First off I would state the obvious, do whatever makes you smile and realize the person standing next to you is most likely doing the same.

For me, I'm somewhat new to pinball. At least when it comes to owning them and playing them regularly. Even though I grew up near a beach resort area of sorts, pinball was never my thing. It was the 80's after all and video games were rolling on the scene with force. Also, I couldn't play pinball to save my life lol. I was horrible.

So I end up finally deciding I want to not only play some pinball, but I want to play decent pinball and I want to own one. So I buy a few. Wow, still horrible lol. So I watch some videos and play everyday. I start to see some level of ball control and aiming is going to have to be learned if I hope to last more than a few minutes of playing. For weeks I did nothing but practice catching and cradling the ball. I practiced dead bounces and live catches. Some muscle memory started to develop.

For me, it's about controlling the ball and directing the ball so I can accomplish some of the challenges within each game. Cradling is a part of that. There are shots that require a tight backhand and there are shots that roll through the inlane and beg to be driven into the drop targets! Now that some of these skills are understood and can be used successfully in-game, I've come to realize that over control is not fun. Neither is just flipping away without any control hoping for a miracle. It defeats that fun pace that is pinball. Why would I cradle, or let's say over handle the ball when it's right above the flipper already in a position for a great shot? Why would I flip the ball on the fly when a dead bounce to a quick cradle would give me that drop target behind the spinner?

There's no finer feeling than combining all these little talents and just working a machine over with a ball that refuses to drain :0)

So like I said, this is just my perspective. I can appreciate other points of view :0)