Callaway Women’s Paradym Ai Smoke MAX Fast Driver Review

The Paradym Ai Smoke Max Fast driver is one of four driver models in this new family of woods and irons for 2024. It’s designed for women who are looking for a lightweight club that launches the ball with ease and delivers on performance, so I was keen to see if this driver passed the test on all accounts as one of the best women's drivers on the market.

Let’s first talk about aesthetics. Without doubt this is a luxurious looking driver. The carbon crown is a dark smokey gray color with a very subtle pattern that is almost invisible at address. It’s quite shiny though, which might take getting used to for some players. 

I like the color of the sole, which is a lighter gray/white and has a mottled effect, along with a striking blue swingweight. The graphite shaft is a women’s flex and also largely dark gray, so the shaft and head combined is unfussy and this makes it very easy on the eye.

Callaway clubs come with soft and tacky grips, and this provided me with confidence. I immediately felt comfortable with this driver in my hands, plus the weight is very nicely distributed, similar to that of the Ping G Le3 and XXIO 13 driver. 

For the Paradym Ai Smoke Max Fast, this is thanks to an internal titanium support structure, allowing for a 15% lighter carbon chassis, with mass being redistributed into the head for improved launch and added forgiveness.

For this range of clubs, forgiveness is a story on its own because the Ai Smart Face is promoted as the brand’s most technologically advanced and sophisticated face ever. Using real player data and state-of-the-art machine learning, sweet spots have been created all over the face so it should be impossible to hit a bad shot.

I must admit, forgiveness was the most impressive feature of this driver. I had not played a lot of golf when I tested this club, but I stood on the 1st tee, swung it with ease and watched the ball soar straight down the fairway, so it got a big thumbs up straight away and I was excited to use it again.

On every tee shot, while it was not always my best strike, the ball flew straight and I completely got away with it. The loft on my usual driver is 11.5, whereas this was 10.5 (12-degree is also available). I’m not suggesting this contributed to less than perfect tee shots, but psychologically I wondered if I needed one degree more!

It was effortless to generate power and when I caught it well, the sound off the face was incredible and with noticeable distance. Given there was no run on the ball, I’m looking forward to testing this driver again in the summer. 

This is one of the most forgiving drivers on the market, so for women with a slower swing speed who are looking for an easy-to-swing club with consistent accuracy, it's definitely worth considering.