Callaway’s Paradym Super Hybrid: Driver-like speed in a hybrid?

Gear: Paradym Super hybrid
Price: $399 each with UST Mamiya Recoil Dart graphite shaft and Lamkin Crossline 360 grip
Specs: Titanium body and face with carbon fiber crown, tungsten weight and adjustable hosel. Lofts: 16, 18, 21, 24 and 27 degrees
Available: August 18

Who It’s For: Golfers who want to maximize distance and create a straight flight with a fairway wood alternative.

The Skinny: This massive hybrid has a carbon fiber crown, titanium body and titanium face to help players generate more ball speed from a club designed to help golfers attain more accuracy.

The Deep Dive: Golf equipment makers often add driver technologies to their fairway woods because in most cases, players use both clubs off the tee and want to maximize distance. But with the Paradym Super hybrid, Callaway has added driver-style materials and technology to a hybrid, and the result is a club made to deliver a major power boost both off the tee and from the fairway.

While most fairway woods and hybrids are made using stainless steel, because it’s strong and durable, the Paradym Super Hybrid has a titanium body, a forged titanium face and a carbon fiber crown. That helps to reduce weight, which in turn allowed Callaway to make the Paradym Super hybrid significantly bigger. For example, the 21-degree Paradym Super 4-hybrid has a volume of 144 cubic centimeters, which is nearly identical to the Paradym 7-wood (145 cubic centimeters).

The carbon fiber crown reduces weight on the top of the club and helps to lower the center of gravity. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

In the address position, that size is going to be reassuring to mid- and higher-handicap golfers, but the reduced weight and larger size also allowed Callaway’s designers to add a 91-gram tungsten and steel weight to the sole. It pulls the center of gravity (CG) location down, to encourage a higher launch angle.

While all those features should help golfers hit the ball farther, the Paradym Super Hybrid might also help players hit the ball straighter and more solidly than a comparably-lofted fairway wood because it is shorter. The 21-degree Paradym Super Hybrid comes standard at 40.5 inches in length, while a 21-degree Paradym 7-wood is 42.25 inches. As it has been noted, the club are nearly identical in volume, but most golfers will hit the ball in the sweetspot more easily with a club that is 1.75 inches shorter. So, golfers might lose some clubhead speed by going with a Paradym Super Hybrid instead of a fairway wood, they will likely hit the ball straighter and may not lose distance because they make a higher-quality strike.

Players and fitters can use the adjustable hosel mechanism to fine-tune the Paradym Super Hybrid’s flight and the gapping between a player’s clubs.