Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Fairway Wood Review

The Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond fairway wood is one of four new models released in the brand's new lineup for the 2024 season. The TD (Triple Diamond) model is the lowest spinning and launching when it comes to fairway woods and drivers. In fact, it wasn’t until recently that the TD models were a tour-only offering, but due to the popularity and demand from the consumer, the TD models became recognized as one of the best fairway woods on the market for better players and Callaway ended up introducing them to retail. Designed with the more confident and faster swinger of a club in mind, the Paradym Ai Smoke TD model has been created for those who like to shape the ball but without creating excessive spin.

WATCH: We test and compare the best fairway woods on the market in 2024

The Ai Smoke Triple Diamond fairway is far more compact than the Ai Smoke Max fairway and has a deeper face too. Behind the ball, even as a +3 handicap golfer, the look is somewhat intimidating and it would take a lower handicapper in full flow and with speed to burn to handle it. While I appreciate the sleekness of the design with this head, I can’t help but miss the alignment aid found on the top of the other models in the range to assist with alignment. The grooves on the face run the whole way along to help the club appear to sit a little open to promote a neutral to fade-biased shot shape. 

The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed the TD model doesn’t feature the crushed carbon sole found on the other fairway models or drivers. Instead, it boasts a classic looking steel sole with an additional weight port further forward towards the face to promote a lower ball flight. I took the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond to My Golf Matters in Berkshire to test on a Trackman 4 launch monitor in a controlled environment before heading on the course with it to get a better grasp of sound, feel and ball flight as well as experiencing how it performed in different lies and weather conditions.

After testing it was clear to see why this low spinning fairway wood is so popular in pro golf. It produced solid ball speeds of around 160mph and a carry actually a yard shorter on average than the Ai Smoke Max model at 263 yards, but with a slightly longer average total distance of 283 yards. This will be down to the more penetrating ball flight with a shallower angle of descent creating more roll when hitting the fairway. The spin hovered on average around the 2800rpm mark with some shots dropping as low as 2300rpm, significantly less than the Max model. The feel off the face was significantly firmer than the Max and Max D models which I didn’t love as I’m someone who prefers a softer feel through impact, but there’s no denying that it felt powerful.

While the TD model is undoubtedly harder to strike off the deck than the other more forgiving fairway woods in the Paradym Ai Smoke family, I loved the performance it offered from the tee.This fairway wood is ideal for players looking for a driver replacement off the tee, thanks to a slightly deeper face and powerful ball flight. It coped particularly well with getting my ball through any strong headwinds and was very easy to manipulate the ball flight further when I needed to. The new Smart Face certainly seemed to ensure my miss-hits were a little less penalizing, although it couldn't save some of my more wayward shots! The Paradym Ai Smoke TD model also comes equipped with an adjustable hosel for complete ball flight control, as does the Max and Max D Ai Smoke fairway wood models, and will be available in lofts of 15°, 18° and 21°.

The Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond is a fairway wood that I’m sure will be in the bag of plenty of players on professional tours during the course of the upcoming season, but is very much designed for those with fast swing speeds and with the utmost control over their golf ball. For the majority of club golfers, even established, lower handicappers, I would suggest the Ai Smoke Max fairway wood might be the more playable option.

The Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond fairway wood model will come equipped with either the new Project X Denali shaft or the MCA Tensei AV Blue shaft as standard and Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 grip. The product will be available to purchase from the 26th January and will come to retail at $349 or £379.