Callaway’s Paradym Ai Smoke Max D is one of their new range of fairway woods with loads of new helpful technology. NCG puts it to the test.

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Callaway's Ai Smoke Max d is one of their new range of fairway woods with loads of new helpful technology. NCG puts it to the test.

NCG SUMMARY

This is a great-looking club. The modern, classic shape and the mixed material construction give this a high-tech and attractive appearance.

Callaway, it seems to me, are describing this as their maximum forgiveness fairway wood and I would agree with this. Despite this, I think it should be in the discussion for all handicaps.

The help from the tech and draw bias shouldn’t put off players who might not normally consider this type of club.

PROS

Great look
Forgiveness across the face
Draw bias doesn’t compromise square look at set up

CONS

None

$349.99

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Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max D Fairway Wood Review: First Impressions

As with most clubs, these look absolutely fantastic. The mix of carbon and metal gives a high-tech and attractive appearance.

Callaway is utilising their Ai technology, which this year uses data from real-world golfers. They use advanced machine learning to produce sweet spots around the face and claim the Max D model produces high launch and draw bias.

The Max D is built with a more upright lie angle and a neutral face angle to help with that right-to-left shot shape. It sits nicely behind the ball, and the face does not have a closed look to it as some might expect from a draw-biased wood.

It does not look super low-profile but is still confidence-inspiring. I tested the 15-degree 3 wood and the 21-degree 7 wood with a Mitsubishi Chemical AV series 65 S-Flex shaft in both.

NCG Verdict

I tested this using a Foresight GC3 launch monitor at Worksop Indoor Golf Centre and compared it to my current 15-degree three-wood.

Looking at the data, my carry and overall distance were a little behind my current three wood but this was almost certainly shaft-dependent as I tested this with the supplied stock stiff shaft.

Off the deck, it was confidence-inspiring and relatively consistent. Off the tee, being easier to launch it became more consistent and the distance was pretty much equal to my current fairway wood.

The flight was nice and consistent if anything, a little low. With a different shaft, I would have seen a higher flight.

A 7-wood is not a club I would normally use, but I was pleasantly surprised with the higher flight and the ease of use. The distance was probably around four iron distance. But I would feel more confident hitting this to a green than a 4-iron. Definitely something to consider.

Off-centre hits were, as expected, very forgiving. I got decent distance with some pretty poor strikes.

Callaway, it seems to me, are describing this as their maximum forgiveness fairway wood, and I would agree with this. Despite this, I think it should be in the discussion for all handicaps. The head is a modern, classic shape. The three wood has an adjustable hosel and can therefore be tweaked to provide a perfect fit.

These are great woods. As three woods are not the easiest clubs to hit I would highly recommend a proper fitting to get the correct loft and shaft.

Concerning the seven wood, I would seriously consider getting a gapping fit to determine what clubs would be optimal at the difficult end of the bag. I will be considering a more lofted wood after hitting this.