Nudge earlier than later, most people nudge way to late. I also nudge upwards instead of side to side when it's close to the outlanes, depends on the game though.

Flipper catches: if the ball is rolling towards the middle with your flipper up, just do a quick button tap to flip it over to the other flipper, also a good skill to have when in multiball...

Practice, practice, practice. Learn what shots are "death" shots. Learn the bounces.

One of the most important skills is dead flipper passes, where you just let the ball hit your flipper and bounce over to the other one. Master that...

Play with good people, and watch how they play...

Go watch some games at the tilt blog site, bowen is a pro Watch his flipper skills...

Also go watch the pinball101 video it has some good tips...but really it just takes practice, the more you play the more you get the "feel" for the flippers...

The biggest help to my playing, other than practicing, has been watching Bowen's tutorials here:

http://vimeo.com/user4577902/videos/sort:newest

It opened my eyes to what I needed to practice to become a better player. I'm not saying I'm great, but I'm definitely better than I was before I started watching the videos.

Oftentimes, while I'm waiting for the GF to finish getting ready for work in the AM (we carpool) I'll just start a game and spend 10 minutes or so practicing controlling the ball with the flippers—bounce passes, tip overs, drop catches post passes etc. When I first started doing this it didn't seem like it was helping much as I would tend to lose balls anyway but after awhile, I noticed that I was starting to incorporate more and more of the stuff I was practicing without thinking about it.

I don't do it near enough. But if you take your glass off the game you can setup a shot over and over. good way to become "game specific" good

I'm not comfortable with my own nudging/save skills but they improved rapidity after I owned a couple of older games on which nudging was compulsory to get a decent score. I'm thinking of games with out lane change like Flight 2000 or some of the em titles. As tomdotcom said the Pinball 101 dvd is also a help.
Good luck

I can't add much others haven't already. Liquor, recreational drugs, and good looking women around seem to make my gameplay much better. Or at least give me the illusion of such

I like the videos on tilt warning.... They rock!

Lots of good info here but practice is the best way. On the dead flipper passes I have noticed that the more perpindicular the ball is to the flipper on its approach-the higher success ratio. duh! Everyone has probably already figured that one out but it came to mind. tomdotcom is right on when he states to nudge up (and not side-to-side) to avoid an outlane drain. good luck.

I believe that would make my game much worse!

Like anything else, practice makes perfect. I also think that if you play games that are more difficult, your skills will develop faster. My first game was TZ. There was a long period of time where it was my only game, so I played it constantly. Then, when I finally added some other games to my collection, I went through a period where I rarely played TZ. During this period, I played a lot of Tommy and STTNG. It wasn't until I finally went back and started playing TZ again that I realized just how much better I had become. Suddenly, the game seemed much easier to me, and it was because the other games forced me to develop some of my more advanced skills.

I practice with the glass off to reduce the randomness for certain shots. Depending on the shot/technique it can be game specific. I will also focus a playing session on just trying to do one technique as much as I can. Also play with one hand only to learn bounce passes. If I catch a ball and it rolls halfway up the flipper, I quickly tap the button and pray. I am in no way a great player but I have noticed an improvement in my ball times by focusing on technique.

I can only add one other thing to what everyone else has already said and that is REALLY learning the rules. Strategy is the key to higher scores. Know what's valuable, what you're close to achieving, what are the sucker shots, what modes to stack and when, etc.

As far as flipper and nudging skills go, watch really good players play (not everyday, once or twice will do) to see how differently they approach a game and then PRACTICE to be as controlled and thoughtful as they are. Nudging will become a very natural extension of your game as long as you keep practicing. The main thing is to not let the ball get to the outlane/inlane post area. Nudge the machine upwards when the ball is at the top of the slingshot to put it back into the center of the playfield. Practice your live catches especially on games with a scoop. Just remember, you don't always have to flip. Reflexive and excessive flipping are a very common amateur mistake.

And maybe drink less beer too...

Liquor, recreational drugs, and good looking women around seem to make my gameplay much better. Or at least give me the illusion of such

Every time I think of BD playing pinball I think of this...

images.jpeg

BD and his "harem" enjoying the "silverballs"...

Although now that I look at it-
it kinda looks like B_R!!!
Oh well...
Either way, it makes me want to play TOTAN...(Or start a harem... )

Edit: Oh yeah, the POST.

Practice, practice, practice... (fun exercise when you are alone... Try calling your shots out loud. Yeah it seems funny to do at first- but after a little while you start nailing them pretty consistently!)
'Till your forearms burn, your shoulders hurt and your neck starts to strain. (and yes- I AM STILL TALKING ABOUT PINBALL!!! sheesh! Get your minds out of the gutter...)

