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Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Irons & Hybrids Review

SuperStroke
Update on my Ai Smoke Ai Irons


I have now played over 30 rounds with these irons (including the Grandaddy rounds). It's time that I give this thread an update on my time with them. However, I do want to mention one caveat to this review....I'm in the middle of taking weekly golftec lessons. Thus my swing is undergoing an overhaul. However there are quite a bit of take aways I've learned prior to starting that process and some heightened by it.

These irons are lookers. The bag appeal is high IMO. I have my Ai Smoke irons built with MMT 85R. The heads look really great with the black shaft. I have not altered my first impression upon seeing them. I like the look.

Price point....take a lot at the retail cost again...absolutely amazing all the technology and performance for $999 steel $1099 graphite.

Feel.....I keep coming back to the pure feel of a center strike. So rewarding. I game Chrome Tour. But spend a lot of time working on the range with random rocks there. A flushed shot feels so good. Closer to a forged iron. Is it as good...no. But one of the best feeling hollow body irons i've hit. They feel identical to my memory of hitting last years Paradym, yet do not have a forged face. Lots of feedback on miss hits in terms of feel.

Results.... What can I say, these things preform. I've gained at least a full club. and with my swing work...I'm starting to extend that. I have been a historically low ball hitter. Ai Smoke irons really help me elevate the ball. As my swing improves, i'm actually starting to reach peak heights that one should. No ballooning what so ever. Distance forgiveness in a smaller package. Let's be honest. I explore the face often. However, my total distance is consistent. I've hit 5i where it was so fat on the toe that half the ball didn't even hit the groves. Yet I still carried it to the long par 3 green. It ended up well within 10 yards of my expected average for total distance.

Once I get my path and face control more consistent... I'm very confident that my lateral dispersion will be very good too. No club will save me from leaving the face 7* open to path on average. But i'm working on that and see flashes of where my golf game will go with these irons! Which is a very good path to be on.

I do not have pictures of how the irons are holding up. With the amount of swings I've taken with them they are holding up very very well. If I do post photos later, please remember that I live in Phoenix. Only play desert golf....and remember that erratic swing I'm working to improve?? well i play out of the desert quite often. So i've given these quite the torture test and they are holding up to that quite well.
 
Now that the weather is warming up, courses are drying out and I'm shedding layers, I'm getting a much better feel for distances on my Ai Smoke HL irons. During the winter months they were playing 1/2 - 1 club shorter than I expected, but now in the warmer weather that we play in most of the year, my distances are almost spot-on with my previous irons (Mavrik core model), with a few noticeable differences in performance:

- The Smoke HLs are easier for me to elevate, and give me better descent angles. I've never been a high ball hitter with my irons, but the HLs are getting the ball in the air for me and much closer to an optimal flight (high, but not ballooning).

- My distances are more consistent. Less surprises with the "nukes" that go 10-15 yards longer than I expected, and the forgiveness of the AI face gives me more distance than I deserve on mishits.

- The forgiveness of the AI face (and greatly decreased offset compared to the Mavriks) is also giving me better lateral dispersion. It can't save me when I put a crap swing on the ball, but on decently struck balls they're going a lot more in the direction I intend them to go.


I'm honestly not a great iron striker, so I'll gladly take any help I can get. The Ai Smoke HLs are a good fit for my game and won't be leaving the bag anytime soon.
 
The 3 and 4 AI smoke hybrids off the tee have been an absolutely weapon this year. I tee them up maybe a quarter of inch or so. Pretty much ripped everytime. I find them incredibly easy to hit cuts or slight fades with. The wild thing is seeing 3 hybrid around 250 on numerous occasion. Traditionally that would be hearing my three wood. The 4 hybrid is pulling 230. There’s actually been times I’ve had to slow my swing to ensure I wouldn’t go too far on certain courses with split fairways and such lol. That might actually happen on Sunday. I just love the sound of the hybrids off the face though. The flush sound is so distinctive. I know everytime I smoked from the sound which has this mid ping sound on impact. It seems maybe slightly lower sound than the Paradym hybrid? Only thing I’ve yet to really figure out though is hybrid distance off the ground. They’ve varied a bit and I don’t hit them nearly as much so still need to lock down a true distance for them. I do love how much control you have with them and great level of forgiveness. you definitely have times you think you hit it bad and it turns out much much better than expected.
 
BigMac said:
Now that the weather is warming up, courses are drying out and I'm shedding layers, I'm getting a much better feel for distances on my Ai Smoke HL irons. During the winter months they were playing 1/2 - 1 club shorter than I expected, but now in the warmer weather that we play in most of the year, my distances are almost spot-on with my previous irons (Mavrik core model), with a few noticeable differences in performance:

- The Smoke HLs are easier for me to elevate, and give me better descent angles. I've never been a high ball hitter with my irons, but the HLs are getting the ball in the air for me and much closer to an optimal flight (high, but not ballooning).

- My distances are more consistent. Less surprises with the "nukes" that go 10-15 yards longer than I expected, and the forgiveness of the AI face gives me more distance than I deserve on mishits.

