Forum Member Reviews: Callaway Paradym & Paradym X Irons

Our Forum members were super excited to kick off the 2023 testing season with the Callaway Golf Paradym family of irons. Callaway fans talk about artificial intelligence in the driver being a factor in creating distance and forgiveness. In this case, Callaway brought AI to the forefront of iron design, saying they combined their “Forged 455 Face with the all-new Speed Frame, giving golfers the best of incredibly long distance technologies and premium forged feel.” Our testers could not wait to put Callaway’s claims to the test.

Side note: If you’re looking for information on the new Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Irons, you can find that here.

Selection Process

Our Forum staff handpicked two testers each for Paradym and Paradym X irons. We tasked them to thoroughly test the performance and features of Callaway’s new game-improvement and player’s distance irons.

Once our testers submitted their specs, they didn’t have to wait long to get the irons in hand. Then it was time to get out on the course and see what the Callaway Paradym and Paradym X irons were capable of and if they were leaders in  player’s distance Irons or game-improvement irons.

Insights from Testers

Initial Impressions and First Swings

First impressions are huge in life and in golf. The Callaway Paradym Irons did not disappoint in this category. Between the shiny chrome finish and striking blue badge, our testers fell for the irons straight out of the box.  Funkyjudge, who tested the Paradym model, said:

“The Paradym irons are certainly a thing of beauty…these are very good-looking irons, with just enough offset and a medium topline width (neither too thin, nor too thick)… They have a very similar profile and size to [my gamers]  so I feel comfortable with the Paradym irons right out of the box.”

Our two Paradym X Testers also had positive feedback about the more forgiving model in the lineup.  Golf2Much had this to report:

“The back of the club has a simple and uncluttered look [but] don’t let that simple look fool you.  Behind that simple back is a lot of embedded technology to enhance launch conditions and improve forgiveness … The Paradym Xs are some of the best-looking irons I’ve ever seen.  The Paradym X’s wider topline and more offset than its sister Paradym irons helped convey a feeling of confidence and forgiveness.”

MattWillGolf, also testing the Paradym X model, had similar feelings on the looks of the irons:

“The topline is quite thick but once again that isn’t something that has ever been an issue for me. I like the size of the irons as they give me confidence when putting them down behind the ball.”

This confidence in the looks matched the sound and feel he found as well:

“A well-struck shot rewards you with a nice crisp sound and a really nice feel. Even on less than perfect shots the sound is still quite good and the feel is not harsh at all but you can feel the difference when compared to a well struck shot.”

Funkyjudge found the same to be true of Paradym model:

“The sound from these irons is a solid “THWACK” when you strike the ball cleanly, and the feel is quite soft.”

Launch Monitor and Range Results

The Callaway Paradym irons excelled in looks, feel and first impressions so It was time to see if they could pass the next test: the numbers. How did these irons perform on launch monitors or at the range? Did they live up to Callaway’s claims? It would seem like they did.

Our two Paradym X testers found their distance increased and forgiveness was better than their gamers as well. Golf2Much noted:

“In each case, I found the Paradym Xs to be marginally more accurate than my PING G30s.  The Paradym Xs tended to start straight at the target and stay there.  I consistently found the Paradym Xs anywhere between 5 to 11 yards longer than the G30s.  With range balls and almost identical club head speeds, the average Paradym X ball speeds were 4-5 mph greater than the Ping G30’s, contributing to the longer distance … The Paradym X’s exhibited marginally better forgiveness. Good and fair Paradym X iron shots tended to showed less distance and lateral dispersion.”

MattWillGolf found that “it took a bit to get acquainted with these irons as the lofts are definitely stronger. That being said, I don’t want to compare 6-iron to 6-iron for example but would rather compare degrees of loft to my regular gamers. Speaking of the 6-iron. According to Shot Scope I can get 170 yards out of the Paradym X 6-iron. In my regular set the 24° 5-iron was my 160-yard club. I was seeing about 10 yards of distance gain for comparable lofts … The trajectory is much higher, especially at the short end of the bag. Mishits with the Paradym X irons are not as punishing.”

Our Paradym testers found similar results.  The player’s distance iron lived up to the hype while offering less overall forgiveness as expected in this category.

