Callaway AI smoke irons

[9ironiscash]

Anyone gaming these? How are they working out? Any info would be greatly appreciated. 

[indianagolf2]

Ditto info needed 

[9ironiscash]

2 hours ago, indianagolf2 said:

Ditto info needed 

Doesn’t seem to be many wrxers gaming them? 🤷🏻‍♂️ they were great when I demoed them but only indoors. 

[cfmgolf]

Did have a lengthy indoor demo with this, and overall they were pretty good.  Currently gaming ping i525's and they were just as good as those, and a little longer due to the stronger lofts.  I did find that center hits were really good, but a little bit more of a drop off on off center (mostly toe side) strikes.  I would expect a 5 yard gap (which is what i get on my Pings) and the drop offs were in the 7-8 yrd range.  Easy to hit, felt nice, though.  

[9ironiscash]

6 minutes ago, cfmgolf said:

Did have a lengthy indoor demo with this, and overall they were pretty good.  Currently gaming ping i525's and they were just as good as those, and a little longer due to the stronger lofts.  I did find that center hits were really good, but a little bit more of a drop off on off center (mostly toe side) strikes.  I would expect a 5 yard gap (which is what i get on my Pings) and the drop offs were in the 7-8 yrd range.  Easy to hit, felt nice, though.  

Any weird gaps in the scoring irons and gap wedge? 

[golfboy1]

On 2/23/2024 at 3:48 AM, 9ironiscash said:

Anyone gaming these? How are they working out? Any info would be greatly appreciated. 

I hit them they are actually very nice 

[reider69]

Last years Paradigm irons were $1600 and this year the AI smoke are $1100.00 for the same 7 iron set.  I remember posting last year that $1600 was crazy for a set of irons named after a driver.  Callaway lowered price $500 this year.  Leads me to believe the Paradigm irons didn't sell that well.  

[QTIP]

I hit these recently and they are surprisingly nice. I am honestly not the biggest Callaway Iron fan and gravitate more towards the players distance category, but these have a pretty thin top line, not a lot of offset and feel good. They also have a fairly long blade length which I actually like paired with the thin top line. I am almost surprised they didn't name these the "AI Smoke Pros" and market them more towards the players distance category. They are definitely hot, low launching and low spinning but I did not see any flyers and my front to back dispersion was really good. I think I am going to pull the trigger on a set of these bent 2* weak with Modus 130 stiff shafts.

 

 

[Tmintx]

These have been SO much better for me than the Paradyms.  And I gave them a 1 year run. 
 

The Smokes are phenomenal 

[eric61]

1 hour ago, Tmintx said:

These have been SO much better for me than the Paradyms.  And I gave them a 1 year run. 
 

The Smokes are phenomenal 

What are the main differences that make these better? I did try to Paradyms last year and liked them pretty well.

[Tmintx]

For me:

 

Feel may go to the Paradyms. Everything else, forgiveness, height, spin is in favor of the Smokes. 
 

At address, Paradym may have looked a tick better, but the blue carbon was ugly and got beat up without headcovers; which I don’t like fooling with. Smokes look very decent at address for what they are. 
 

Distance is a wash.  More rollout with Paradym, more carry with Smoke. They both are distance irons so pretty long n

Edited March 27 by Tmintx

[goalie]

10 hours ago, Tmintx said:

These have been SO much better for me than the Paradyms.  And I gave them a 1 year run. 
 

The Smokes are phenomenal 

Nooooooo, I'm trying not to club ho

[Jim53]

1st round tomorrow, we will see..most excited to try the Dart 105 shafts.

[jeffrey r]

42 minutes ago, Jim53 said:

1st round tomorrow, we will see..most excited to try the Dart 105 shafts.

 

Let us know what you think on both fronts. Love the Recoil Dart 105’s. I have them in my Apex DCB irons—smooth but stable.

[nosedive32]

On 3/1/2024 at 5:36 AM, reider69 said:

Last years Paradigm irons were $1600 and this year the AI smoke are $1100.00 for the same 7 iron set.  I remember posting last year that $1600 was crazy for a set of irons named after a driver.  Callaway lowered price $500 this year.  Leads me to believe the Paradigm irons didn't sell that well.  

 

If I recall correctly Paradym / Paradym X were forged and AI Smoke are not.

 

I think the idea behind Paradym / Paradym X basically was to replace both the ultra premium Epic Line (2017 Epic / Epic Pro and the Later Epic Forged) and Apex / Apex DCB models.

 

AI Smoke is more in line with previous iron lines named after the driver (like Rogue ST)

[me05501]

Took a look in the golf shop today. These are pleasingly compact heads for a distance club. More 770 than 790, no?

[bobfoster]

[VA_Astra]

Hit them for a while in the bay against other offerings. 

 

Not as forgiving as some on thin shots. Occasional super low spin shot that ran. Spin was all over the map for me on these irons.

