Quoted from judremy:You don't need a protector. You need to adjust the guide that is on the left part of the ramp up to bigfoot/whirlpool.
Look at this image here:
https://plus.google.com/photos/107456614387039615357/albums/5692411218172996721/5692428294338576738?banner=pwa
Change it to be more like this:
https://plus.google.com/photos/107456614387039615357/albums/5692411218172996721/5695476278284335554?banner=pwa
The ball will no longer SLAM into the whirlpool switch and you will find it MUCH easier to make this shot. It is a design flaw.
Works great! Thank you very much!!!