Loving mine - super long, forgiving, great feel & tight dispersion - I’m a slow swing due to stokes but 18-20 HCP & fully expect these to get me down into low to mid teens this year
Hi Chris! Thanks for watching the video and your comment! It’s great to hear your feedback as someone who has got and been playing the irons! I wish you the best of luck in getting that handicap lower!
Thanks so much Kelly! On the ball reviews I hit about 150-200 shots in 2 hours. I do remove a handful of shots where I’ve completely mishit them and including them would unfairly skew the data (e.g. a chunked PW that goes 100 yards or a thinned 7 iron that rolls for 50 yards etc.) but what you see in the data is 95% of the shots so it includes the good ones and the distinctly average ones so it’s fair and relatable for us handicap golfers! With the club reviews like this one I hit about 10-15 shots with each club and you see about 95 of them too. There’s always a bad one or two that get cut for sure! But I do try to show the imperfect ones as that’s what these clubs are supposed to help with so I think it’s the clubs too in some cases that make me look a little better! So don’t worry I’m very much far from perfect! It’s also easier to hit good shots in a simulator when there’s zero consequences for a bad one! Haha! All the best 👍🏼
"Three shots in -- I love them" That was my reaction during my club fitting. I tried a bunch of other clubs and kept coming back to the feel and accuracy of the ParadymX heads.
Hi teebob21! Yeah they do feel great! I totally get why anyone would buy them. They look fantastic too. I actually filmed a review of the Paradym driver yesterday for the channel - that will land in a couple of weeks - and that impressed me just as much too. The whole Callaway range this year is super impressive. Thanks for watching my video and for your comment! All the best 👍🏼
Just ordered mine and great to see the review. During fitting defo made a difference to launch and added about 5-7mph to club head speed. fitted with light shaft and is replacing my Taylormade Tour preferred 2014 irons that i was happy with. hit my 7 iron about 15 yards further during fitting, I play off 9. Look forward to getting these new bats
Hi GM! Thanks for watching my video! Sounds like you've had a really good fitting experience! I hope you enjoy the irons when they arrive! I really liked them and if someone gave me a set I'd happily game them! All the best! 👍
I demo'd these during a fitting session and loved them. I also hit them way further than my existing 7 iron,, but attribute that to the weaker loft. I was not getting enough spin or height with the 7 iron, but i decided to add 2 degrees of loft each club to my closely mimic my existing set and get me the spin/height that i would need for a 7 iron. I saw you in your comment below that you'll just use your 8 now where you would have used a 7. Do you think i made a mistake by adding 2 degrees of loft to each club, or do you think it was a good idea?
Hi Jared! Thanks for watching my video and for your comment and question! If you felt you weren’t getting enough height or spin then I’d predict you’ve made the right decision… as a general observation most amateurs could do with more height and spin so it’s really hard to criticise your decision to prioritise that over pure distance when your irons are ultimately just a set of clubs that go different distances and are gapping in with your fairway woods/hybrids at one end and your wedges at the other end! Best of luck with the clubs! 👍🏼
Hi Anthony! Thanks for watching and for your question. It’s a good one as it’s hard for me to get my head around why Callaway released both irons so close together as they are targeting very similar markets. My best way of trying to differentiate them is I *think* Paradym X is trying to compete with T300, TM Stealth, Ping G430 etc. whilst I *think* Big Bertha 2023 is trying to compete with T400, TM Stealth HD and even sets like the Cleveland Launcher XL Halo. But there definitely is crossover in the demographics in both in my opinion. I filmed both reviews a short while ago now and 4 months apart so I’m doing this from memory and a quick review of the data from my TM sessions. Cost: Almost identical Looks: Both have typical game improvement iron looks (thicker top line, chunkier sole, longer blade length, good amount of offset). I think the Big Bertha is a little chunkier all round but the colourway is more unique and has slightly more shelf appeal but I don’t think either are poor looking). Forgiveness: Both are forgiving in the grand scheme of all irons on the market but I found there to be a bit more forgiveness in the Big Bertha (front to back and left to right dispersion was better on the day) Numbers and Data: where I hit them on different days this isn’t an exact science as I’m the handicap golfer here so the biggest variable but I think my Big Bertha numbers are fractionally better in terms of ball flight (higher shots with a softer landing and a fraction more spin) even though the lofts are only 0.5 degrees different with a 7 iron. I think both are equally as long through the air but the Big Bertha stopped a bit quicker for me. I am trying to offset here that I was swinging it c.2mph quicker with the Big Bertha - hard to tell if that’s me just being quicker on the day or the weighting of the club. If it is the weighting of the club and I’d get the same results hitting them back to back then Big Bertha is also longer slightly. Which would I buy?: Neither are targeting me but if I had to choose I’d go Big Bertha. I prefer how they look, they are a fraction cheaper and they were easy and fun to hit with a high ball flight. Id definitely have them as a set to leave at a holiday home for the odd round to pick up and play if I had that luxury! Haha! The only reasons I’d perhaps go Paradym X over Big Bertha is if I preferred the looks and I do think if you’re using them every week Paradym X is potentially a set you wouldn’t grow out of as quickly as there’s more workability to them (e.g I think if you got down to 12-14 and wanted to increase your skill set and start shaping the ball occasionally then I think this was easier for me with Paradym X). But both are great irons and neither is a bad choice and I’m sure you could ask someone else and they’d say the opposite! I hope that helps! Any specific questions please let me know! 👍🏼