IMO there are better offerings that will offer more consistent play.

[Jim53]

Two rounds in and frankly not impressed, these are very low spin and the Dart 105 F4 are not helping that for me. I was leary of them from the dart thread but took a flyer and so far that appear to be too much for my old bones to really get anything out of them.

Now I have not played much in the last few weeks so a lot of the issues are mine and mine alone, but I was hoping for a lot more out of these.

These were going to be a tweener set from the start, but I had hopes they would give me a bit more than I am seeing.

I don't have the SS to get over the low spin and actually seem to have lose distance over the last two sets (APEX 24 combo and JPX 923 tour) even with the super strong lofts. I may try SSx2 the darts or just bail on them and move on after a couple more rounds to be sure it is not just me doing me things..but driving the ball well and hitting the FW's well which does not necessarily mean the iron game will be good but seems to point to the darts not being the right fit.

[jjfcpa]

On 4/7/2024 at 11:16 AM, Jim53 said:

Two rounds in and frankly not impressed, these are very low spin and the Dart 105 F4 are not helping that for me. I was leary of them from the dart thread but took a flyer and so far that appear to be too much for my old bones to really get anything out of them.

Now I have not played much in the last few weeks so a lot of the issues are mine and mine alone, but I was hoping for a lot more out of these.

These were going to be a tweener set from the start, but I had hopes they would give me a bit more than I am seeing.

I don't have the SS to get over the low spin and actually seem to have lose distance over the last two sets (APEX 24 combo and JPX 923 tour) even with the super strong lofts. I may try SSx2 the darts or just bail on them and move on after a couple more rounds to be sure it is not just me doing me things..but driving the ball well and hitting the FW's well which does not necessarily mean the iron game will be good but seems to point to the darts not being the right fit.

 

I'm headed to Palm Springs this week and shipped a new set of Callaway AI Smoke HL irons with the Aldila PL Blue 50 gram shafts.

 

I am a slow swinger at 76 years old and tested these against my Titleist T350's with the stock senior shafts and they are very similar in terms of distance and spin.  In fact, I think the Callaway's might be a little better on spin.  I won't really know until I play a few rounds with them, but based on my indoor practice time with them, I'm expecting good results.  They definitely seem a bit easier to control and have given very good results indoors with a launch monitor.

 

I really enjoy the T350's but looking for a set to leave at my daughter's in Palm Spring so I don't have to transport clubs back and forth.

[Jim53]

3 hours ago, jjfcpa said:

 

I'm headed to Palm Springs this week and shipped a new set of Callaway AI Smoke HL irons with the Aldila PL Blue 50 gram shafts.

 

I am a slow swinger at 76 years old and tested these against my Titleist T350's with the stock senior shafts and they are very similar in terms of distance and spin.  In fact, I think the Callaway's might be a little better on spin.  I won't really know until I play a few rounds with them, but based on my indoor practice time with them, I'm expecting good results.  They definitely seem a bit easier to control and have given very good results indoors with a launch monitor.

 

I really enjoy the T350's but looking for a set to leave at my daughter's in Palm Spring so I don't have to transport clubs back and forth.

I wish you good luck with them, they are a nice iron and I seriously believe the choice of Shaft I made is greatly affecting how they perform for me. At 65 I am not a fast swinger by any means but generally do well with stiff or stiff regular shafts in the 95 -105 weight range.  To me the recoil dart 105 do play stiff to flex or perhaps it is the profile of the shaft that does not agree with me.

 

Coming from PX io 5.5 these have really no feel at all, just very stiff with no feel of loading or unloading. I am sure it is my bad swing not loading them properly to get the most out of them, but it is what i have to work with.

 

Oh well back to the drawing board.

[jeffrey r]

13 minutes ago, Jim53 said:

I wish you good luck with them, they are a nice iron and I seriously believe the choice of Shaft I made is greatly affecting how they perform for me. At 65 I am not a fast swinger by any means but generally do well with stiff or stiff regular shafts in the 95 -105 weight range.  To me the recoil dart 105 do play stiff to flex or perhaps it is the profile of the shaft that does not agree with me.

 

Coming from PX io 5.5 these have really no feel at all, just very stiff with no feel of loading or unloading. I am sure it is my bad swing not loading them properly to get the most out of them, but it is what i have to work with.

 

Oh well back to the drawing board.

 

Based on the other shafts in your signature (some x flex, PX 6.5, etc.), I am actually kind of surprised you found the Dart 105 F4 so stiff. I find them smooth, and just true to flex like playing a steel 105g stiff shaft. But I suppose different strokes for different folks. Sorry they didn't work out for you.

[Carolina Golfer 2]

On 3/27/2024 at 8:27 PM, nosedive32 said:

 

If I recall correctly Paradym / Paradym X were forged and AI Smoke are not.

 

I think the idea behind Paradym / Paradym X basically was to replace both the ultra premium Epic Line (2017 Epic / Epic Pro and the Later Epic Forged) and Apex / Apex DCB models.

