Golf clubs are even more adjustable than advertised.

I can understand why club manufacturers haven't advertised this fact, but there's actually even more adjustability built into most modern drivers than they claim. However, you also have to be more careful that you don't adjust the wrong things.

Now, I have some other thoughts on what actually happens when the COG of a club is moved around inside the head, but that's for another blog. This one is simply about the drivers and fairway woods built with an adjustable COG system to alter the club's effective loft and face angle.  The examples I have below are of Callaway's Razr Fit 3 wood (2012), but the 2014 Big Berthas have a double cog, which offers even more variations than my examples will.

Instead of just 3 different settings in this 3 wood, there are actually 9:
Square/Neutral & Alignment #1 (pic)
Square/Neutral & Alignment #2 (pic)
Square/Neutral & Alignment #3 (pic)
*Open/-Loft & Alignment #1
*Open/-Loft & Alignment #2
*Open/-Loft & Alignment #3 (pic)
*Closed/+Loft & Alignment #1
*Closed/+Loft & Alignment #2 (pic)
*Closed/+Loft & Alignment #3

*Please note that, with these types of single-cog adjustable drivers, opening the face angle also effectively delofts the club, just as closing the face angle will effectively add loft to the club. 

These first 3 images show the same face angle settings in each, but with 3 different ways that the shaft fits into the cog.

Change in a shaft's alignment may result in a (slightly) different flex pattern. Even though the quality control of graphite shafts is much better than it ever has been before, there are still slight variations in most shafts' flex profiles when you rotate it around its longitudinal axis.

It stands to reason that one of the shaft alignments might fit you better than another (again, only fine-tuning the fit of the shaft, not necessarily changing its performance drastically).

Essentially, it allows either 1) a golfer to adjust their face angle and loft while keeping the shaft alignment the same, or 2) a golfer to adjust their shaft alignment while keeping the face angle and loft the same.

If you ever fiddle around with this on the range, you may or may not notice any difference.  However, hopefully this blog will help you make sure that you only adjust what you are intending to adjust.  

All that being said, my philosophy is to stick with the settings that fit you best all the time, and not to tinker too much or to try to adjust your club based on playing conditions.  I think it was Ron Popeil who said, "Set it, and forget it!"

Thanks for looking!

-MS