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Today I’ll be reviewing the Callaway Paradym fairway wood.
The Paradym builds on the previous-generation Epic and Rogue ST MAX fairway woods with a new Jailbreak Batwing design, forged carbon sole, and A.I. face structure. It’s designed to deliver the best in distance along with a high launch and forgiveness.
How does the Paradym fairway wood actually perform? How does it compare to the Rogue ST line? Who is it best suited for? Is it worth putting in the bag?
Read on to get the answers to these questions and learn what you need to know to make an informed purchase.
Note: Unless otherwise stated, stock shafts and stock grips are used when evaluating this club. In most cases, the golf clubs reviewed on Golfstead are acquired temporarily for testing purposes and are not purchased. The review that follows is based on the personal experience and research of the author. Because everyone’s swing and body are different, results with a particular club may differ from person to person.
What are the reviews like?
The performance of the Paradym fairway wood has been rated very highly by critics: it excels in the distance, forgiveness, and launch categories. Criticism centers mainly around the overall looks which are not to everyone’s taste.
The fairway wood earned a gold medal on the 2023 Golf Digest Hot List.
What People Like
- more forgiving than expected
- easy to launch
- low profile
- adjustable hosel unlike Rogue ST MAX
- good ball speeds
What People Don’t Like
- polarizing look
- high price tag
The Features
Callaway markets the Paradym as their “longest fairway wood ever”. Player testing has suggested that the Paradym fairway wood is up to seven yards longer than the Rogue ST MAX on average.
Forged Carbon Sole
The signature feature of the Paradym fairway wood is a forged carbon sole, made with the same carbon material found in the Paradym driver.
This replaces steel and saves a significant amount of discretionary weight which is used to further optimize distance and MOI.
Jailbreak A.I. Batwing Technology
The Paradym features the latest iteration of the Jailbreak concept used in previous Callaway fairway woods.
“Batwing” Jailbreak blades make a return, but unlike the Rogue ST MAX, the Paradym has one batwing structure in the toe region, with the Optifit hosel structure serving at the batwing in the heel region.
The two Jailbreak blades (designed with artificial intelligence) have a “batwing” shape and are pushed to the perimeter. This has the result of providing stiffness, stability, and allowing the face to flex for unprecedented ball speeds.
A.I. Optimized Face & C300 Face Cup
A new A.I. face optimization uniquely designs the face architecture for each loft and model in order to improve speed, spin and launch conditions across the entire face.
The A.I. Face works in tandem with Callaway’s Face Cup. The wraparound cup face is made of an extremely strong and flexible C300 maraging steel that is treated through a proprietary process. The end result is enhanced speed and spin consistency across the face.
Tungsten Speed Cartridge
The Tungsten Speed Cartridge sits behind the face and consists of up to 23 grams of high-density tungsten. This pushes the center of gravity (CG) low and forward for reduced spin and higher ball speed.
Stock Info
The Paradym fairway wood is available in 3W, 3 HL, 5W, Heavenwood, 7W, 9W and 11W at lofts 15°, 16.5°, 18°, 20°, 21°, 24° and 27° respectively.
Also available is the women’s Paradym fairway wood. It’s basically the same as the men’s Paradym, but the stock shaft, grip, swing weights, etc. are tailored to women to maximize their performance.
An included Optifit hosel in the 3W and 3 HL models allows you to adjust loft and lie. The loft settings are -1, +1, 0 and +2 (a range of 3°). The lie settings are N (neutral) and D (draw), giving a total of 8 possible configurations.
The stock graphite shafts are the Project X HZRDUS Gen 4 Black 70, Project X HZRDUS Gen 4 Silver 60, and ALDILA ASCENT PL Blue 40 & 50. The stock grip is the Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360. Custom shafts are available.
If you’re interested, full information on the fairway wood, shafts, grips and their specs can be found here.
Below are the specs of the Paradym fairway wood for men and women. Click or zoom to enlarge.
The Performance
Distance
My test results were mostly consistent with the claim that the Paradym is up to seven yards longer than the Rogue ST MAX. I was seeing a gain of about 4-6 yards on average.
On the one hand, this is great because we all want more distance in our fairway woods and you’d be hard-pressed to find one that’s longer.
On the other hand, the Rogue ST MAX sits in the game-improvement category and the Paradym is a little more towards the players (low spin) side of the spectrum. There was no middle option in the Rogue ST line. Hence, you would expect the Paradym to be longer.
Forgiveness
The Paradym fairway wood is nearly as forgiving — perhaps just as forgiving — as the Rogue ST MAX. This is impressive considering its length, lower RPMs, and CG position.
Dispersions were extremely good. In fact, I would venture to say that they’re some of the best I’ve seen in a 2023 season club, to the point that even your bad shots tend to turn out fairly well.
The Paradym X model does even better when it comes to forgiveness.
Playability/Trajectory
The standard trajectory produced by the Paradym is mid-high with a neutral flight bias.
In my opinion, this fairway wood produces ideal launch conditions. There’s not too much spin to where you experience ballooning and lose distance, but there’s also enough spin to where it’s easy to get the ball airborne even with a moderate swing speed.
Workability is fair, and on top of that, you can take advantage of the adjustable hosel on the 3-wood to really dial in your ball flight. Turf interaction from a variety of lies is very pleasing.
The Look
When I reviewed the Paradym family of drivers, I was very impressed with just how premium, modern and aspirational the look is. This is carried over into the fairway woods.
The Paradym fairway wood has a rich dark teal theme with a three-piece crown. The face region of the crown is a flat matte gray which many will consider to be a bit dull, but nevertheless, the overall aesthetic is definitely one of my favourites.
The 3-wood is 171cc which I think is perfect for what the Paradym model is supposed to be — in between the X and Triple Diamond models in terms of forgiveness.
The face depth and overall shape of the driver are appropriate in my judgement, and the club sets up nice and clean behind the ball.
The Sound & Feel
When I hit a fairway wood, I want stability and a responsive face. I got that (and more) with the Paradym. It produces the perfect “crack” at impact with a feel that gives you a nice dose of solidness, responsiveness and explosiveness.
Feel is very similar to the Rogue ST MAX model. Sound & feel consistency across the face is also very similar. Callaway really got something good going with the Jailbreak technology, and it shows.
When it comes to feel and sound, there were no obvious improvements that needed to be made for the next generation, so I’m not surprised at the strong resemblance to the Rogue ST woods and I’m perfectly fine with it. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, am I right?
Where To Buy Online
Currently, the best place to order a Paradym fairway wood with custom specifications (loft, length, shaft, grip, etc.) is this page on the Callaway store. The women’s variant can be purchased here.
If you want to save some money, you can find discounts on eBay.
Alternatively, look at what’s available on PGA TOUR Superstore or Amazon. The former offers club trade-ins, a performance guarantee, and financing plans to help you minimize the risk of purchase.
Conclusion
The Callaway Paradym is undoubtedly one of the top-performing fairway woods for the 2023 season.
Best suited for low to high handicappers, it’s longer than the Rogue ST MAX and matches or exceeds it in every other category. It’s forgiving, super easy to launch, offers plenty of workability, and has a feel that’s better than ever. The look won’t appeal to everyone, but you can safely exclude me from that category.
Sure, the Paradym is expensive, but this is the general trend that golf clubs have been moving in for years. It’s worth noting that the Rogue ST woods were the same price when they launched. As always, you can take advantage of club trade-ins and financing to soften the financial hit.
Have any thoughts or opinions about the Paradym fairway wood? Go ahead and leave a comment below.