Hi, another great review, thank you! You hit the nail on the head when you talked about lofts and gapping! My Ping 7H is 34 degrees, so these irons would never make it into my bag, but each to their own of course..! Can I ask plse if you felt these were as easy to hit as the TM Stealth HD irons? Again, how would you compare things like feel and forgiveness? My handicap is very similar to yours, so very interested in your thoughts!? My iron fitting is next Friday, can't wait!! Cheers Andrew
Hi Andrew! Thanks again for watching and your kind comments. That’s such a tough question to answer (so I apologise for the lengthy response) as I think it probably depends on what your definition of “easy to hit” is. If it’s easy to launch, easy to get lots of height on, easy to generate spin and stopping power then I’d say the Stealth 2 HD are easier. If it’s ease of getting effortless distance then I’d go Paradym X. But how much of that is due to lofts and how much is the clubs themselvess is hard to say when they are 2.5 degrees different! So I guess it depends on what type of golfer you are? If you already hit it high and spinny then Paradym X might be easier to optimise your game whereas if you’re low launch and low spin then Stealth might give you a more optimal flight and control. Stealth 2 HD are cheaper (about 3/4s the price in the UK) but I prefer the looks and feel off the face of the Paradym X. I know that isn’t a direct answer but hopefully gives you some insight to what I felt! Best of luck with the fitting on Friday and I’d love to hear how it goes via the comments section here or message me on Instagram or Twitter!
@@weekendtourpros Cheers Luke, excellent response! My handicap was as low as 11.6 about 10 months ago, but back up to 15.6 now! :( To be honest, I rely heavily on my Ping hybrids, bagging 4, 5, 6 and even 7, LOVE them! Any irons I get would only be 8 to SW, so gapping is key here! I can comfortably get c.140 carry with my 7H, so need irons up to that point tbh! From what I can make out, Paradym/X irons would probably go too far, even 8i, whereas TM Stealth might just fit the ticket! However, I'll go to my fitting with an open mind! I shall report back next weekend..👍
@@weekendtourpros Hi Luke, well I had a very interesting iron fitting on Friday! Great pro in John Oates btw, and would recommend to anyone around Sheffield and Chesterfield!! After some usual measurements, we walked to fitting bay with Callaway Paradym and Paradym X, Stealth and Stealth HD, and Ping G430! Sure, I mentioned other brands, but only so much you can properly test in what turned out to be about 2 hours lol!! I started with my own Mizuno MP20 7i, and yes, hit it ok actually tbf, but usual lowish trajectory, and really having to try! I'm not going through every club here, as would likely bore most lol!! Suffice to say that whatever I decide on, they will have graphite shafts! Might well come from my love of hybrids, but trajectory, flight, and indeed distance all higher when I uses graphite shaft! Loved Taylormade Stealth HD, and got beautiful flight, but kinda pulled quite a few, but confidence grew when I used them! They certainly breed confidence at address! Liked Paradym X as well, not a huge amount of 'feel' for me I'm afraid! Tried Ping G430 out of interest merely, and was blown away actually! Again, when I tried with graphite shaft (Alta CB), everything just improved! Dispersion was literally within about 5 yards, and that's a miracle for me! I'm very surprised that I hit these so well, aa topline quite thin tbh! I left the fitting with a buzz, so got some major thinking to do! The Pro, John, has even said I can return and try them a 2nd time, all included actually with initial tiny fitting fee!! John is even going to see if he can obtain a smaller iron from both TM Stealth HD, and Ping G430!? I never use a 7i, as just use my trusty Ping 7H, so really need to see how I get on with either 8i or 9i, or maybe even one of the wedges!? I'm leaning towards the Ping G430, and that was potentially bottom of my list before the fitting lol!!! Crazy world...😁
Hi Andrew! Great to hear how you got on and it sounds like you’ve had a really positive experience overall! John sounds like a good fitter given some of the things you’ve said so I can see why you’ve recommended him too! Really interesting to hear your views on the different clubs - I do always say that I hope my videos are relatable in terms of swing speed and distances etc. but we all swing differently to get there and we all have different views on feel and looks so absolutely no surprises you’ve liked some more than others and different to me too! I’m not shocked that the Ping G430 performed well… the G425 was my favourite iron last year and I’m actually filming the G430 review on Sunday and it should go live in a couple of weeks. I’ve also used their Alta CB graphite shafts in my Ping driver and 5 wood and really like both so again no surprises! Let me know what the final decision is! All the best!
