Callaway Paradym Drivers - 2023 Forum Review

[StrokerAce]

just noticed that Rose Zhang - one of the sweetest swings you'll ever see - plays the Paradym. 

I can only dream of swinging it as well as she does!

 

[Invader Zim 315]

06/04/2023 Update - First Round with Paradym

Took the Paradym out for its first 18 hole test drive yesterday. Bethpage Blue (Bethpage, NY) - White tees play ~6,400 yards.  As a disclaimer: this was not my best swing day, at all.  I scored around my average (41-40 for an 81), but the swing just didn't feel completely there.  That makes for a great day to test this club though.

I like the Blue course but it honestly is not my favorite for one main reason which is that, as with many older golf courses, trees have kind of begun to make it more of a shot shapers course than I think it was originally intended.  Lots of dog legs with old trees overhanging the corners mean you can hit a fairway and still be blocked out.  Unfortunately also, with all of these dog legs it makes it hard to hit driver on many of them, as anything past 230 yards brings far trees into play. (I love you though, Bethpage State Park)

Nonetheless, I did my very best to be aggressive where I could be in order to play the Paradym as much as possible.  Being my first time using it, it is definitely an adjustment and I think it will take some getting used to.  I went 2/7 on fairways for the holes that I used the club, with three missing right and two missing left.  Not the best sign, I know, but there were several positives.

1. The look
I really love the look of the club.  I was worried about the gloss finish on top, but it really didn't bother me.  I think once I get the feel down, I can get really comfortable with this.

2. The Sound
On the two drives I did hit solid, this thing sounded amazing.  It is as simple as that.  Crisp, clean

3. Distance Forgiveness
I missed a couple drives left and right pretty bad, I will be completely honest.  None went OB, but 4 were in the rough and the fifth was in the fescue.  However, unlike with my M1, none of these went below 240 yards.  And I missed some, like, really badly.  Low heel strikes badly.  Yes, they still tailed right, but they still got out there and I'll consider that a win.  Hopefully I can dial in the new shaft and find the center a bit more.

 

Small point on the headcover as we have all seemed to have a negative opinion: even though I didn't like it upon first impressions, I still put it in the bag for this round.  As a consumer, I think you should know that it is definitely premium.  The leather feels extremely nice, and you are paying for a good headcover.  Negatively, though, I definitely still think it's just kind of ugly and I won't want to keep using it after this test.

  

[StrokerAce]

1 hour ago, Invader Zim 315 said:

06/04/2023 Update - First Round with Paradym

Took the Paradym out for its first 18 hole test drive yesterday. Bethpage Blue (Bethpage, NY) - White tees play ~6,400 yards.  As a disclaimer: this was not my best swing day, at all.  I scored okay for me (41-40 for an 81), but the swing just didn't feel completely there.  That makes for a great day to test this club though.

I like the Blue course but it honestly is not my favorite for one main reason which is that, as with many older golf courses, trees have kind of begun to make it more of a shot shapers course than I think it was originally intended.  Lots of dog legs with old trees overhanging the corners mean you can hit a fairway and still be blocked out.  Unfortunately also, with all of these dog legs it makes it hard to hit driver on many of them, as anything past 230 yards brings far trees into play. (I love you though, Bethpage State Park)

Nonetheless, I did my very best to be aggressive where I could be in order to play the Paradym as much as possible.  Being my first time using it, it is definitely an adjustment and I think it will take some getting used to.  I went 2/7 on fairways for the holes that I used the club, with three missing right and two missing left.  Not the best sign, I know, but there were several positives.

1. The look
I really love the look of the club.  I was worried about the gloss finish on top, but it really didn't bother me.  I think once I get the feel down, I can get really comfortable with this.

2. The Sound
On the two drives I did hit solid, this thing sounded amazing.  It is as simple as that.  Crisp, clean

3. Distance Forgiveness
I missed a couple drives left and right pretty bad, I will be completely honest.  None went OB, but 4 were in the rough and the fifth was in the fescue.  However, unlike with my M1, none of these went below 240 yards.  And I missed some, like, really badly.  Low heel strikes badly.  Yes, they still tailed right, but they still got out there and I'll consider that a win.  Hopefully I can dial in the new shaft and find the center a bit more.

 

Small point on the headcover as we have all seemed to have a negative opinion: even though I didn't like it upon first impressions, I still put it in the bag for this round.  As a consumer, I think you should know that it is definitely premium.  The leather feels extremely nice, and you are paying for a good headcover.  Negatively, though, I definitely still think it's just kind of ugly and I won't want to keep using it after this test.

