A shaft can cause strike patterns to vary. The shafts sole purpose in life is to deliver the club to the ball at impact in a consistent and repeatable manner. When the dynamics of the shaft change, it can change how it delivers the head. When we look at the profile of a shaft, we look at it’s bend properties the entire length of the shaft. Interestingly, the AV Orange and the Atmos Tour Blue you mentioned have very similar profiles. The Atmos Tour Blue is very slightly more stiff in the tip section, and has slightly lower torsional stiffness. Can’t know if this is the reason for the variance you are seeing, but if the lengths are the same and we assume you have a repeatable swing when testing, it would be reasonable to assume the shaft is maybe causing the variance. I like the suggestion of putting a Ping adaptor on the Atmos and trying it with the G425 Max. Would be where I would start.
Britt Lindsey
Just a comment/speculation as I don’t want to step on your question and prevent more knowledgeable individuals from posting…
I would believe that different shafts have different load/unload effects. If the Orange is unloading sooner, I would think that might cause a lower face impact. Again, just speculating.
You didn’t mention if the overall length of the club is the same. The Ping G425 Max is pretty long at almost 46″.
It might be worthwhile to put a ping adapter on the Atmos and see what the results are….
Good luck