Hi Masaguchi! Thanks for watching the video and great comment! I try to give my views on this in the video (but might not have done it well enough!) but I think you’re right. For me the numbers I got (carry and roll) were similar to my 6i. So in effect I’ve got the same control to stop this 7i on the green as my 6i and I therefore assume I’d have the same ability to stop this 8i as my 7i. So all I’ve done is changed the number on the bottom of the club but found them easier to hit… I therefore think it all balances out in the end and it’s about how you gap your bag etc! I also think that it will depend on what type of golfer you are. Some handicap golfers generate too much spin from hitting so steep on the ball meaning they lose distance and I think these irons will help them to be more optimal. Whereas I’m quite a low spin golfer so I probably exaggerate the roll a little bit. But your point is totally valid and I always try to talk about how important control and ‘stopping power’ on the green is more important with irons… peak heights, land angles and spin etc. 👍🏼 All the best, Luke!
Loving mine - super long, forgiving, great feel & tight dispersion - I’m a slow swing due to stokes but 18-20 HCP & fully expect these to get me down into low to mid teens this year
Hi Chris! Thanks for watching the video and your comment! It’s great to hear your feedback as someone who has got and been playing the irons! I wish you the best of luck in getting that handicap lower!
I’m impressed with your consistency in your shots. I’d have to hit 50 shots to get a few that are compatible. Great job!
Thanks so much Kelly! On the ball reviews I hit about 150-200 shots in 2 hours. I do remove a handful of shots where I’ve completely mishit them and including them would unfairly skew the data (e.g. a chunked PW that goes 100 yards or a thinned 7 iron that rolls for 50 yards etc.) but what you see in the data is 95% of the shots so it includes the good ones and the distinctly average ones so it’s fair and relatable for us handicap golfers!
With the club reviews like this one I hit about 10-15 shots with each club and you see about 95 of them too. There’s always a bad one or two that get cut for sure! But I do try to show the imperfect ones as that’s what these clubs are supposed to help with so I think it’s the clubs too in some cases that make me look a little better! So don’t worry I’m very much far from perfect! It’s also easier to hit good shots in a simulator when there’s zero consequences for a bad one! Haha! All the best 👍🏼
"Three shots in -- I love them"
That was my reaction during my club fitting. I tried a bunch of other clubs and kept coming back to the feel and accuracy of the ParadymX heads.
Hi teebob21! Yeah they do feel great! I totally get why anyone would buy them. They look fantastic too. I actually filmed a review of the Paradym driver yesterday for the channel - that will land in a couple of weeks - and that impressed me just as much too. The whole Callaway range this year is super impressive. Thanks for watching my video and for your comment! All the best 👍🏼
Just ordered mine and great to see the review. During fitting defo made a difference to launch and added about 5-7mph to club head speed. fitted with light shaft and is replacing my Taylormade Tour preferred 2014 irons that i was happy with. hit my 7 iron about 15 yards further during fitting, I play off 9. Look forward to getting these new bats
Hi GM! Thanks for watching my video! Sounds like you've had a really good fitting experience! I hope you enjoy the irons when they arrive! I really liked them and if someone gave me a set I'd happily game them! All the best! 👍
Fantastic review thank you!
Hi Timothy! Thank you so much for watching my video and for your kind comment! All the best, Luke!
I demo'd these during a fitting session and loved them. I also hit them way further than my existing 7 iron,, but attribute that to the weaker loft. I was not getting enough spin or height with the 7 iron, but i decided to add 2 degrees of loft each club to my closely mimic my existing set and get me the spin/height that i would need for a 7 iron. I saw you in your comment below that you'll just use your 8 now where you would have used a 7. Do you think i made a mistake by adding 2 degrees of loft to each club, or do you think it was a good idea?
