I'm newer to the hobby and I have actually been trying to break myself of the habit. I think it's more of a learning to control the ball thing for me. I have two machines. One that plays really fast and one that's slower. I don't do it on the slower machine, but I do on the faster one. I think it's more reactionary impuse than anything.

I wouldn't worry about that. The coils don't actually wear out. The plunger and coil stop are the parts that wear down, but it takes several thousand plunges to do anything significant.

As someone who is teaching his future wife how to play....and she actually LIKES playing pinball.....Let her go at her own pace. No matter how badly you want to see her excel, let her struggle. Let her see what doing the double flip does. Let her want to get better. You rush it too fast, and you will burn her out. Trust me on this. I love, love, love watching my future better half play and enjoy pinball. She loves Attack from Mars, and now she's getting into CFTBL. She wants GOT Pro home this year. It's so awesome.

Be patient. If she asks you to show her how to get better...then...You help. Do not interfere until then. Let her learn and struggle. You try to show her too much too fast, she will feel smothered and pressured to do well quickly, and that won't end well.

Chimp Flipping!

I watch good people play to try to pick up the things that they do, to become a better player myself. It's interesting to see both "pro" level players and casuals. You never know when you can pick up something from someone that you consider "worse" than yourself play.

As far as the slingshot flipper thing goes, I do it occasionally. It's probably because I'm always trying to react to the ball when it shoots back and forth rapidly, so I don't get caught "with my pants down" as they say. None-the-less, chimp flipping is a hard habit for new players to break. I had to remind my wife regularly for the first couple months of owning to not double flip. She's learning how to dead flip and trap, so there's definitely progression and her scores slowly climb and climb the more she plays. She can live catch WAY better than I can, and I consider myself a better player than her.

I do the same thing. I flip the flippers when it’s bouncing on the slings. I’m not exactly sure why I do it.

The faster the game, the more I'm flipping.

Courtesy of Fun with Bonus' Steve Bowden

https://funwithbonus.com/category/dictionary-pinball/

I know its frowned upon and say what you will about double flipping, but its saved my butt from center drains more times than I care to admit...

Double flipping does absolutely nothing to save you from center drains that single flipping would not also achieve.

Unless you have a hard time tracking the minute difference in distance between the left or right flipper. It will absolutely save a center drain.

If I am playing on a game that has insensitive sling switches, I'll often put a flipper up when the ball approaches that sling, preparing for the sling to NOT fire and catching a dead drop.

Usually depends on the angle the ball is approaching the sling. Perpendicular? Plan on the sling firing. Shallow angle? Put up the flipper and expect a drop...

Later,
EV

Nailed it. It's a defensive move to protect an unexpected careen into the centre drain.

These last two posts are it. Just because the ball is nowhere near the flipper doesn’t mean you shouldn’t flip for one reason or another. Preparing for a drop catch is another example.

Ido it when the ball is down by the flippers and bouncing off slings, it helps my anticipation and timing of the ball or so I think anyway.

I'm in your camp. I do it for two reasons, the first is exactly what you stated above, a sling not firing. The second reason is when I have a harsh angle that I know is going to fire the ball right at the opposing flipper. That way, instead of the ball coming off the sling, hitting the flipper and going flying, I can trap the ball and get some semblance of control on it.

Start at 3:10 and watch Bowen do it. You'll see successive flips with each flipper. The right flip is in case the sling doesn't fire and the left flip is to catch and control the ball.