Thats how I bent my shooter rod!! I fix it. It's straight and smooth now.

I find that my best games come when I sit and play a few games, Yes sit on a stool. Once I get into a few games I can get into a groove and my flippers feel huge like the ball doesn't fit between them.

I very rarely nudge. I think I should nudge more.

I very rarely nudge. I think I should nudge more.

With out-lanes wide open- nudging is a MUST!
Wink wink, nudge nudge!

MP.jpeg

Say NOOOOWE More!

LOL. very good. funny stuff, wink wink nudge nudge

Play unshopped or partially broken machines. Honest. It'll help you deal with game imperfections or when you were *sure* that slingshot kicker was going to trip and fire. I learned better bounce passes by playing a NGG where the lower right flipper was stuck in the down position (impossible to play if it were the left flipper stuck on NGG). Sometimes, it's all you can do to make the most of your otherwise lost $.50, $.75 or $1!

I saw a mention of the Pinball 101 DVD above as well. There's also an iPhone app that's well worth it's $2.

+1 I will load up a 4 player game and just try to manipulate the ball in the lower playfield. No shots or trying to get points if I can help it. I usually do this for 10 minutes time I am down in the BorKade. When I go play at bars I am amazed at how well i do after relearning the control of the ball.

LOL, too funny

Search pinball101 itunes...you can download it...

Always more beer equals better scores for me....just like golf....the older you get you need nerves relaxed!

Nimble, do you have outlane bumpers on Lotr le adjusted for less draining....

Being able to hit your shots the first time you go for them will go a long ways in improving your skills and ball time. Some games I will focus on certain shots and after I get proficient with it move on to another shot. That method has really improved my playing skills a lot. Practicing the real thing is the best way to improve. If that doesn't work then I would go with what BD said.

Nimble, do you have outlane bumpers on Lotr le adjusted for less draining....

No siree...
Fully open like the majestic "Circle K"...
Some folks say, "strange things are afoot"- there...

B&T.jpeg

I have noticed my flipper control has improved but hitting ramps or targets on the fly is just difficult! I hit so many posts it is not true

Aiming is taken for granted but with tight shots it is really difficult to perfect.....practice, practice, practice

Like I said earlier...
Even though it sounds funny-
Start calling your shots out loud... Eventually you will start to make them more consistently!
When people are around though use your "inside-head" voice.
And NOT the one that tells you to burn things either!!!
images.jpeg

We all know how that worked out...

The DVD is kind of hard to find these days but it is still sold in a few places.

You can "rent" it on youtube, however, it's a permanent rental so you can watch it over and over whenever you want. The advantage of youtube version is it's full HD if you have a computer and internet connection that can hang.

You can also buy it from the iTunes app store. It's sold as an "app". It's $1.99. I don't think the screen size is ideal for this kind of video, though.

I have some of the DVDs. If you are going to California Extreme or Pacific Pinball Expo, I will sell you one for the low low price of $15. I also have The Pinball Collector.

As for skills I will just repeat what other people have said.

1. Play one handed. I think this is more productive on slower games, open playfield games, and even EMs. AFM is a great game to play one handed. Fun House is extremely difficult.

2. Nudge *forward* to avoid side drains. When the ball is heading for the top of the sling or the post between the in/out lanes, nudge *forward*. Your goal is to just knock the ball out of that area altogether, not to make it choose a particular lane.

3. Bungled flipper catches. Sounds like the OP is "walking the plank" a lot. This takes experience and practice to recognize when it is likely to go off the edge. Generally speaking, once you realize the ball is going over the edge you should get rid of it (flip it away, even if it's not an aimed shot), the sooner the better. When you flip the ball near the very, very edge of the flipper it tends to hit targets low and on the side of the playfield. They go wild and too fast to react to. So the sooner you realize the ball won't behave, the sooner to get rid of it because the sooner you get rid of it the more vertical your shot will be and the more likely you can get control of it later.

You can also do a flick pass in some cases. Here's a video showing some skills. I erroneously called the flick pass a tap pass.

For what it's worth, I find it much harder to perform a lot of the more advanced maneuvers on non-Bally/Williams games. The flippers just don't offer the same level of precision.

I agree gweem.
The two stage leaf switches on Bally/Williams games are MUCH more sensitive... (Yeah, I know I can adjust the Stern ones but, I am just too lazy.)
I can't wait to tear into WOZ when it arrives!
Slingshot pass to slingshot pass all day long!!!