Funkyjudge reported that “distance is VERY good with these irons, and that actually created a dilemma for me that took most of the testing period to sort out … You aren’t going to get a lot of forgiveness when you miss the sweet spot by a significant amount; however, the Paradym Irons are plenty forgiving on small misses.”

Javs found an explosive change in distance: “The Callaway Paradym irons in the testing phase were between 7 and 21 yards longer than the PXG Gen 5 P irons. These Callaway Paradym irons like to fly straight or with a slight draw.”

On-Course Results

At this point, our testers were ready to see if the Paradym irons their range results translated to the course. Buckle up because we’re going to get some stats!

Golf2Much found his “greens in regulation improved roughly 10% (27 to 30%), the number of short approach shots dropped almost 15% and the number of iron shots past the green doubled to 6% …  the Paradym X irons exhibited a 13% improvement in average proximity (60 to 52 feet), with a majority of the improvement in the 15–45-foot range.  My biggest take away from this data was a 33% drop in the double bogeys from 18% to 13% with the Paradym X irons.”

One thing in particular struck MattWillGolf while out on the course. “Another area that these clubs performed really well at was with turf interaction. I found they didn’t get hung up in thick rough.”

Funkyjudge simply noted, “Did they help improve my scores?  Does a 16.8 handicap drop to a 15.0 and does that golfer shoot three scores of 78 – 84 within a 6-week period? I think the fact that I can answer “yes” to both of those questions says it all here.”

Javs used “the Callaway Paradym irons in a number of non-competitive and competitive rounds. The results were that each round was like a living highlight reel! On average the Callaway Paradym irons under game conditions were 10 to 31 yards longer than my PXG Gen 5 P irons. The accuracy improved with each round. I only shot two rounds that I would consider bad, but it was never attributed to the iron play. I had several competitive rounds that were stellar.”

They can’t be all good, right?

The list of “cons” for the Paradym irons did not reflect their performance. That list was short while the irons were long!

MattWillGolf’s “only negative for me is the 5-iron. I just can’t seem to get that club to get the ball in the air.”

Funkyjudge: “I don’t know why there seemed to be the occasional “flyer” from the rough, plus extra-hot shots from off the tee and on tightly mown fairways, but it has happened to me more than it has in nearly three years.”

Javs “found the Callaway Paradym irons were extremely long and sometimes too hot.”  However, he also commented that “turf interaction was crisp, easy and smooth.”

The Final Verdict

With final scores for this Forum Member Review of the Paradym & Paradym X Irons ranged from 90 to 98 out of 100, it is no surprise that our testers are going to be keeping the Callaway Paradym and Paradym X Irons in the bag for the foreseeable future.

Our two Paradym testers summarized their reviews as follows:

“The Callaway Paradym irons have earned a permanent spot in the bag for at least the remainder of the year. The distance gained and only slight loss in accuracy have proved to be a game changer. Hitting 7-irons to tucked pins from 173 to 189 was unheard of for me prior to having these clubs! – Javs

“[After over 20 rounds of golf during and after the test period] I still love the Paradym irons, and even contacted Callaway Golf and had them build me a custom Paradym X 4-iron to go with the 5-AW set of Paradym [irons].” – funkyjudge

Our two Paradym X testers also will be keeping the test irons in their bag, noting:

“As someone who has played PING cast head irons pretty much their entire adult life (original PING Eye 2s through G30s) any apprehension I had hitting forged player irons quickly disappeared after hitting the new Paradym X irons.  Callaway has a winner here.” – Golf2Much

“Play it? 100%. These will remain in my bag for a long time to come. These irons honestly exceeded expectations. I thought I was happy with my current irons, but the Paradym X irons just performed for me.” – MattWillGolf

Want to read the full reviews? Go here:  Forum Member Review: Callaway Paradym & Paradym X Irons

What is Forum Member Testing?

MyGolfSpy offers all its community members a unique opportunity to test, review and keep a variety of different golf equipment, apps, apparel and more. Successful candidates are selected by Forum staff.

Members who are selected interact, engage and write a review on the specific product while enjoying the fun of trying new gear!

Member testing is vital because it gets gear in the hands of you, the golfer. Our members give honest feedback on how any product or service works for a variety of handicaps and abilities to ensure our readers are even more informed when making purchasing decisions.

To learn more about how testers are selected, head here: Want to be a forum tester?