  

Are all of your settings neutral or did you change anything?

[azstu324]

1 hour ago, Invader Zim 315 said:

06/04/2023 Update - First Round with Paradym

Took the Paradym out for its first 18 hole test drive yesterday. Bethpage Blue (Bethpage, NY) - White tees play ~6,400 yards.  As a disclaimer: this was not my best swing day, at all.  I scored okay for me (41-40 for an 81), but the swing just didn't feel completely there.  That makes for a great day to test this club though.

I like the Blue course but it honestly is not my favorite for one main reason which is that, as with many older golf courses, trees have kind of begun to make it more of a shot shapers course than I think it was originally intended.  Lots of dog legs with old trees overhanging the corners mean you can hit a fairway and still be blocked out.  Unfortunately also, with all of these dog legs it makes it hard to hit driver on many of them, as anything past 230 yards brings far trees into play. (I love you though, Bethpage State Park)

Nonetheless, I did my very best to be aggressive where I could be in order to play the Paradym as much as possible.  Being my first time using it, it is definitely an adjustment and I think it will take some getting used to.  I went 2/7 on fairways for the holes that I used the club, with three missing right and two missing left.  Not the best sign, I know, but there were several positives.

1. The look
I really love the look of the club.  I was worried about the gloss finish on top, but it really didn't bother me.  I think once I get the feel down, I can get really comfortable with this.

2. The Sound
On the two drives I did hit solid, this thing sounded amazing.  It is as simple as that.  Crisp, clean

3. Distance Forgiveness
I missed a couple drives left and right pretty bad, I will be completely honest.  None went OB, but 4 were in the rough and the fifth was in the fescue.  However, unlike with my M1, none of these went below 240 yards.  And I missed some, like, really badly.  Low heel strikes badly.  Yes, they still tailed right, but they still got out there and I'll consider that a win.  Hopefully I can dial in the new shaft and find the center a bit more.

 

Small point on the headcover as we have all seemed to have a negative opinion: even though I didn't like it upon first impressions, I still put it in the bag for this round.  As a consumer, I think you should know that it is definitely premium.  The leather feels extremely nice, and you are paying for a good headcover.  Negatively, though, I definitely still think it's just kind of ugly and I won't want to keep using it after this test.

  

Great comments on your maiden journey with the Paradym! 

Like any successful partnership i.e. marriage, business, etc, it's actually good that things don't start out all perfect and peachy. We all learn to compromise and eventually things meld together in unison. Now it's when you find the other doing more of the demanding and less compromising and then you know it's just a bad match.. (not speaking from any specific experience )

Can't wait to hear about the outings to come! 

[Invader Zim 315]

30 minutes ago, StrokerAce said:

Are all of your settings neutral or did you change anything?

Kept everything Neutral/Standard for the whole round as that was recommended by my fitter.  I wanted a real sample size before I freaked out and started making tweaks.

My initial impression is that this might have a bit of a tendency to miss right moving forward (which is new for me), so in time I might toy with the idea of using either A) the sliding weights in back or B) the D setting on the adjustable hozel.  

[azstu324]

Ok people.. looks like this week I'll finally be joining my Paradym brothers. I've got some ground to make up for sure! 

[azstu324]

Paradym TD expected to land tomorrow! 

Unfortunately, tomorrow I'm back to work and won't have time to swing a club until Sunday

I may just get silly and have my first swing be on a par 5 tee box that requires a 285 carry..

[StrokerAce]

weather was bad over the weekend so I went to an indoor sim and they had trackman where I could capture data.

I hit some warmup/cooldown shots with the PW but focused primarily on driver. I had the bay for an hour.

A "typical" course that is par 72 has 
4 par 3 (12)
4 par 5 (20)
10 par 4 (40)

I'm estimating that I would use a driver - on average - 6 times per round, depending on the course.
I hit 96 (!!!) shots with the driver which comes out to 16 rounds worth of driving... lol

I hit 124 shots (total) in 60 minutes which is about 2 shots per minute or one every 30 seconds.

The reason I say this is because there are some outliers which I'm going to remove from the dataset (about 15).
I was trying to capture as much data as possible and wasn't 100 percent focused on hitting a good shot every. single. time. like I would be on course. (I'll leave that for next time)

Don't worry - I left a handful of bad ones, just removed the swings where I was dripping with sweat and worn out!
Total:

Carry:

 

My club is a 9.0 degree driver with the hosel set at Neutral, -1 (meaning the loft is at 8 degrees); the sliding weight is halfway between full draw and neutral.

