Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Irons Review – Are They Forgiving & Good for High Handicappers?

“I finally got the new Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons in for testing so let’s take a look at what these new clubs have to offer.”

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Overview

“With the new Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons, we see Callaway leaning into their strengths.”

When you think of Callaway irons, what do you envision? For me, images of irons with thick toplines, generous soles and loads of forgiveness come to mind.

I gamed the Callaway Edge irons for many years and loved their combination of distance and forgiveness.

I was very much reminded of my old Edge irons when I tested the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons – even though both sets are many years separated.

The Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons have advanced Ai technology that takes into account the swings of real players for the design of the face.

The Smart Face technology essentially makes the entire expanse of the scoring lines the sweet spot. In general, I can tell you that the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons play long and are forgiving – vintage Callaway.

But they are loaded with modern tech like a hollow-body design, pre-worn leading edge for improved turf interaction, the Smart Face AI architecture and like most modern irons, strong lofts.

How strong? The 7-iron checks in at 28° and the 9-iron is 37°.

Are the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Irons Forgiving?

“Definitely. Callaway has made yet another forgiving set of GI irons.”

To give you an idea of just how forgiving these irons are, on my third ever swing with the 7-iron, I hit the toe pretty hard. I still managed a ball speed of 124.7 MPH and a carry distance of 171.3 yards.

If you define forgiveness as the ability to hit the center of the face consistently, the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons are moderately forgiving – don’t expect any miracles.

But if you define forgiveness as the ability to get excellent distance on  off-center strikes, the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons are very forgiving.

Are the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Irons Good for High Handicappers?

“You still need a fairly true swing path and moderate swing speed.”

But if you can tick both of those boxes as a high handicapper, you will love the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons.

Like the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke driver and fairways I recently reviewed, the best thing the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons bring to the table is distance.

These irons are long. On a purer strike with the 7-iron, my carry distance ballooned to 187.2 yards. My average carry with the 7-iron when all was said and done was 183.5 yards.

So if your primary concern as a high handicapper is distance, then yes, these irons would be great for you.

How Do the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Irons Look?

The Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons have a fairly long blade length and moderate top line which gives them a more modern look.

The muscle/cavity design looks clean at address. Behind the ball, these irons look forgiving.

In the cavity is a strip of “smoke” graphics that are common among all the new Paradym Smoke clubs.

The “smoke” graphics in the irons are kept to a minimum which I really like because I think they went a bit overboard with the smoke waves in the driver and fairways.

Overall I like the way the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons look. They are certainly game-improvement irons but they still have a moderate and understated look behind the ball.

Should you Buy the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke or Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke HL Irons?

That will depend on your preferred launch window.

The Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke HL have weaker lofts so they launch higher and will be better for the player who gets most of their carry from high launch.

Or if you naturally hit the ball low, the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke HLs will probably be better for you.

The standard Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons launch significantly lower so they are better for players who get more distance from flatter-arcing shots.