Equipment

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke drivers — GolfWRX Launch Report

Published

3 months ago

Jan 3, 2024

What you need to know: Artificial intelligence early adopter Callaway’s 2024 Paradym Ai Smoke drivers feature the company’s most substantial implementation of AI yet. Engineers continue to leverage artificial intelligence to refine the face of each driver model (Paradym Ai Smoke Max, Paradym Ai Smoke Max D, Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond), this time, drilling down on real player data with a particular focus on delivering improved ball speed on off-center strikes everywhere on the club face. Callaway calls this “Ai Smart Face.” Additionally, in contrast to previous years, Callaway is bringing the launch of its lightweight option, Paradym Ai Smoke Max Fast, in line with its family debut.

A view of the sole of the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max driver sole with the carbon fiber chassis featuring prominently.

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Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke drivers: What’s new, key technology

Ai Smart Face: Drawing on the swing dynamics of thousands of real golfers, Callaway developed an all-new Ai Smart Face for each driver model. Swing speed, club delivery, and face orientation prior to impact were considered to create club faces catered to optimal launch and tighter dispersion.
Multiple sweet spots: Engineers targeted face design virtually everywhere across the face to leverage micro deflections for optimal spin on off-center shots struck anywhere on the face. This isn’t to say the “high toe” sweet spot produces a comparable result to a shot struck center face, but it’s an improved struck relative to the absence of the technology/previous face designs.
Refined carbon chassis: As with Paradym, Paradym Ai Smoke again features a carbon chassis to allow for discretionary weight distribution. This time, it’s 15 percent lighter and equipped with a titanium support structure. Additionally, Jailbreak is no longer present.

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke drivers: Additional model details

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max: Aimed at the widest swath of the fitting bell curve, Paradym Ai Smoke Max is the only driver in the lineup with an adjustable perimeter weight. According to the company, this allows up to 19 yards of shot shape adjustment.

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max D: For those needing help with slice correction, Max D features a stretched profile and rear weight for ease of launch.

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond: Triple Diamond, Callaway’s tour/better player option is the most compact and neutral-to-fade biased in the lineup, as would be expected. A 14-gram weight can be moved from front to back for spin reduction and to the rear for workability.

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max Fast: Targeting players needing a little help in the swing speed department, Ai Smoke Max Fast is coupled with a lightweight shaft and grip. High MOI and easy to launch.

What Callaway says

Brian Williams vice president of Research & Development…

Regarding the company and artificial intelligence:

“It’s been a 15-year journey for us and it’s been an investment in both people and in infrastructure. So we’ve been building this system and this engine around how golf design works and how we use AI to predict what’s possible in terms of golf ball launch trajectory. And when we first started talking about AI in terms of face performance, we were really using it for ball speed. We were looking for COR benefits and when we used it for Epic Flash that was a single focus for us. Now we’re using it in a much more sophisticated way, so we’ve built a platform around it that allows us to put more sophisticated data in to ask Ai to solve for more sophisticated outputs and outcomes.”

On designing the new lineup:

“It might not surprise you, but golf club companies for years have been out there, modeling and designing golf clubs in a neutral static environment. We’re looking at how a face flexes on effectively a neutral or perfect swing. We design them that way we test them that way on robots and we wanted to really break away from that. So now what we’ve done is we’ve created a new way of designing and modeling to more closely reflect how golfers deliver the club.”

“What we’ve done is we’ve taken all this data from out there and we’ve categorized it, so we’ve gone out looked at fittings of players and we’ve grouped them together to come up with unique designs and inputs for each model that we produce. And that’s the Swing Code for these players. So the components of a Swing Code, we’re looking at the clubhead speed that it’s delivered in. We’re looking at impact locations, we look at path, angle of attack, we look at face angle relative to path, we look at dynamic loft and lie.”

Club Junkie’s take

Callaway’s new Paradym Ai Smoke drivers should be another big hit as they pack some new technology under the hood. The big story, as you have probably read already, is about the all-new Ai Smart Face that not only adds ball speed on off-center shots, but also helps correct the direction of those shots. This tech is called micro deflections and can help a shot struck low on the heel from going as far right as a traditional face. This will be an exciting thing to test out over the next few weeks. It is also exciting to see that after 50,000 face iterations that we have different faces for each driver. The face on the Triple Diamond is designed differently than the Max D because the players who use them are going to strike them differently.