- The forgiveness of the AI face (and greatly decreased offset compared to the Mavriks) is also giving me better lateral dispersion. It can't save me when I put a crap swing on the ball, but on decently struck balls they're going a lot more in the direction I intend them to go.


I'm honestly not a great iron striker, so I'll gladly take any help I can get. The Ai Smoke HLs are a good fit for my game and won't be leaving the bag anytime soon.
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Was there any thought to the super hybrid to compliment your AI hybrids at the fitting or were you very much set on the 3 and 7 wood to compliment the 4/5 hybrid?
 
Pharaoh said:
Was there any thought to the super hybrid to compliment your AI hybrids at the fitting or were you very much set on the 3 and 7 wood to compliment the 4/5 hybrid?
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We didn't even talk about the Super Hybrid. I wasn't set on anything, I went in with a totally open mind and let the fitter do his thing. I wouldn't have been opposed to the idea, as I carried an OG Super Hybrid in my pre-Grandaddy bag. If he had thought it was a better fit than one of the other clubs I would have gladly put one in the bag.

Did you try one in your fitting?
 
BigMac said:
We didn't even talk about the Super Hybrid. I wasn't set on anything, I went in with a totally open mind and let the fitter do his thing. I wouldn't have been opposed to the idea, as I carried an OG Super Hybrid in my pre-Grandaddy bag. If he had thought it was a better fit than one of the other clubs I would have gladly put one in the bag.

Did you try one in your fitting?
Click to expand...
We actually didn’t try one. The general consensus is super hybrid is great for those that perhaps aren’t as strong or confident with a 3 wood. We did replace the 4 iron spot with a hybrid more so because I wasn’t using it much so it made to put something easier in that spot Since that was my strongest club my fitter didn’t want to mess with that but if we had tested it they matched up pretty even I may have been left with a tough decision possibly lol. I was just curious if you had been considering all hybrids through the top of the bag going in. I know some are partial to woods vs others to hybrids while others like a mix.
 
Jeff Spicoli said:
The 4i is so easy to hit it, it kind of makes me want to try the 5 and 6.
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do it jewish GIF
 
Pharaoh said:
We actually didn’t try one. The general consensus is super hybrid is great for those that perhaps aren’t as strong or confident with a 3 wood. We did replace the 4 iron spot with a hybrid more so because I wasn’t using it much so it made to put something easier in that spot Since that was my strongest club my fitter didn’t want to mess with that but if we had tested it they matched up pretty even I may have been left with a tough decision possibly lol. I was just curious if you had been considering all hybrids through the top of the bag going in. I know some are partial to woods vs others to hybrids while others like a mix.
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I've always liked a fairway/hybrid mix at the top end of the bag, for the versatility if nothing else. I have both the 4H and 7W and they're more or less interchangeable clubs as far as distance goes, but I'm hitting the 7W so well right now that the 4H is in reserve. The 5H gaps perfectly between my 7W and 5i, so it's not going anywhere.
 
I can't wait to chime in....I have the 4&5 hybrid coming with APex Pros. I did hit my bosses 4&5 and was really impressed. He had the Cypher shaft and mine are coming in the Hazardous Silver...love that shaft.
 
mtbloco said:
Update on my Ai Smoke Ai Irons


I have now played over 30 rounds with these irons (including the Grandaddy rounds). It's time that I give this thread an update on my time with them. However, I do want to mention one caveat to this review....I'm in the middle of taking weekly golftec lessons. Thus my swing is undergoing an overhaul. However there are quite a bit of take aways I've learned prior to starting that process and some heightened by it.

These irons are lookers. The bag appeal is high IMO. I have my Ai Smoke irons built with MMT 85R. The heads look really great with the black shaft. I have not altered my first impression upon seeing them. I like the look.

Price point....take a lot at the retail cost again...absolutely amazing all the technology and performance for $999 steel $1099 graphite.

Feel.....I keep coming back to the pure feel of a center strike. So rewarding. I game Chrome Tour. But spend a lot of time working on the range with random rocks there. A flushed shot feels so good. Closer to a forged iron. Is it as good...no. But one of the best feeling hollow body irons i've hit. They feel identical to my memory of hitting last years Paradym, yet do not have a forged face. Lots of feedback on miss hits in terms of feel.

Results.... What can I say, these things preform. I've gained at least a full club. and with my swing work...I'm starting to extend that. I have been a historically low ball hitter. Ai Smoke irons really help me elevate the ball. As my swing improves, i'm actually starting to reach peak heights that one should. No ballooning what so ever. Distance forgiveness in a smaller package. Let's be honest. I explore the face often. However, my total distance is consistent. I've hit 5i where it was so fat on the toe that half the ball didn't even hit the groves. Yet I still carried it to the long par 3 green. It ended up well within 10 yards of my expected average for total distance.

Once I get my path and face control more consistent... I'm very confident that my lateral dispersion will be very good too. No club will save me from leaving the face 7* open to path on average. But i'm working on that and see flashes of where my golf game will go with these irons! Which is a very good path to be on.

