Gear: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max, Paradym Ai Smoke Max D, Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond, Paradym Ai Smoke Max Fast drivers
Price: $599.99 with Project X Cypher 2.0 shaft, Project X Denali Black shaft or Mitsubishi Tensei AV Blue shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 grip
Specs: Forged titanium face and chassis with carbon fiber crown, carbon fiber sole and adjustable hosels for most of the models
Available: Feb. 2, but available via pre-order NOW
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Who They’re For: Golfers who want more ball speed and forgiveness on mis-hit drives.
The Skinny: After studying hundreds of thousands of shots, Callaway designers used artificial intelligence to create different faces for each of the four Paradym Ai Smoke drivers so they are optimized to enhance distance and protect ball speed.
The Deep Dive: Callaway purchased its first supercomputer in 2009, back when A.I. stood for Allen Iverson and no one had ever heard of ChatGPT. By 2016, engineers were using it to study impact dynamics, develop prototype iron faces and more. In 2019 the Epic Flash driver was released with a hitting area designed using artificial intelligence. More woods and irons followed, but there was a shortcoming with the data used by the computers in developing those clubs: It was collected with the help of swing robots, and robots don’t play golf.
So Callaway captured swing data on more than 250,000 real players’ swings and collected over a million data points to create a dataset the supercomputers could use to develop the Paradym Ai Smoke Max, Ai Smoke Max D, Ai Smoke Triple Diamond and Ai Smoke Max Fast drivers.
By instructing the supercomputers to study how real golfers of various abilities swing and hit the ball, then directing the system to create faces that maximize performance for fast-swinging players, golfers who tend to slice the ball, slower-swinging players and golfers who need extra forgiveness, Callaway developed different faces that are optimized for various players in the four Paradym Ai Smoke drivers.
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Each has a unique series of thick and thin areas in different places, creating what Callaway refers to as microdeflections, and they act like tiny sweet spots. The result is enhanced face performance for specific players.
Callaway said that thanks to the microdeflections and customized faces, the standard Paradym Ai Smoke Max is 12 yards longer on mishits in the toe, 11 yards longer in the heel and 9 yards longer on shots hit high in the middle of the face over last season’s Paradym.
Like last season’s Paradym drivers, the Paradym Ai Smoke drivers feature a forged fiber crown that wraps around the toe and heel areas and forms the sole, removing significant weight from the middle of the head. Most of the models also come with adjustable hosels that allows players and fitters to increase or decrease the loft by as many as 1.5 degrees and make the lie angle flatter or more upright.
The Paradym Ai Smoke Max likely will fit the broadest number of players and is the only Smoke driver with a sliding weight in the back of the head. The 14-gram weight allows golfers and fitters to shift the center of gravity to create a draw or fade bias. The Smoke Max also has a weight behind the leading edge in the sole, allowing fitters to increase or decrease the club’s swing weight. It is available in 9-degree, 10.5-degree and 12-degree versions.
The Paradym Ai Smoke Max D comes in the same lofts but lacks the moveable weight found in the standard Smoke Max. However, this club has a significant draw bias to help golfers who tend to swing from out to in and hit the ball with an open face. The Paradym Ai Smoke Max D can’t cure a slice, but its center of gravity location can decrease the severity of the shot’s curvature, resulting in straighter shots that fly farther.
The Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond has a forward weight and a back weight in the sole and comes in 8-degree, 9-degree and 10.5-degree heads. With the heavier weight forward, it has the most forward center of gravity in the A.I. Smoke family, resulting in shots with the lowest spin and launch angle. This likely will be the most popular Paradym A.I. Smoke driver on the PGA Tour.
Finally, the Paradym Ai Smoke Max Fast, which replaces the Paradym Star driver, only comes in 10.5-degree and 12-degree versions. It has been made for slower-swinging golfers who need to maximize carry distance and spin to increase overall distance. It comes standard with lighter components, such as a 40-gram Mitsubishi Tensei Silver shaft and Winn Dri-Tac Lite grip. To save weight from the upper portion of the head, Callaway opted to design the Paradym Ai Smoke Max Fast driver with a bonded hosel instead of an adjustable hosel.
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Check out the following images of the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke drivers.