Speaking of the Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond, I think most of us GolfWRX members will want to test out the neutral-to-fade bias that this head offers. You also get the ability to lower spin by moving the heavy weight on the sole forward. The Paradym Ai Smoke Max driver will be the “bread and butter” option that will give us the best combo of distance, spin, and forgiveness. I can see this model played on professional tours and all the way up to newer golfers or high handicap players. The added adjustable sliding weight will also make this head attractive to us tinkerers who want to dial in the driver to our swing. The Paradym Ai Smoke Max D driver will offer the most forgiveness out of all the models. The draw moniker will turn some people off, but for most players, it could be the best option. A rear weight helps add some launch and stability to the driver head which could make it one of the straightest we see this year. With all the options Callaway is giving us this year with the Paradym Ai Smoke drivers, there should be a model to fit your swing.

Exploded view of the interior of the Callaway Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max driver face.

On Tour

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Callaway’s new AI Smoke drivers, fairways and utilities – The 2024 Sentry

Additionally, Xander Schauffele has switched into the 10.5-degree Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (with a Mitsubishi Diamana PD 70 TX) shaft. A look at his build, below.

2024 Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke drivers: Pricing, specs, availability

Lofts

Max: 9, 10.5, 12 degrees
Max D: 9, 10.5, 12 degrees
Triple Diamond: 8 (RH only), 9, 10.5 degrees
Max Fast: 10.5, 12 degrees (RH only)

Standard shafts: Project X Cypher 2.0, Mitsubishi Tensei AV Blue, Project X Denali Black, Mitsubishi Eldio, Mitsubishi Tensei Silver

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360, Winn Dri-Tac Lite (Max Fast)

Pricing: $599.99

Pre-sale/at retail: 1/12, 1/26

More photos of 2024 Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke drivers

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max D

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond

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Equipment

Q&A: Martin Trainer on his Bobby Grace “Greg Chalmers” putter, 6.5-degree driver, and “butter knife” 2-iron

Published

4 hours ago

Mar 28, 2024

Andrew Tursky

As unbiasedly as I can put it, Martin Trainer has one of the coolest club setups in professional golf. (At some point soon, I’ll put together a top-10 list of “coolest club setups on Tour,” but I know that Trainer will be in the top-10)

What a lineup. He plays a 6.5-degree Wilson prototype driver, a 13-degree Wilson prototype 3-wood, a true blade Wilson Staff Model 2-iron, and a Bobby Grace “Greg Chalmers Commemorative” putter!

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I mean, look at this 2-iron from address…

To quote the great author R.L. Stine: “Goosebumps.”

On Wednesday at the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open, I caught up with Trainer to learn more about his bag setup.

Here’s what he had to say:

You have the Internet going crazy over your bag setup, and your putter. Where’d you pick the Bobby Grace-Greg Chalmers putter up? How long have you had it?

MT: This was from when Bobby Grace came to my course in California: Cal Club. And for whatever reason, they just started having them in the shop. So then I took my buddy’s, started using it, and made, like, a million putts in a row, which is how every putter story begins, I guess.

And then, I bought a couple of my own, used it for years, got to the Tour with it, won on Tour with it (the 2019 Puerto Rico Open). Then, about a year later, started using another putter, did that for a couple years, but now it’s back in the bag.

When did it come back in the bag?

MT: December of this past year. So a few months ago.

What year would you say was the first time you threw that in the bag, or, like, when you bought it?

MT: God…Probably, 2016, maybe? 2018?

Do you remember how much you paid for it?

MT: I don’t know, actually. Maybe $100-150 bucks or something. I think that’s the only golf club I’ve bought between high school and now. Well, two, since I bought two of them.

The driver is interesting, too. What went into the prototyping process?

MT: That was a version of the current driver, but it was the prototype that they first came out with for Tour guys to try. And for whatever reason, I just never switched out to the new one.

