Ok so I spoke to a TaylorMade representative on the phone today and he was pretty helpful.. but he still left me with a question or two... He told me that when the shaft is set to the NEUTRAL position, it's at the factory loft; so 8* for me. He said if you rotate it counterclockwise in the hosel to the RIGHT position, it puts you at +1*, or 9* in my case. And the opposite for a clockwise rotation, which yields 7* at the LEFT position. But I'm still confused... there are three other settings that are unexplained... The club is only adjustable +/- 1* of loft from the factory loft, which I've accounted for with 5 of the markings. But what about the other 3 markings? Any ideas?
This shows how the tip is marked if you were to hold the shaft in your left hand with the tip pointed towards your right side, as in my pictures above.
UPRIGHT
(What loft does this setting yield?)
-
(What loft does this setting yield?)
LEFT
(-1* or 7* loft)
-
(-1/2* or 7.5* loft)
/\
clockwise rotation:
>NEUTRAL
(8* loft)
\/
counter clockwise rotation:
-
(+1/2* or 8.5* loft)
RIGHT
(+1* or 9* loft)
-
(What loft does this setting yield?)
UPRIGHT
He also gave me his personal e-mail as he was interested in pictures of the club, so I sent him the above "diagram" along with them so that maybe he can further clarify.
Thanks in advance if anyone has an answer to this!
*EDIT*
Ok so I've dug a little deeper and I think I finally have an answer to this thing. The TM rep sent me a chart and I found another chart that gives lofts, face angles and trajectories for each position on both a 10.5* and an 8.5* driver, and I've adapted it for my 8* driver as follows:
Position 1: RIGHT = 7*, 2* Open Face, +16 Trajectory
Position 2: NEUTRAL RIGHT = 7.5*, 1* Open Face, +10 Trajectory
Position 3: UPRIGHT RIGHT = 7.5*, 1* Open Face, +8 Trajectory
Position 4: NEUTRAL = 8*, Square Face, -2 Trajectory
Position 5: UPRIGHT = 8*, Square Face, -6 Trajectory
Position 6: UPRIGHT LEFT = 8.5*, 1* Closed Face, -16 Trajectory
Position 7: NEUTRAL LEFT = 8.5*, 1* Closed Face, -18 Trajectory
Position 8: LEFT = 9*, 2* Closed Face, -24 Trajectory
Positive "Trajectory Bias" numbers equate to a right bias, and negative numbers equate to a left bias, from what I've read.
So after all this, I think I can finally adjust this thing and know what the hell I'm doing! Since my natural swing tends towards a fade/slice (depending on the day) and a lower ball flight, I think I'll set it somewhere between position 6 and 8 to give me added loft and a little left hand bias.
*sigh* FINALLY!!
Unless someone has information that clashes with this... then I'm back to square one. I never thought a golf club could be so complicated!!