I like my dispersion and I like the fact that even my short (bad!) shots tend to get some distance.
This one carried 206 but total was 249 with a low spin rate and low loft...

 

I was surprised I was fit into an 8 degree loft and the trajectory might be a little low; I'll have to play with this a bit but I would rather it be lower than high and spinny...

 

This was my longest shot -- understand that my shaft is cut down to 44 inches so I'm expecting to lose some distance because of that and that's the sacrifice I'm making to hit closer to the sweet spot.

 

This was my worst shot; Spin rate was within range but all others weren't optimal

 

Ball speed was pretty consistent - between 140 and 150.

Swing speed was between 100 and 104.

Takeaways:

The driver feels and sounds great. Has a pleasing sound and when you find the sweet spot it feels awesome.
I have some work to do on my swing and probably hit too many balls.
The settings are very close and I may go up a degree in loft to see what effect that has. The optimizer for a lot of my shots had me lower than optimal.
So far pleased with the shaft change and don't see many of those WAY right or WAY left shots. 

 

Side note - if you get a chance for a sim with trackman, download the app and create an account... look at all of this data!

[Nick_D]

28 minutes ago, StrokerAce said:

weather was bad over the weekend so I went to an indoor sim and they had trackman where I could capture data.

I hit some warmup/cooldown shots with the PW but focused primarily on driver. I had the bay for an hour.

A "typical" course that is par 72 has 
4 par 3 (12)
4 par 5 (20)
10 par 4 (40)

I'm estimating that I would use a driver - on average - 6 times per round, depending on the course.
I hit 96 (!!!) shots with the driver which comes out to 16 rounds worth of driving... lol

I hit 124 shots (total) in 60 minutes which is about 2 shots per minute or one every 30 seconds.

The reason I say this is because there are some outliers which I'm going to remove from the dataset (about 15).
I was trying to capture as much data as possible and wasn't 100 percent focused on hitting a good shot every. single. time. like I would be on course. (I'll leave that for next time)

Don't worry - I left a handful of bad ones, just removed the swings where I was dripping with sweat and worn out!
Total:

Carry:

 

My club is a 9.0 degree driver with the hosel set at Neutral, -1 (meaning the loft is at 8 degrees); the sliding weight is halfway between full draw and neutral.

I like my dispersion and I like the fact that even my short (bad!) shots tend to get some distance.
This one carried 206 but total was 249 with a low spin rate and low loft...

 

I was surprised I was fit into an 8 degree loft and the trajectory might be a little low; I'll have to play with this a bit but I would rather it be lower than high and spinny...

 

This was my longest shot -- understand that my shaft is cut down to 44 inches so I'm expecting to lose some distance because of that and that's the sacrifice I'm making to hit closer to the sweet spot.

 

This was my worst shot; Spin rate was within range but all others weren't optimal

 

Ball speed was pretty consistent - between 140 and 150.

Swing speed was between 100 and 104.

Takeaways:

The driver feels and sounds great. Has a pleasing sound and when you find the sweet spot it feels awesome.
I have some work to do on my swing and probably hit too many balls.
The settings are very close and I may go up a degree in loft to see what effect that has. The optimizer for a lot of my shots had me lower than optimal.
So far pleased with the shaft change and don't see many of those WAY right or WAY left shots. 

 

Side note - if you get a chance for a sim with trackman, download the app and create an account... look at all of this data!

Numbers and dispersion look great! Curious if that will all translate to the course when hitting other clubs in between, I tend to get in a groove with driver on my sim if I hit a bunch in a row. 

[StrokerAce]

5 minutes ago, Nick_D said:

Numbers and dispersion look great! Curious if that will all translate to the course when hitting other clubs in between, I tend to get in a groove with driver on my sim if I hit a bunch in a row. 

Thanks! I hope so! First 9 holes on Thursday but only a couple driver chances.

I'm a bit of the opposite; I tend to hit worse indoors than outdoors but I agree about getting in a groove and noticed that I hit several good ones in a row after I stabilized my swing.

[azstu324]

 

Wife just sent this.. 

[Madden B]

Just now, azstu324 said:

 

Wife just sent this.. 

 

That is awesome, can't wait to see what's inside!

[cksurfdude]

43 minutes ago, azstu324 said:

 

Wife just sent this.. 

FINALLY!!!!

 

[cksurfdude]

8 hours ago, StrokerAce said:

I tend to hit worse indoors

Def same here. Makes indoor fittings or demos problematic...

[cksurfdude]

Sadly, no practice nor play this week....

Next outing for X will be Saturday morning at the meetup in NC (and hey no pressure, X )

[cnosil]

20 minutes ago, cksurfdude said:

Sadly, no practice nor play this week....