Hi Jared! Thanks for watching my video and for your comment and question!
If you felt you weren’t getting enough height or spin then I’d predict you’ve made the right decision… as a general observation most amateurs could do with more height and spin so it’s really hard to criticise your decision to prioritise that over pure distance when your irons are ultimately just a set of clubs that go different distances and are gapping in with your fairway woods/hybrids at one end and your wedges at the other end! Best of luck with the clubs! 👍🏼
I’ve been considering both the Paradym X and the Big Berthas…could you do a comment or video review of your thoughts on the two compared??
Hi Anthony! Thanks for watching and for your question. It’s a good one as it’s hard for me to get my head around why Callaway released both irons so close together as they are targeting very similar markets.
My best way of trying to differentiate them is I *think* Paradym X is trying to compete with T300, TM Stealth, Ping G430 etc. whilst I *think* Big Bertha 2023 is trying to compete with T400, TM Stealth HD and even sets like the Cleveland Launcher XL Halo. But there definitely is crossover in the demographics in both in my opinion.
I filmed both reviews a short while ago now and 4 months apart so I’m doing this from memory and a quick review of the data from my TM sessions.
Cost: Almost identical
Looks: Both have typical game improvement iron looks (thicker top line, chunkier sole, longer blade length, good amount of offset). I think the Big Bertha is a little chunkier all round but the colourway is more unique and has slightly more shelf appeal but I don’t think either are poor looking).
Forgiveness: Both are forgiving in the grand scheme of all irons on the market but I found there to be a bit more forgiveness in the Big Bertha (front to back and left to right dispersion was better on the day)
Numbers and Data: where I hit them on different days this isn’t an exact science as I’m the handicap golfer here so the biggest variable but I think my Big Bertha numbers are fractionally better in terms of ball flight (higher shots with a softer landing and a fraction more spin) even though the lofts are only 0.5 degrees different with a 7 iron. I think both are equally as long through the air but the Big Bertha stopped a bit quicker for me. I am trying to offset here that I was swinging it c.2mph quicker with the Big Bertha - hard to tell if that’s me just being quicker on the day or the weighting of the club. If it is the weighting of the club and I’d get the same results hitting them back to back then Big Bertha is also longer slightly.
Which would I buy?:
Neither are targeting me but if I had to choose I’d go Big Bertha. I prefer how they look, they are a fraction cheaper and they were easy and fun to hit with a high ball flight. Id definitely have them as a set to leave at a holiday home for the odd round to pick up and play if I had that luxury! Haha!
The only reasons I’d perhaps go Paradym X over Big Bertha is if I preferred the looks and I do think if you’re using them every week Paradym X is potentially a set you wouldn’t grow out of as quickly as there’s more workability to them (e.g I think if you got down to 12-14 and wanted to increase your skill set and start shaping the ball occasionally then I think this was easier for me with Paradym X).
But both are great irons and neither is a bad choice and I’m sure you could ask someone else and they’d say the opposite!
I hope that helps! Any specific questions please let me know! 👍🏼
Thank you so much for the answer!! I really appreciate it and it helped tremendously! Keep up the great reviews and videos!
@anthonyphelps5146 absolutely no problem at all! All the best and thanks again for watching my video! 👍🏼
Hi, another great review, thank you! You hit the nail on the head when you talked about lofts and gapping! My Ping 7H is 34 degrees, so these irons would never make it into my bag, but each to their own of course..!
Can I ask plse if you felt these were as easy to hit as the TM Stealth HD irons? Again, how would you compare things like feel and forgiveness? My handicap is very similar to yours, so very interested in your thoughts!?
My iron fitting is next Friday, can't wait!!
Cheers
Andrew
Hi Andrew! Thanks again for watching and your kind comments.
That’s such a tough question to answer (so I apologise for the lengthy response) as I think it probably depends on what your definition of “easy to hit” is. If it’s easy to launch, easy to get lots of height on, easy to generate spin and stopping power then I’d say the Stealth 2 HD are easier. If it’s ease of getting effortless distance then I’d go Paradym X. But how much of that is due to lofts and how much is the clubs themselvess is hard to say when they are 2.5 degrees different!
So I guess it depends on what type of golfer you are? If you already hit it high and spinny then Paradym X might be easier to optimise your game whereas if you’re low launch and low spin then Stealth might give you a more optimal flight and control.
Stealth 2 HD are cheaper (about 3/4s the price in the UK) but I prefer the looks and feel off the face of the Paradym X. I know that isn’t a direct answer but hopefully gives you some insight to what I felt!