 

AI Smoke is more in line with previous iron lines named after the driver (like Rogue ST)

This is pretty much spot on what DNev from Callaway told us during the Chrome Tour they were on to al the accounts presenting the new lineup.  They feel these in that $1100 to $1200 range will be the best premium irons on market    And yes you are correct, last years Paradym and Paradym X were forged.  

[Jim53]

1 hour ago, jeffrey r said:

 

Based on the other shafts in your signature (some x flex, PX 6.5, etc.), I am actually kind of surprised you found the Dart 105 F4 so stiff. I find them smooth, and just true to flex like playing a steel 105g stiff shaft. But I suppose different strokes for different folks. Sorry they didn't work out for you.

I was quite surprised myself, they just do not work for me. But that being said I have tried the regular recoils in 95 and 110 in different flex and never liked them either and I was younger and stronger then, so it must be the profile that does not work for me.

[jwo]

On 4/8/2024 at 1:57 PM, Jim53 said:

I wish you good luck with them, they are a nice iron and I seriously believe the choice of Shaft I made is greatly affecting how they perform for me. At 65 I am not a fast swinger by any means but generally do well with stiff or stiff regular shafts in the 95 -105 weight range.  To me the recoil dart 105 do play stiff to flex or perhaps it is the profile of the shaft that does not agree with me.

 

Coming from PX io 5.5 these have really no feel at all, just very stiff with no feel of loading or unloading. I am sure it is my bad swing not loading them properly to get the most out of them, but it is what i have to work with.

 

Oh well back to the drawing board.

I’m 5 years your younger but right in the same boat. I spent some time looking at different shafts. Decided on KBS Tour lite regular. 105 gram and supposed to be a high launch and mid spin shaft. Never tried a graphite iron shaft I liked so hoping for the best. Shipping this Thursday 

Edited April 9 by jwo

[bellairemi]

I can agree with the very low spin.  I swing the 7 iron 83-84 and the spin numbers (and launch) were notably lower and more inconsistent versus anything else in this class.  Was really disappointed becuase I was offered a very big discount on a new set through my home course.

[T626G]

A good friend of mine won a full iron set standard length & lie 5i - AW. He's not sure which shafts are on them besides theyre stiff flex because they're all boxed up. I'm guessing just the stock metal shaft option they offer. No idea on the shaft weight either. He's giving them to me for half off so I couldn't say no. 

 

Looking forward to trying them out. Probably won't be for a few weeks and most likely I'll get them bent 1* flat.  Praying they work out for me. I've been playing Titleist 712 AP2 for a long time ago it should be an upgrade for me. I was looking at the standard lie angles for the ai smokes and they appear to be a little flatter on some clubs than my current gamers which would actually work out well for me. 

 

Pretty excited to try them out!

[Jim53]

I can't get rid of these things fast enough. Unfortunately Callaway is saying early May to get the APEX cb's due to a lack of certain heads.

6 rounds on the Ai smoke now and I swear it is just getting worst, trying to adapt to them and nothing works. 99% sure it is the shafts not the heads, but I am married to them for the time being.

Just a terrible experiment and only myself to blame. Live and learn, not the worst problem to have in the bigger picture.

[apprenti23]

Smokes are for higher speed players that want distance (low spin) and are super compact for being “modern game improvement irons”

 

more players will benefit from weaker lofts, lower cg, larger heads, and weaker lofts of the Smoke HL irons.

 

at the price, I can’t think of a better iron for this category

 

paradyms were great but pricey due to being forged and heads were compact 

[jjfcpa]

1 hour ago, apprenti23 said:

Smokes are for higher speed players that want distance (low spin) and are super compact for being “modern game improvement irons”

 

more players will benefit from weaker lofts, lower cg, larger heads, and weaker lofts of the Smoke HL irons.

 

at the price, I can’t think of a better iron for this category

 

paradyms were great but pricey due to being forged and heads were compact 

 

Just finished playing 3 rounds in Palm Springs with the AI Smoke HL irons.  They are excellent in my opinion with just a couple of caveats.

 

Yes, they could use more spin, but it's the nature of the lofts, not the irons themselves.  The HL option alleviates some of that and I was pretty happy with the way they held greens on approach shots.  You can definitely get the spin you need and the trajectory, which is high, certainly helps.

 

As I mentioned in another post, they show wear after very little use.  This in no way affects performance but it does affect the overall quality appearance of the irons after just a few rounds.  

 

Lastly, the feel could be better.  They don't have a forged face and when comparing them to some other game improvement irons that do have a forged face, you can certainly tell the difference.  Hitting the sweet spot certainly helps, but I'd like to see them address that in the next release... and they probably will.

 

I should add, and this is a huge positive.  I normally take a few rounds to get used to a new set of irons.  These were by far the easiest set of irons to adapt to that I have ever played.  Just really easy to hit.