Next outing for X will be Saturday morning at the meetup in NC (and hey no pressure, X )

Maybe not.  Based on where Rob indicated the Villa is located,   it looks like the driving range is just out the back door.   Friday night fun???

[Javs]

So yes, after purchasing the Callaway Paradym TD driver and the state it came delivered, I complained. I sent a polite, but direct email to their customer service. One about the shipping container and two about the lack of wrench. Here was their reply to me:

“Thank you for your email.  Sorry to hear about the damage to the box when it was delivered, I can guarantee it was not in that condition when it left our facility. Below is an explanation about the wrench, just so you can understand why it did not arrive with a wrench. I have placed an order for the wrench you should have it in the next few days. 
 

We hope that you are doing well, and we have some exciting news to share regarding our sustainability efforts.

Callaway continues to implement a wide range of meaningful sustainability initiatives and following extensive market research, we will no longer be shipping plastic wrenches with the purchase of our drivers and fairway woods.
 

Over the past 10 years, we have shipped over 7 million wrenches into the market. Through our extensive analysis and discussion, we've seen that many customers already own multiple wrenches, or they choose not to use them. This decision will allow us to eliminate more than 18.5 tons of plastic generated per year.
 

We will still offer our wrenches for sale online at callawaygolf.com and through our retailers for golfers who want new wrenches.

We're confident that with this approach, we can make a positive impact on the environment while still providing wrenches for our customers who want to optimize their adjustability settings.
 

If you have any questions, please contact 1-800-588-9836and thank you for supporting our sustainability program at Callaway Golf!
 

You can purchase a wrench at the link below:

Callaway Golf Torque Wrench”. 
 

I am pleased with the product, but after having been a PXG supporter for years guess I have been spoiled. However, I just received a order confirmation that a wrench will be coming. So, guess if you want a new Callaway wrench you need to be a squeaky wheel…….

[azstu324]

17 minutes ago, Javs said:

So yes, after purchasing the Callaway Paradym TD driver and the state it came delivered, I complained. I sent a polite, but direct email to their customer service. One about the shipping container and two about the lack of wrench. Here was their reply to me:

“Thank you for your email.  Sorry to hear about the damage to the box when it was delivered, I can guarantee it was not in that condition when it left our facility. Below is an explanation about the wrench, just so you can understand why it did not arrive with a wrench. I have placed an order for the wrench you should have it in the next few days. 
 

We hope that you are doing well, and we have some exciting news to share regarding our sustainability efforts.

Callaway continues to implement a wide range of meaningful sustainability initiatives and following extensive market research, we will no longer be shipping plastic wrenches with the purchase of our drivers and fairway woods.
 

Over the past 10 years, we have shipped over 7 million wrenches into the market. Through our extensive analysis and discussion, we've seen that many customers already own multiple wrenches, or they choose not to use them. This decision will allow us to eliminate more than 18.5 tons of plastic generated per year.
 

We will still offer our wrenches for sale online at callawaygolf.com and through our retailers for golfers who want new wrenches.

We're confident that with this approach, we can make a positive impact on the environment while still providing wrenches for our customers who want to optimize their adjustability settings.
 

If you have any questions, please contact 1-800-588-9836and thank you for supporting our sustainability program at Callaway Golf!
 

You can purchase a wrench at the link below:

Callaway Golf Torque Wrench”. 
 

I am pleased with the product, but after having been a PXG supporter for years guess I have been spoiled. However, I just received a order confirmation that a wrench will be coming. So, guess if you want a new Callaway wrench you need to be a squeaky wheel…….

I guess that also explains the "minimalist" approach to the packaging.. 

I suppose I can give them a pass with that explanation. Still, you'd think that offering the option for a wrench and maybe just a little extra support in the box wouldn't be so bad. 

I guess my real question is.. what about all of the Paradym headcovers that will end up getting replaced?

[Javs]

4 minutes ago, azstu324 said:

I guess that also explains the "minimalist" approach to the packaging.. 

I suppose I can give them a pass with that explanation. Still, you'd think that offering the option for a wrench and maybe just a little extra support in the box wouldn't be so bad. 

I guess my real question is.. what about all of the Paradym headcovers that will end up getting replaced?

Exactly! I think it was a long drawn out explanation to be cutting corners, but trying to justify it. Seems PXG, Red Rooster and several other companies understand the old saying of take care of the customer! The funny thing is the irons came packaged nice and secure with everything you would expect. Guess that is what surprised me so much.