Best of luck with the fitting on Friday and I’d love to hear how it goes via the comments section here or message me on Instagram or Twitter!
@@weekendtourpros
Cheers Luke, excellent response! My handicap was as low as 11.6 about 10 months ago, but back up to 15.6 now! :(
To be honest, I rely heavily on my Ping hybrids, bagging 4, 5, 6 and even 7, LOVE them!
Any irons I get would only be 8 to SW, so gapping is key here! I can comfortably get c.140 carry with my 7H, so need irons up to that point tbh! From what I can make out, Paradym/X irons would probably go too far, even 8i, whereas TM Stealth might just fit the ticket!
However, I'll go to my fitting with an open mind! I shall report back next weekend..👍
All makes sense Andrew! Great to see you building a bag that will help you enjoy the game as much as possible! Can’t wait to hear the report!
@@weekendtourpros
Hi Luke, well I had a very interesting iron fitting on Friday!
Great pro in John Oates btw, and would recommend to anyone around Sheffield and Chesterfield!!
After some usual measurements, we walked to fitting bay with Callaway Paradym and Paradym X, Stealth and Stealth HD, and Ping G430! Sure, I mentioned other brands, but only so much you can properly test in what turned out to be about 2 hours lol!!
I started with my own Mizuno MP20 7i, and yes, hit it ok actually tbf, but usual lowish trajectory, and really having to try!
I'm not going through every club here, as would likely bore most lol!!
Suffice to say that whatever I decide on, they will have graphite shafts! Might well come from my love of hybrids, but trajectory, flight, and indeed distance all higher when I uses graphite shaft!
Loved Taylormade Stealth HD, and got beautiful flight, but kinda pulled quite a few, but confidence grew when I used them! They certainly breed confidence at address!
Liked Paradym X as well, not a huge amount of 'feel' for me I'm afraid!
Tried Ping G430 out of interest merely, and was blown away actually! Again, when I tried with graphite shaft (Alta CB), everything just improved! Dispersion was literally within about 5 yards, and that's a miracle for me! I'm very surprised that I hit these so well, aa topline quite thin tbh!
I left the fitting with a buzz, so got some major thinking to do! The Pro, John, has even said I can return and try them a 2nd time, all included actually with initial tiny fitting fee!! John is even going to see if he can obtain a smaller iron from both TM Stealth HD, and Ping G430!? I never use a 7i, as just use my trusty Ping 7H, so really need to see how I get on with either 8i or 9i, or maybe even one of the wedges!?
I'm leaning towards the Ping G430, and that was potentially bottom of my list before the fitting lol!!!
Crazy world...😁
Hi Andrew! Great to hear how you got on and it sounds like you’ve had a really positive experience overall! John sounds like a good fitter given some of the things you’ve said so I can see why you’ve recommended him too!
Really interesting to hear your views on the different clubs - I do always say that I hope my videos are relatable in terms of swing speed and distances etc. but we all swing differently to get there and we all have different views on feel and looks so absolutely no surprises you’ve liked some more than others and different to me too!
I’m not shocked that the Ping G430 performed well… the G425 was my favourite iron last year and I’m actually filming the G430 review on Sunday and it should go live in a couple of weeks. I’ve also used their Alta CB graphite shafts in my Ping driver and 5 wood and really like both so again no surprises! Let me know what the final decision is! All the best!
The distance boost is nice but isn't the 15-20y roll an issue? Would be hard to stop it on the green right?
Hi Masaguchi! Thanks for watching the video and great comment! I try to give my views on this in the video (but might not have done it well enough!) but I think you’re right.
For me the numbers I got (carry and roll) were similar to my 6i. So in effect I’ve got the same control to stop this 7i on the green as my 6i and I therefore assume I’d have the same ability to stop this 8i as my 7i. So all I’ve done is changed the number on the bottom of the club but found them easier to hit… I therefore think it all balances out in the end and it’s about how you gap your bag etc! I also think that it will depend on what type of golfer you are. Some handicap golfers generate too much spin from hitting so steep on the ball meaning they lose distance and I think these irons will help them to be more optimal. Whereas I’m quite a low spin golfer so I probably exaggerate the roll a little bit.
But your point is totally valid and I always try to talk about how important control and ‘stopping power’ on the green is more important with irons… peak heights, land angles and spin etc. 👍🏼 All the best, Luke!
Send them to me!!!
Haha! Hi Mike! If they were mine to give away then I would! Thanks for watching! 👍🏼