It’s just 6.5 degrees, right?

MT: Yeah. Very low loft, yeah.

What kind of ball speed do you have with that these days?

MT: Like high 170’s.

Yeah, that’ll work. And then a 2-iron blade? We’re seeing fewer and fewer of those out here.

MT: Yeah. The butter knife.

Very cool thing to have in the bag. Have you done any testing with driving irons?

MT: Yeah, I used to have a thicker one, but it was a little offset, and I never hit it that well. And then finally, I started messing around with the butter knife. And I remember the first time I looked down at it, I was terrified. And then I ended up getting used to it, putting it in play, and it’s been in place since. It’s a pretty good club for me.

How far do you carry that?

MT: Like 235.

A good little wind club, I’m sure.

MTL Yeah, exactly. I can hit it very low. It’s great.

I love it. You have people shook looking at that. Thanks for the time, man.

MT: Absolutely.

To see more photos and discussion of Trainer’s bag, click here.

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Equipment

Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (3/28/24): L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Max Broomstick with LA Golf Paige Spiranac shaft

Published

4 hours ago

Mar 28, 2024

Gianni Magliocco

At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Max Broomstick putter with LA Golf Paige Spiranac shaft.

From the seller: (@hibcam): “L.A.B. GOLF Mezz.1 Max Broomstick- LA Golf Paige Spiranac Shaft- 44″/79.5. Brand new, never used brown leather cover. The head was professionally anodized from Orange to Blue (Orange looked bad with the Pink shaft so I had it changed). Only a few rounds on this combo. Please see last pic- slight ding on back corner. 8.5-10 condition. THE SHAFT COST $475/ THE PUTTER $625. ~~$799 shipped in the US.~~ ONLY $699 SHIPPED.”

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Max Broomstick with LA Golf Paige Spiranac shaft

This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules

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Equipment

Spotted: Tony Finau’s driver shaft change at the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open

Published

24 hours ago

Mar 27, 2024

Brian Knudson

Tony Finau has always been known as one of the longest players on the PGA Tour, but he has recently been working on adding a little more distance. Last year, Finau averaged 118.3 mph club head speed and 178.08 mph ball speed, all while playing a Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 70 TX driver shaft. This year, he has increased his club head speed to 123.93 mph and his ball speed to 183.32 mph.

However, Finau’s overall distance has decreased by two yards in that time. From a fitting perspective, something was amiss. We asked Tony about the shaft change at the Texas Children’s Hospital Open.

“[I’m seeing] better numbers with the spin. My driver’s been a little high spin for me over the last month or so, and so I just figured it was time to probably check out the equipment,” Finau said. “And it definitely showed me that I was using a shaft that’s maybe a little too tip-stiff for me, the way I load the club now. [I’m seeing] better numbers with the spin.”

Finau switched from the Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 70 TX into the Diamana GT 70 TX. The newer Diamana GT has a slightly different profile than the D+ Limited with the stiffest handle section in the Diamana lineup. The mid sections between the two are similar stiffness but the tip is just slightly stiffer in the Diamana GT. Both shafts are within one gram of each other in the 70 TX. The torque rating on the GT is 0.1 higher than the D+Limited’s 2.7 measurement.

Mitsubishi lists the Diamana GT as a shaft between the mid-launching Diamana TB and the new low-launch Diamana WB shafts. For most players, it would be considered a mid/low launch and low-spin shaft option. Mitsubishi’s Xlink Tech Resin System makes sure the maximum carbon fiber content is there for smooth feel without reducing the strength of the shaft. MR70 carbon fiber is used for reinforcing the shaft and boron is used in the tip for its high strength and compression properties.

Finau is still using his trusty Ping G430 LST driver in 9 degrees and has the adjustable hosel set to -1 degree of loft (standard lie angle). Finau’s long-time favorite Lamkin UTX Green grip is installed. He definitely has a few extra wraps of tape under that grip as you can see the bulge down where the grip meets the shaft.

One final note: Per Ping’s PGA Tour rep Kenton Oates, Finau’s driver is also adjusted to play with an additional degree of loft to help dial in his desired launch.

We’ll see how he fares with the new setup this week in Houston!