Edited June 8, 2023 by Javs

[cnosil]

29 minutes ago, Javs said:

 the lack of wrench.

Right or wrong,  Callaway hasn't provided wrenches with their drivers for at least a couple of years.  

[Javs]

8 minutes ago, cnosil said:

Right or wrong,  Callaway hasn't provided wrenches with their drivers for at least a couple of years.  

I wouldn’t know since these are the first Callaway products I have ever played. However, I am getting one! Ha ha. My Dad (a career businessman and quality control expert) once taught me that companies should learn not to be penny wise and dollar dumb. When selling a $600 dollar driver throw it in a decent box and add the 1.50 wrench. Maybe send a thank you note like Red Rooster. It goes a long way! However, maybe I’m just old school. 

Edited June 8, 2023 by Javs

[Invader Zim 315]

3 hours ago, azstu324 said:

 

Wife just sent this.. 

Stu, ready to ROCK from the top rope!

[azstu324]

26 minutes ago, Javs said:

I wouldn’t know since these are the first Callaway products I have ever played. However, I am getting one! Ha ha. My Dad (a career businessman and quality control expert) once taught me that companies should learn not to be penny wise and dollar dumb. When selling a $600 dollar driver throw it in a decent box and add the 1.50 wrench. Maybe send a thank you note like Red Rooster. It goes a long way! However, maybe I’m just old school. 

I really think that these consumer tests do play a big part in how the companies shift their business model from year to year. I'm certain that MGS isn't the only consumer group testing these. If the consensus is pretty uniform across the channels, there's a good chance it'll make its way into next year's planning. Whether or not it promotes actual changes is TBD. 

I trust that our voices are being heard in some capacity. 

[Javs]

Just now, azstu324 said:

I really think that these consumer tests do play a big part in how the companies shift their business model from year to year. I'm certain that MGS isn't the only consumer group testing these. If the consensus is pretty uniform across the channels, there's a good chance it'll make its way into next year's planning. Whether or not it promotes actual changes is TBD. 

I trust that our voices are being heard in some capacity. 

I agree

[StrokerAce]

was able to get to the range last night to prep for "new driver debut" today during league play...

getting close to that sweet spot..

...almost there (sidenote: wet balls help on the face!)

[cksurfdude]

13 hours ago, Javs said:

So yes, after purchasing the Callaway Paradym TD driver and the state it came delivered, I complained. I sent a polite, but direct email to their customer service. One about the shipping container and two about the lack of wrench.

I'd suspected it was a cost saving .. err umm Global Sustainability Initiative .. BUT...

Bad assumptions by Corporate, imho, that a high end driver consumer already has, or - does not want - a torque wrench..!

...i.e. there should be an option provided on the product page when you purchase to include/not include the wrench.

 

[Javs]

4 minutes ago, cksurfdude said:

I'd suspected it was a cost saving .. err umm Global Sustainability Initiative .. BUT...

Bad assumptions by Corporate, imho, that a high end driver consumer already has, or - does not want - a torque wrench..!

...i.e. there should be an option provided on the product page when you purchase to include/not include the wrench.

 

That is exactly what I thought. Have an opt out or in. Plus ship it in the same quality as the irons. However, I will say their customer service did make it right in the end. So, that counts also.

Edited June 8, 2023 by Javs

[azstu324]

unboxing is on the way. I'll do my best to have it up by noon AZ time

[russtopherb]

2 hours ago, cksurfdude said:

I'd suspected it was a cost saving .. err umm Global Sustainability Initiative .. BUT...

Bad assumptions by Corporate, imho, that a high end driver consumer already has, or - does not want - a torque wrench..!

...i.e. there should be an option provided on the product page when you purchase to include/not include the wrench.

 

So I just did some quick searching around, it appears that TaylorMade also does not include a wrench, and it looks like Tour Edge may not include one either. Cobra specifically states they are included. There may be others, however 5 minutes of surfing around shows that Callaway is not the only OEM to not include a wrench as standard.

For the record, I have three different wrenches, so I get why some OEMs may no longer be shipping them as standard. 

[StrokerAce]

8 minutes ago, russtopherb said:

So I just did some quick searching around, it appears that TaylorMade also does not include a wrench, and it looks like Tour Edge may not include one either. Cobra specifically states they are included. There may be others, however 5 minutes of surfing around shows that Callaway is not the only OEM to not include a wrench as standard.

For the record, I have three different wrenches, so I get why some OEMs may no longer be shipping them as standard. 

thank GOODNESS this is one of the FEW things in golf that is standard across OEMs.

Can you imagine if you need a different wrench for every manufacturer??? At least they got this right.