Don’t think about it so much. The reactions you had to all those situations was correct. Just get more accurate and better at trapping the ball and those situations will be fewer and fewer. Play games where all you do it try one specific shot or try to setup one specific shot. Then play a bunch more where all your trying to do is get the ball to a dead stop trap before you shoot.

You want these moves to be effortless and thoughtless. They should be as natural as flipping the flippers.

Every missed shot is an opportunity to improve your recovery skills. Remember that.

You need to find your comfort and focus level by playing a ton and find out what works for you. Some people play intense, some are chill, some are something else. I play best when I'm relaxed but predicting rather than reacting. Which is to say when I'm tight and tense and forcing it, it won't be good. When I'm chill but really focused on where the ball is going rather than where it is, that's when I do best.

Play for money.

LTG : )

Practice, watch talented players play, practice what they do, rinse and repeat, and then just ...

"Play better!" - Steve Ritchie

Totally agree with this. There is a special standup target on Iron Maiden directly above the left inlane, such that it can really only be hit by shatzing up the left inlane from the right flipper. There is even a special high score for # times hit (something like “? Award” or something).

In any case, I decided to see how high a score I could get on that and to do so ended up wanting to stop/cradle the ball on the right flipper to get a good shot at it. Focusing on this specific thing ended up making me focus on some of those core things that I was really bad at (various passing and transfer skills, things that let you control the game a bit more). It made a huge difference for me, even if I still have a long way to go.

maybe you are looking for something like this for "in between sessions"?

Watch Bowen Kerins play Paragon and notice his self evaluation as he plays. Pretty much a running commentary. Note how ACCEPTING he is when he fails...
https://pinballvideos.com/v/325

Bowen playing Barracora - his thought process on setting up the bonus & multipliers (same positive attitude, "I tried but didn't pull it off". Note how he critiques against the RULESET for the game, not against the fact that he missed a shot - "Ok now given where we are, what I want to try next is...)
https://pinballvideos.com/v/1419

https://pinballvideos.com/t

Skills Videos:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/new-pinball-skills-tutorial-videos
-- these help troubleshoot WHY you missed that ramp

Likewise:
https://replayfoundation.org/papa/learning-center/player-guide/flipper-skills/

And google the rulesheets for the game you are playing to get a feel for the specific game.
http://pinball.org/rules/whirlwind.html
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts-blog/the-bob-math-use-guide-to-classic-pinball-machines/

Also, game prep:
Three Beers? - Terrible Score. Thirteen Beers & Many Tequila? - BEST SCORE EVER!
I had my best game EVAR on Whirlwind when I was TRASHED, seeing ddoouubbllee and trying to end it quickly to go get dinner. Kept hearing that triple combo noise and didn't know what it WAS. Finally figured it out, hit it a whole bunch more times "just to hear that". Three Ball Game would NOT end. Wife came upstairs to get me, ended up watching, just amazed. We laughed thru the whole thing! 38,000,000+ -not world class, but for me, AMAZEBALLS

Top players are cognizant of where the ball is likely to go on a missed shot and what they can do to recover control. Part of their shot selection is based on the ease of recovery before they ever use a strategy that requires that shot.

Learning the angles and ball motion to predict when to apply control strategies like dead bounce, drop catch, live catch will improve your game.

Nudging is a recovery skill to help regain control. Usually its purpose is apply additional forward velocity to the ball, minimizing the side-to-side effect that’s less controllable.

Not a direct answer to your question but the best way to get better is practice but also seek out people better than you and watch them play, and/or play with them. Further if you can get some mentoring from them (many folks are happy to if you have a little rapport or a couple beers just be like give me some pointers Dave you are awesome). This is really key. I stagnated for years but when I started going to a local monthly tournament where there were really good players and I paid attention I finally starting getting better. If you don’t have good opportunities nearby the next best is watching videos online of great players.

I don’t even try to figure it out. I’ve owned Family Guy for 2 years and just bang the ball around. Beautiful game with funny call-outs.

Played Star Wars Premium today and that might be the next game I get. I liked the screen interaction. 10 dollars in quarters didn’t even last me an hour at the pinball lounge.

If you fail a shot - analyze WHY you failed that shot. 95% of the time this boils down to hitting the flipper either "too early" or "too late".

The trajectory the ball travels is effected by where it is on the flipper when you activate it. If it's towards the tip, it'll be launched at a wider angle away from the flipper. Just test these things out - see how waiting a split-second more effects where the ball goes.

Aim with purpose. You directly control where you put the ball. It's just adjustment and prediction.

This Pinsider made some great videos of how to improve your skill sets.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/new-pinball-skills-tutorial-videos

+1 for this. Abeflips’ videos are slick and very informative, especially for someone trying to learn and understand basic skills like deadbouncing, nudging, transfers, and trapping.

I find this to be good advice. Play with better players, and watch them intently. Watch how they react to things. Notice how they drop catch. Notice how the live catch.

The take one part you observed and do it over and over on a game in a home environment. For instance, try to hit a deadly target and save the ball. Or (on an older game), do tap passes back and forth as the entire game. Count them and break your record.

Repetition leads to muscle memory. Catching the balls to take controlled shots is a huge advantage, so practice it over and over.

great thread!
I do find that playing relaxed has an effect on how the game evolves or does not. sometimes bad luck gets in the way, it happens.

I also find that it is something better to flow with the ball, do a lot of everything rather than a lot of one thing sometimes works really well, I end up building up the game and things start to grow. I find that this approach is usually also more fun, rather than chopping wood and trying to get the one shot, I will often change my plan and try a different shot, reset the mind, let the frustration go and keep the flow going, then come back to the shot.

Recently been mastering on the fly shots, just shoot the ball as it comes down if I think I can get it where it needs to go. Sometimes I just spend a few games repeating shots, it all depends.

I do find that playing a game without knowing the rules, as in, exploring the game can result in epic scores... Interestingly enough, when trying to achieve one specific thing, it just results in chaos and frustration...

All I know really is that I like the mix of predictability and unpredictability in pinball, fun stuff.