Brad said:
Thanks Hawk!

So far it is all on a GC3. I need to look more into what the available data points are that I should be tracking, instead of what it is showing by default.

Until I get on a course, shooting at actual greens, I am not super worried about it, and even then with a 5 or 6 iron I probably don't care. 7 iron to GW where I am doing approaches where I would like to hold a green are more the worry.

It is all a waiting game at this point until thaw, to see what the actual end product is going to be.
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GC3 should have angle of descent.
 
Internet golfer statement incoming.
I am hitting the 4 hybrid too long.

Okay Okay, nothing is really ever too long, but its freaking deep for me and it appears I get this distance even on pretty piss poor swings.
 
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