Putt Break Calculator | Putt Break Lab

Your putt (holed)Roll-out with no cupAim linePure rolling starts here

Quick adjustholed

Pace5.50 m (flat-green equivalent)

Aim50 cm right of the cup / 5.71°

Results

Holed

Speed at the cup 1.20 m/s

Launch speed

2.96m/s

Speed at the cup

1.20m/s

If there were no cup

154 cm past

Maximum break

16 cmto the right

Distance rolled

4.96 m

Time rolling

2.7s

Effective green speed

10.0ft

Steepest slope

1.1°falls toward the far left

Breakdown of the launch (hop and skid)

Time in the air

22ms · 1 bounce(s)

Distance in the air

6.5 cm

Skid distance

68 cm

Straight section

75 cm15% of the way to the cup

While the ball is airborne there is no contact force, so seen from above it travels perfectly straight. After landing it has almost no spin, so it slides: sliding friction slows the ball while spinning it up. Once the slip disappears the ball rolls purely, and only then does it really start to break.

Recommended pace and aimMost likely to go in

Under these conditions no combination of pace and aim will hole the putt. This happens when, for example, the downhill is so severe that the ball always crosses the cup faster than it can be captured (about 1.63 m/s dead centre). Try revising the slope, green speed or distance.

Green and ball position1–3

① Distance from ball to cupMeasured along the surface of the green

② Up/downhill slope+ = uphill / − = downhill

② Side slope+ = right side higher (ball breaks left) / − = left side higher

③ Green speed (Stimpmeter)6.0〜15.0 ft

The stroke4–6

④ PaceThe stroke that would stop at this distance on a flat green

④ Reference green speedThe green speed that pace is defined against

⑤ Aim

Where your aim line crosses the line through the cup perpendicular to the ball–cup line. + = right of the cup.
Equivalent angle 5.71°

⑥ Launch angle (putter loft)The ball lifts at this angle and travels perfectly straight until it lands

Stroke dispersion (skill level)7–8

⑦ Pace dispersion (1σ)Error relative to the distance you intend

⑧ Direction dispersion (1σ)Error in the launch direction

The chance of holing out is computed assuming this dispersion, and the pace and aim that maximise it are recommended.

Advanced green settings9–14

⑨ Grain strength0 = no effect

⑩ Grain direction0° = with the grain toward the cup / + = clockwise

⑪ Green moistureCorrection to rolling resistance

⑫ Extra drag at low speed0% = constant deceleration; higher values make the ball die faster at the end

⑬ Sliding friction μLower values make the skid phase longer

⑭ Topspin at launch0% = no spin at all (longest skid)

Map of what goes inPace × aim

Calculating…

About this calculation

This is a tool that calculates how the ball rolls from the conditions you enter. It is not equipment for striking a ball and it does not measure anything. The rolling friction coefficient is calibrated numerically from the Stimpmeter value, and the trajectory is obtained by integrating gravity, friction and grain on the sloped surface. A putt is holed if, from the moment the ball centre crosses the rim, it can fall by one ball radius before reaching the far rim (critical speed about 1.63 m/s dead centre).
The slope is treated as a single uniform plane at the average gradient. The complex undulations of a real green are not modelled.

Horizontal ball-to-cup distance5.00 m

Rolling friction coefficient μ0.0552