Gear: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids
Price: $279.99 with Project X Cypher 2.0 or Mitsubishi Tensei Blue White shafts and Winn Dri-Tac 2.0 grip
Specs: Forged stainless steel face and body with carbon fiber crown and adjustable hosel
Available: Feb. 2
Who They’re For: Golfers who want more distance and height in a fairway wood-style, long-iron replacement.
The Skinny: With three models designed to fit golfers with different swing speeds, the A.I. Smoke hybrids are made to be long off the tee and from the turf while being forgiving for players who make inconsistent contact.
The Deep Dive: Todd Hamilton won the 2004 British Open twenty years ago thanks to creatively using a hybrid club from the fairways and around the greens at Royal Troon. He proved that even elite golfers can benefit from the distance, forgiveness and versatility of hybrids.
Today, even in the bags of a top-10 player, hybrid clubs don’t get a second glance. They have become so accepted among recreational golfers that most game-improvement iron sets now start at 4-iron or 5-iron, with manufacturers knowing golfers who shoot in the 80s, 90s and above have no interest in struggling with long irons.
Callaway’s new Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids blend forgiving shapes with distance-enhancing faces and multi-material constructions to give players at different swing speeds more choices when it comes to long-iron replacements.
Shop Callaway Paradym hybridsHybrids designed for accomplished golfers tend to have compact heads and iron-style hitting areas, but the Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids are larger and resemble miniature fairway woods. Their size and shape are meant to reassure mid- and higher-handicap golfers.
Like the Paradym Ai Smoke drivers and fairway woods, the hybrids feature faces designed using artificial intelligence. Supercomputers were tasked with studying thousands of swings made by real golfers of various abilities and then making faces that can improve the performance and consistency of different players. The faces look ordinary on the outside, but the inner-facing side is covered with ridges, valleys and wave-like areas. The computers developed different face patterns for each of the three Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids because they have been made with different player types in mind.
Behind the leading edge in the sole, Callaway designers have added a tungsten weight shaped like a boomerang. The company refers to it as a Speed Cartridge, which helps pull the center of gravity down and forward. That should encourage a higher launch with less spin, which, for most golfers, translates to more distance.
To help players and fitters fine-tune the gaps between the Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids and their other clubs, each comes standard with an adjustable, two-cog OptiFit hosel that can increase or decrease the stated loft by as many as 2 degrees. The lie angle also can be adjusted using the hosel.
Golfers who hit their 7-iron 150 yards or farther will likely be happy with the standard Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids, which will be available as a 3-, 4-, 5- and 6-iron replacements.
Players who hit a 7-iron between 135 and 150 yards (and likely swinging a little slower) could be ideally suited for the Paradym Ai Smoke HL hybrids. The HL stands for high launch, and these hybrids have been made with faces designed to produce more lift and a higher apex. The Paradym Ai Smoke HL hybrids will be available in 3-iron through 8-iron replacement.
Finally, for golfers who need help generating clubhead speed and who hit their 7-iron less than 135 yards, Callaway is offering the Paradym Ai Smoke Max Fast hybrids. These clubs will be offered as a 4-iron through 8-iron and come standard with a lighter shaft and grip so golfers can swing them faster.
Shop Callaway Paradym hybridsBelow are images of the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke hybrids.
