Dear Paul,
Less skid and sooner roll is probably a good thing, but the question is how good and at what cost to other aspects of accuracy and consistency in putting. Backspin, per se, is something different, too, and is pretty much mostly bad. So reducing backspin to a minimum is a pretty good idea. Backspin seems to prolong skid and delay roll. Launching the ball in the air at first also delays roll by delaying the skid that brings about roll.
The putter design will only go so far on backspin or skid. The low center of gravity and the correct or appropriate loft for your typical greens has to be used by you in a certain way to make the design features effective. So, a good design used correctly can make a small difference with little or no cost in complexity of technique, but chasing after "true roll" or the perfect roll is probably too costly and complicated an effort when there are bigger fish to fry in putting (aim, solid contact, square contact, etc.).
How much skid is "average" for golfers with everyday sorts of strokes? About 15% of the total putt distance (e.g., 1.5 feet on a 10-footer). How much LESS skid would be about as good as it gets on average for a golfer with a good stroke and a good putter designed to reduce skid? Perhaps as little as 1/3rd of the norm. So we are talking about working on reducing, not eliminating, skid from about 15% to about 5-10% of the putt length. What difference does that make in the outcome? Probably not a lot for your average score, although it may make a little difference to a pro playing in tight competition on very true greens day in and day out over the course of a year.
Can a bad putter hurt? Some. A putter with too much loft for your greens makes your technique weird. Can a bad putter put a good roll on the ball anyway with the right technique? Sure.
What's more important for an accurate and effective stroke that sinks putts -- the putter design or the stroke technique? Unquestionably, in my view, the technique of a good stroke can make up for putter design problems, but a well-designed putter will not help a poor stroke hardly any.
Cheers!
Geoff Mangum
Putting Theorist and Instructor
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