The feet should not move when nudging. Also on some machines I have I can tighten the leg bolts too tight and there is no give in the machine. Loosening a quarter turn after tightening can help a bunch but don't loosen too much.

I don't make big moves when nudging but instead give little hits with my hand to the front and sides. It helps a bunch with saving the ball from the outlanes. Upper playfield nudging is important as well but something not a lot of guys focus on. Bumping the ball to complete the upper inlanes or keep the ball in the pops to complete an objective is an important skill. Also controlling feeds from the upper playfield like in TWD is important to avoid SDTM drains.

Keep the tilt tight to keep your nudging under control. What games do have? Maybe some of us can give you places to focus your nudging.

If you're always playing at home, set up your games how you like them. I wouldn't recommend loosening the leg bolts at all as someone suggested, it will damage the cabinet. If anything just raise the leg levelers a bit all around and you should find it's a bit easier to nudge.

My biggest advice for getting better is to nudge *all the time*, and focus on nudging upwards and cabinet slaps instead of just nudging left/right. Many people start learning by trying to nudge in the outlanes to save a ball, but the more you do before you're in trouble, the better. Nudge in the slings, in the pops, whenever a ball hits a control surface, when the ball comes off a rail, and even when passing or doing a dead bounce.

Well I did say not too much and to be careful.

Maybe I tighten my leg bolts to tight to begin with. I don't know.

I tend to nudge "up", as I feel like this gives you some extra bounce off of rubbers as the ball is hitting it. This is especially effective on a game like STTNG that's notorious for its right outlane. Normally the ball gets sucked right down, but with a nudge up as it is about to hit the right along, it'll go high enough to ricochet off of the yellow stand up targets and back into play almost every time.

This is what I did to help my game. I went from crappy to longer lasting crappy. Still have a ways to go to exit the crap phase.

I'll train you, we can start with you painting my fence

meee (resized).jpeg

Forward nudge all the time to get it out of the inlane/ outlane area. And if it does get in that area, you want vertical motion to get a vertical bounce down into the inlane vs horizontal motion where the ball travels laterally into the outlane.

Yes! Not sure which way to go? Just always go upwards. When it hits the top of the slingshot or inlane/outlane divider, don't let it decide which way to fall...shove into the ball to bounce it back up towards the top of the playfield.

I think a lot of people incorrectly think that the goal with nudging is to move the ball. It isn't. (There isn't enough friction between the playfield and the ball to make much of a difference.) The goal is to move something into the existing path of the ball to redirect it.

Example: you can tell the ball is heading directly into the outlane. Usually, the best thing to attempt is to move the inlane/outlane divider (which on many modern games has a small round rubber at the top) up and out...into the direct path of the ball. Now, instead of going straight into the outlane, it will hit hopefully the post and head in a different direction.

If the ball is coming STDM, you can attempt a slide save. (I wouldn't necessarily call this nudging, but it does involve moving the machine). The ball is going to continue on the same trajectory regardless of what you do, so your goal is to slide the machine to the side enough that the tip of a flipper has now moved into the path of the ball. (You probably want to flip as you are doing this, so that the flipper is horizontal at the moment that it intersects with the ball...which gives you the furthest "reach").

Great help. Thanks. Need more practice.

personaly i think nudge is ok , even dough i think it looks realy cool if done proparly but sliding nachine for half meter is kinda cheating, but thats just me

You.... Think!
I would hope so.

Imo. The tilt decides what's too much and what isn't.

Correct. The owner or operator decides how much nudging is allowed by setting the tilt, the slam tilt, and the tilt warnings. A guy my league will slide it 6" to 8" on some machines. Most ones I've played the tilt is set overly tight, as they don't want someone abusing the machine. My Getaway is set loose but if someone were to really slam it the tilt would get them.