TigerLaw just nudged this thread.

I think the longer you have been playing, the less need there is for cradling. One of my older machines, Magic Clock is the one that I will cradle on or I can't hit that moving target. The newer, faster machines I don't really feel the need. I let the geometry of the machine bring the ball to the flipper where I want it.

As far as nudging, EMs can require a great deal to keep the ball in play, but after playing newer machines for a while, I don't feel as much of a need except at the outlanes.

To a point, yes. But all shots can be made without cradling. For the most part if it is getting out of control, I will slow the ball with the flipper, but then shoot as it is rolling back down from the inlane. Rarely do I feel the need to stop the ball completely, hold the ball with the flipper and size up the shot. I know where it needs to go, and I know the sweet spot on the flipper. If I was playing for money or some kind of trophy, I might alter my style. But i play for fun, and fun is the way I play.

I cradle the ball on Fireball to hit the backhand shot into the Odin.

Another truth about cradling is that it means you use the same spot on the flipper to make the same shot every time.
Using geometry, the ball can come at the flipper from every direction and knowing when to hit the flipper before the ball arrives to send it in the proper direction is something that can only be accomplished by instinct. And when you just let your instincts take over, magic can happen. Kind of like hitting a baseball, but the ball is never out of the strike zone.

This is the same attitude I had towards surfing. There were guys that winning a trophy meant everything to them. But that meant they had to impress some judges. i guess if that's how you make your living, it's important. But just to hold a trophy seems kind of pointless to me. Who are we trying to impress? As long as we are enjoying ourselves, that is all that matters. And although i am not that competitive in nature, I have been told that I am a pretty good player none the less.

Epically....