Your game could be leveled too steeply.

The Delta ramp is an all-or-nothing momentum shot.
The right upper flipper has a not so wide sweetspot to make that shot.

When you shoot you instantly know if it's going to make it (or not)
And you are right, when comming from the orbit with some pace, it is an easier shot because you can judge the timing better.

I feel your pain. I tried a new coil. I rebuilt the flipper. New rubber. Waxed the ramp. Checked level and incline. Bought an after-market fliptronics board that advertized greater power.

Then I watched Bowen make that shot about umpteen-forty times in a row on the PAPA video, and I suddenly understood exactly what the problem was.

I had the same problem with my ramp. It had to be a perfect shot with momentum to make it up. But then I found that my upper flipper had the wrong coil installed. I changed it to a blue coil and it is much easier now.

Do you have a ramp protector? I could make the shot semi frequently, but sometimes it would go 3/4 of the way up. My ramp protector was not tight against the plastic and I think it was draining momentum from the ball.

It's a theory anyway!

As Boatshoe mentioned, try removing the ramp protector - that worked for me.

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/sttng-flipper-coil-value-question

yep another vote for removing the ramp protector. i hit the ramp so rarely that I'd sometimes get a credit dot from the switch up there not being hit

i took off the ramp protector and now i hit it much more easily!

still though, in my opinion, it should still be a low-percentage shot if you are merely hitting it as it dribbles down from the bumpers or otherwise lacking momentum. what makes it such a cool shot to me is the fact that in order to hit it consistently, you need to set it up properly by pulling a picard maneuver.

No, a stronger coil will work to give more power, but you risk breaking plastics, ramp edges, etc...

It will also not help at all if your aim is still off

Play better!

11629 is the strongest coil, so either completely rebuild it including EOS, or more practice.

Did you already rebuild this flipper? all except the coil?
I remember it being very hard to make standing but if good at the shot easy to make on the move.

let us know how that works. I agree, very difficult shot, but the fact that you may get it 1 in 10 means you don't need a stronger coil, just more luck/skill/divine help. I think in the past 2 years, I've really successfully got it in the Borg "ship" (hate that one, know the history, love the mod where he converted it to a cube) a dozen times only.

I try the trick with removing the protector.Very good.No it goes more easy and if the ball return,it will not be dead return to the left outline,just go to somewhere to left or right flipper.I use FL11629

Another thing that can affect the power of the flipper is a dirty opto at the flipper button switch.

I am doing a total shop out on a STTNG I picked up a few weeks ago. So with this thread in mind, I took a good look at the Delta ramp as I installed it last night. What i found was that the spring steel at the ramp entrance was sprung up. It met the playfield perfect but there was a hump in the middle.

I did a little experimenting by hand rolling the ball at the ramp and found that by pressing the steel on the side it would pop down and the ball would roll up the ramp much easier. i took the ramp back out and did everything I could to get the spring steel to stay down in the middle including heating the ramp (which was a little bowed in the middle there), but in the end I gave up and ordered a new ramp because this one was cracked and missing a piece anyway.

I just hope the new ramp steel is installed properly when I get it.

I did put in the stronger coil and, honestly, it made little difference. It's still a tough shot on my machine.

I had previously rebuilt the flipper on my STTNG right after I bought it, but I installed the ramp protectors at the same time so I just thought that this was a particularly difficult shot. I had more recently installed the prototype coil on the upper flipper, which did help a little bit but not a lot. After seeing this thread and the other linked thread I removed the ramp protector and it is a night and day difference. I'm able to hit warp 9 (not 9.9, but at least warp 9) about one in every three games (this is without just exclusively catching, cradling, and hitting the left orbit only to advance warp). So as many have said here, the biggest impact seems to be the ramp itself, rather the flipper and it's coil.

I hit mine pretty consistently even without the momentum of lopping around first. It wasn't always like that.
What I have done:

I did not add a stronger coil there but, did rebuilt the flippers, also polished the playfield, and flame polished the ramp itself. That was the winning combo for me at least. My ball zings around nicely killing the whole clunky argument.

oh - i wasn't talking about that protector. i was talking about the one on the left wall of the ramp.

I received my new ramp yesterday, and what I found was that there was only one hole to secure the protector. i looked at the old ramp and it was the same. Thus the protector does not conform to the ramp. I added the second hole and installed it, an now the protector is snug with the ramp.
DSCN2213.JPG

New ramp installed with extra screw to secure the protector.
DSCN2215.JPG

It took me long enough, but now the machine is back together and playable. The combination of rebuilt flippers using original blue flipper coils, new kits, bats, and standard black rubbers from pinballlife, along with cleaning the switch optos with alconol and a new ramp from Marco, means that I can now send the ball to the moon and back if I want to.
But the most important thing is to clean those optos, and replace those rubbers ( the urethane ones that I tried out were less than desirable).
DSCN2217.JPG

looks gorgeous!

Almost...

"Prototype and test model Star Trek The Next Generation coil.

This is the stronger coil originally intended for use in STTNG."

http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=1232

The 11629 is damb strong, but they do often feel weak on that particular upper flipper. I'd be very tempted to try one of the proto coils if I owned the game.

Thanks! It was a lot of work. It was very dirty when i got it. It looked like it had been stored in somebody's garage with the glass off, so I had no choice but to tear it down completely top to bottom and clean everything. But under all that dirt I found a very nice machine.

I did, and it really didn't make that big a difference.