Is there an “aesthetic” to capture speed in putting?

[golferdude54]

When I mean “aesthetic” I mean is there a visual appeal to players when it comes to capture speed in putting, i.e. dying at the hole versus ramming the back edge of the cup.

 

If so, there has to be a certain capture speed that just looks “perfect” It could be a foot past the hole if it misses or Pelz’s 17 inches or whatever.
 

I see studies on capture speed as it pertains to avoiding lip-outs, imperfections around the hole, etc. but never about how it looks as the ball goes in the hole.

[Socrates]

There is nothing more satisfying than to see a putt go right in the center and hit back of the hole with speed.  Yeah, a lag putt that dribbles in is still in the hole, but it isn't anywhere near as desirable.  Now, you don't want 'ramming speed' that if it misses the dead center, it's 10 ft past.  You watch the good putters on any Tour and they go in with speed and you can see the confidence.

[Hawkeye77]

About 35 mph. 
 

 

[SNIPERBBB]

I love seeing the ball drop and hit just under the the top of the cup insert.  Ramming speed back of the cup and dieing it in just gives me heartburn when they power lip or ball peaks at the abyss awaiting for it and rolls back a half turn

[b.mattay]

I actually use the visual of how a putt drops to make my read within about 10-12 feet. 

 

"1" Speed: ball hits the bottom of the cup before it hits the side liner 

"2" Speed: ball hits the side liner before it hits the bottom of the cup

"3" Speed: ball hits the dirt of the cup above the liner

 

Most putts are a "1" speed intention for me, although I may occasionally hit a "2" speed if I'm unsure which way a putt breaks or it's inside 4 feet. "3" Speed is reserved for terribly slow/bumpy greens. 

 

Note: a true "1" speed is hard to achieve, most makes are even probably a "1.5" if you catch my drift. 

[vman]

Best chance of holing a putt means that your ball needs enough speed to get past the hole, however, from a visual, I love to see a ball just have enough energy to fall in.

[ShortGolfer]

If you want to impress your foursome I'd say you need to roll the putt into the center of the cup with just enough speed to get past the hole.  

 

If the putt is really long, like 40ft, anything that goes in the hole is impressive.

Edited July 13 by ShortGolfer

[Mitchell]

9 hours ago, Hawkeye77 said:

About 35 mph. 
 

 

For an Odyssey giraffe 🦒 beam putter, that tracks 😂

[dogsbe]

When I am looking at the roll of my putts. I visual the ball having tiger claws gripping with dear life in the ground particularly in the first few feet.  What I do not want to see is the ball bouncing and skidding all over the place.  I can only really see this one video.  After a couple of feet, I want to see the ball perfectly rolling over its self, so no side spin.  When the ball reaches about two feet from the hole, I want it to look like it is just about to stop, but instead of stopping the ball just releases dead by travels another 3 to 4ft.  This is what a perfectly rolled putt looks like to me.  

 

The important bit, I can watch opponents roll on putts, just by their roll I can their skill level, there is really an aesthetic appeal on putts with amazing roll characteristics.  

[MidwestHacker]

5 hours ago, dogsbe said:

I can watch opponents roll on putts, just by their roll I can their skill level

This is definitely true. I've seen bad putters put a good roll on it, but I've never seen a good putter put a consistently bad roll on it. Probably has to do with the fact that is basically impossible to control your distance if you're skipping/skidding the ball the first couple feet. 

[Socrates]

10 hours ago, MidwestHacker said:

This is definitely true. I've seen bad putters put a good roll on it, but I've never seen a good putter put a consistently bad roll on it. Probably has to do with the fact that is basically impossible to control your distance if you're skipping/skidding the ball the first couple feet. 

I basically was doing that for a long while.  The ball was skipping/skidding a lot.  I changed to my current putter and started to put a real roll on the ball.  Sometimes it can be the arrow.

[Beenerpro]

On 7/12/2025 at 8:41 PM, Hawkeye77 said:

About 35 mph. 
 

 

John Wayne jammed everything into the back of the cup, Red Buttons barely crawled it over the front lip.