Callaway Paradym A.I. Smoke, A.I. Smoke HL, A.I. Smoke Max Fast irons

Gear: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke, Ai Smoke HL, Ai Smoke Max Fast irons
Price: $999.99 (seven clubs) with True Temper Elevate steel shafts and Lamkin Crossline grips; $1,099.99 with Project X Cypher 2.0, Mitsubishi Tensei Blue White or Eldio graphite shafts
Specs: Hollow-bodied stainless steel iron
Available: Feb. 2

Who They’re For: Golfers who want a distance-oriented, game-improvement iron that launches the ball high.

The Skinny: Callaway designers used artificial intelligence to design iron faces for the Paradym Ai Smoke and Ai Smoke HL irons to deliver enhanced ball speed for moderate-swinging players and more distance and height for slower-swinging players. 

The Deep Dive: Jon Rahm has no trouble generating distance with his Callaway irons because the 2023 Masters champion has a powerful, repeatable swing. Time and again, he hits the center of the face. However, recreational golfers who shoot in the mid-80s and 90s tend to swing more slowly. They often hit the ground first instead of the ball and make contact all over the face. On some shots they hit it in the center, but they are just as likely to strike the ball near the toe or in the heel.

Callaway’s new Paradym Ai Smoke irons are not for Jon Rahm. They’re game-improvement irons designed to help golfers overcome shortcomings and inconsistencies.

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To make that happen, Callaway designers used supercomputers to study hundreds of thousands of swings of actual golfers to see how they hit shots. Using that data, the supercomputers employ artificial intelligence to create thousands of iron faces and simulate how they would perform in the real world. All those faces look the same on the outside, but the inner-facing sides are covered with thick and thin areas that act like miniature sweet spots.

That work resulted in the faces designed into the Paradym Ai Smoke irons. Attached to the hollow-body chassis of each iron, the faces flex more efficiently at impact to generate more ball speed on every shot and tighten the dispersion pattern.

There are three different Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons: the standard model, HL and Max Fast.

Callaway believes most golfers who need a game-improvement iron and who have a driver swing speed between 85 and 100 mph will find the standard Ai Smoke iron fits them well. While the standard Paradym irons will remain available in 2024, the Paradym Ai Smoke will replace the Rouge ST Max irons.

Callaway offers the Paradym Ai Smoke HL, which stands for high launch, for golfers who need more height and lift on their shots. The face design and low center of gravity combine with weaker lofts in this iron to make getting the ball high in the air easier, especially with the long irons. While the Paradym Ai Smoke’s 5-iron has 22 degrees of loft, the 5-iron in the HL version has 24 degrees of loft. Callaway believes this club should be ideal for golfers with a driver swing between 70 and 90 mph.

Finally, Callaway is offering the Paradym Ai Smoke Max Fast, which has been optimized for golfers who have a driver swing that is slower than 75 mph. These irons have the same weakened lofts as the HL irons, but the Max Fast irons come standard with lighter shafts and grips, which should make it easier to create more clubhead speed and carry distance.

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