I do not have pictures of how the irons are holding up. With the amount of swings I've taken with them they are holding up very very well. If I do post photos later, please remember that I live in Phoenix. Only play desert golf....and remember that erratic swing I'm working to improve?? well i play out of the desert quite often. So i've given these quite the torture test and they are holding up to that quite well.
Click to expand...
Nice update. I have been impressed with the forgiveness of the Ai Smoke as well. I only have the 4i in the bag, but I find it incredibly forgiving and a much more playable option for me than the UT. I feel like I can get away with just about anything with this club and it wants to go straight. I am honestly surprised with how forgiving it is. I need a club in the 4i spot that I know I will hit straight when I need to find a fairway and the Ai Smoke is the best option I’ve ever for that purpose.

I am gaming the 2024 Apex CB 5-11 and there is a visual and feel difference between the two. It’s a larger profile, yet still shaped in a way that is appealing and it gives confidence when looking down at it. The CB have a more muted, subtle feel/sound at impact, which makes sense based on the construction of the iron. As someone who has played forged irons for a long time, the Ai Smoke has a nice feel on well struck shots and I can tell where on the face I make contact.
 
I’ve had these irons 6 mons so it’s time for a mid-year iron review.

I’m going to break these down by categories and hopefully they make sense!

Looks

The AI Smoke irons at address look slimmer than Mizuno and Titleist irons. They are GI irons that present as players or players distance irons

IMG_9249.jpeg


IMG_8599.jpeg

From the back they are probably the best GI looking irons. They are compact and the badging is truly exceptional. They look as good as any other iron and better than nearly all of them. These are mean looking ball launching machines!

Feel

The sound and feel on good shots is as good as any forged iron I’ve ever hit. The sound on terrible shots (especially off the toe) is more clicks and GI-y. Not terrible where you want earplugs, but noticeable feedback

Forgiveness

Insane. Like maybe not as absurd as the driver which is in a different league, but the irons are as forgiving as anything that I’ve hit. Standing over the ball is pure confidence. I know this club will give me everything I could hope for and more than I likely deserve for my swing quality.

Tech

The tech in these things is incredible. An AI face and the usage of real human swings to build the face is very impressive. I’ve noticed the benefit as a steel thread throughout the entire bag.

b60ece3b-b952-498b-a8b7-067a3f488cf4.jpeg

Distance

Pured shots and bad shots go nearly the same distance. Instead of a 20 yard drop off I see something closer to 10 yard on bad shots. These clubs are right at the distance I want and about half a club longer. We all have a mental image that’s probably rose colored about our distances, but these legit deliver for me!

IMG_9325.jpeg
 
Update on the Ai-Smoke 5 Hybrid:

First off, I’ve discovered that I don’t get that 180-190 yardage a whole lot.

And I haven’t dialed in the full distance on this club yet, but it has shown versatility in the punch out part of my game.

IMG_2357.jpeg
IMG_2353.jpeg
Let’s start with the punch outs, the first is one at the Dye Valley course, I made a mess but it could have been worse.

The second is at my home course, it’s a new home course for me so I’m learning that I can’t spray the driver everywhere, but my punch out game has been great.

Now on to some standard fare…
IMG_2358.jpeg
The 4th hole at Dye Valley with the wind I thought it was going to play about 190 and hit a great shot that carried the flag.

IMG_2359.jpeg
The 6th hole at Dye Valley, I hit it again and miss judged the wind. Went long and had to get up and down.

Might have to loft it up to get it to play in the correct distance window, but I’ve been impressed, with this hybrid and its pairing with the Recoil Dart Hybrid shaft is a real winner.
 
JDax said:
Update on the Ai-Smoke 5 Hybrid:

First off, I’ve discovered that I don’t get that 180-190 yardage a whole lot.

And I haven’t dialed in the full distance on this club yet, but it has shown versatility in the punch out part of my game.

View attachment 9267711
View attachment 9267712
Let’s start with the punch outs, the first is one at the Dye Valley course, I made a mess but it could have been worse.

The second is at my home course, it’s a new home course for me so I’m learning that I can’t spray the driver everywhere, but my punch out game has been great.

Now on to some standard fare…
View attachment 9267723
The 4th hole at Dye Valley with the wind I thought it was going to play about 190 and hit a great shot that carried the flag.

View attachment 9267725
The 6th hole at Dye Valley, I hit it again and miss judged the wind. Went long and had to get up and down.

Might have to loft it up to get it to play in the correct distance window, but I’ve been impressed, with this hybrid and its pairing with the Recoil Dart Hybrid shaft is a real winner.
Click to expand...
What has the feel been like?
 
JDax said:
The feel has been great on well struck shots, but you will also get feedback on mishits.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I’m kicking around this in the 3 hybrid slot
 
Scooby45 said:
What has the feel been like?
Click to expand...
I agree with @JDax - feels great on well struck shots, and you also know when it's not a well struck shot. The feedback isn't harsh, but you can feel that you didn't pure it.
 
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