Pat; a Stimpmeter measures how far a ball rolls when started from an angle that dislodges it from the indentation machined into the piece of flanged channel that constitutes the Stimpmeter. The theory is that by using the Stimpmeter properly, the initial velocity of the ball will be constant. Therefore, the difference in the distance achieved is attributable solely to the speed of the green (or lack of friction if you will) and not to any other external factor. Accordingly, because it measures the speed of the green and not the speed of the ball. the implications are clear. On a green that stimps at 11, a player will need to impart less force on a 20 foot putt to reach the hole than he/she would have to impart if the green were stimping at 8. If the same force were imparted, either the ball would go too long for the 11 green or too short for the 8. Given the same force, the balls rolling on the higher stimping green will go faster, on the average and will roll farther. But if we want the ball to go a specific distance, the variation in green speed requires the player to differentiate the force imparted on the ball. Thus the faster green requires a more delicate touch. Moreover, the lack of friction on extremely fast greens makes certain slopes too steep as a ball will not stop rolling thus rendering those areas unsuited for pin positions. This lack of friction has 2 observable impacts on greens. It make larger slopes less viable but it also increases the impact of smaller more subtle slopes. This is what I think Pat was really getting at in his initial post.