(Topic ID: 165301)

What pinball skill do you need to get better at?

By Nokoro

7 years ago


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  • 118 posts
  • 68 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 7 years ago by Nokoro
  • Topic is favorited by 6 Pinsiders

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    There are 118 posts in this topic. You are on page 3 of 3.
    #101 7 years ago
    Quoted from Bugsy:

    From my experience, post transfers can be done on a lot of games, and other games it's not so easy. However, each game is different.

    Not only each game, but each physical pin of the same game will often post transfer differently, especially on older titles where there's a better chance the flippers have been rebuilt. It depends on the flipper rubber, the angle of the flippers, how far the flippers travel when flipped, the strength of the flipper, the distance between the flipper and the sling, etc. Lots of factors.

    If you've got a pin where the post transfer doesn't seem to go anywhere, and just stays put on that flipper, then you need to get the ball to roll up the flipper a bit, and then post transfer.

    You can also alley pass / inlane pass / Shatz on many pins where post transfers aren't working, and you either can't tap pass or haven't developed tap passing as part of your flipper skill repertoire.

    2 months later
    #102 7 years ago

    Since practicing my drop catch a lot, based on the tips listed earlier, I think I'm really getting the hang of it. Now, I need to get the other half of it more under control and properly aim the ball after I do a successful catch. Too often, I flip too soon after making the drop catch.

    2 months later
    #103 7 years ago

    Here's my latest skill in need of improvement: I watch videos where really good players seem to readily be able to save a ball heading to the outlane. For me, it is often deer in headlights mode where I freeze up and just hope that it bounces off a post. At other times, when I think about nudging, I'm often flummoxed about how exactly to nudge. Should I nudge up in the hopes that the post catches the ball and bounces it out? That does work sometimes, but not always. Does it depend upon the game? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

    #104 7 years ago

    You're overthinking it, IMO. Keep in mind that when you move the game, the ball is not going to immediately react due to slippage/sliding. So what you're effectively doing in most cases is moving the parts of the game, not trying to affect the ball trajectory. Nudging foward works a lot for me, and stopped me from having to think about it so much, but at the same time, there's a place for everything and slapping the side of the cabinet to push the ball out from an orbit so it doesn't go into a sling, or a hard nudge to the side to bounce the ball off an outlane sidewall is useful.

    And as a last resort if the tilt isn't real tight, you can just do the "Fraxquake" and shake the shit out of it left to right alternating as fast as you can.... you'd be surprised how many times I've seen this walk a ball practically up an outlane that was a for-sure goner. The idea is to find that interval where you're basically hitting the ball with BOTH the rubber on the post AND the sidewall or outside post.. really works better on EM's and early solid states than 9 degree pitch DMDs.

    #105 7 years ago

    If there is not a game next to it I've seen people slapping the side of the machine at the same time the ball makes contact with the outside rail

    #106 7 years ago
    Quoted from dhard:

    If there is not a game next to it I've seen people slapping the side of the machine at the same time the ball makes contact with the outside rail

    Doesn't matter if they're head to head. Doesn't have to be a huge windup to be effective....just needs a bump.

    #107 7 years ago
    Quoted from Nokoro:

    Here's my latest skill in need of improvement: I watch videos where really good players seem to readily be able to save a ball heading to the outlane. For me, it is often deer in headlights mode where I freeze up and just hope that it bounces off a post. At other times, when I think about nudging, I'm often flummoxed about how exactly to nudge. Should I nudge up in the hopes that the post catches the ball and bounces it out? That does work sometimes, but not always. Does it depend upon the game? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

    Case by case basis. It takes familiarity with that specific game. Side to side shakes keep the ball out of the outlanes on my GOT. Forward and back nudges keep the ball out of the outlanes on the TWD I have.

    #109 7 years ago

    I really wish I knew how to nudge when the ball is entering the outlanes, especially when it is balancing on a the rubber between the outlane and the inlane. Generally I nudge upwards, but whenever I nudge to either side I always seem to end up pushing the ball down the outlane even faster. Should I nudge in the direction of the outlane, and hope I push the machine far enough so that the rubber pushes the ball back up and around into the inlane, or should I nudge in the direction away from the outlane and hope the wall pushes the ball back into the inlane? Or is pushing up the best thing to do in that situation?

    Edit: And now I see @chuckwurt's post!

    #110 7 years ago
    Quoted from Nokoro:

    Here's my latest skill in need of improvement: I watch videos where really good players seem to readily be able to save a ball heading to the outlane. For me, it is often deer in headlights mode where I freeze up and just hope that it bounces off a post. At other times, when I think about nudging, I'm often flummoxed about how exactly to nudge. Should I nudge up in the hopes that the post catches the ball and bounces it out? That does work sometimes, but not always. Does it depend upon the game? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

    Successful nudging is more about timing than which direction, or how much you move the machine. Ideally you want to nudge just as the ball hits a post or whatever else you want it to bounce off. You want the ball to bounce stronger as there is more of a chance it will bounce out of danger than if it just dribbled around the lanes. Since you are using a machine that weighs hundreds of pounds to hit a little steel ball, it doesn't take a big move to get a reaction from the ball. A sharp smack straight down on the lock down bar at the right time is often all you need.

    Best way to deal with the outlines is to keep the ball away from them in the first place. Don't let the ball just take a lazy bounce off the top of the sling into danger. Give the machine a sharp nudge as soon as the ball makes contact with the sling or anything in the lane area. Ideally it pops out to the middle of the playfield and stays away from the lanes. Hoping for an inlane leads to collect bonus about half the time.

    #111 7 years ago
    Quoted from mystman12:

    I really wish I knew how to nudge when the ball is entering the outlanes, especially when it is balancing on a the rubber between the outlane and the inlane

    I heard a tip about this the other day. When it's balanced on the rubber between the inlane/outlane you want to first move the machine away from the outlane, and then immediately move it back in the opposite direction.

    So effectively, the ball will at first start rolling toward the outlane, but then you'll quickly move the post to the outside edge of the ball to help it roll back into the inlane.

    #112 7 years ago

    Thanks all. I'm not sure about nudging when the ball hits the side wall. On my pins, that seems too late as the ball will have moved past the post and already be heading down the lane. I suppose I could try nudging once it hits the outside most post, but that will probably take much better timing than I have. I feel like the ball often moves faster than I can process, and I am often thinking, "oh I should have nudged" when it is already halfway down the lane. Perhaps I just need to get used to nudging more often so it isn't merely an afterthought. I agree that timing is probably key, but I seem to lack it.

    #113 7 years ago
    Quoted from Nokoro:

    Thanks all. I'm not sure about nudging when the ball hits the side wall. On my pins, that seems too late as the ball will have moved past the post and already be heading down the lane.

    I agree that if you're trying to slap the game to get it to bounce back in from hitting the outlane wall, that is usually too little to late. I've had it work before, but nudging the game earlier and treating the inlanes like outlanes works better. Try and always keep the ball inside the slings.

    I would say I am pretty good at nudging mainly because when I first started I was so bad at aiming my shots, I missed a ton. So I nudged like crazy to save all my missed shots from draining. Took like a year of trial and error to really get down what works and what doesn't.

    #114 7 years ago

    So, a follow-up question: When the ball is ping-ponging back and forth between the slings as can happen from time to time, is there a way to nudge it out of there so it goes up the playfield and one of the slings doesn't throw it into an out lane? Or, do you just have to wait it out and hope for the best?

    #115 7 years ago
    Quoted from Nokoro:

    So, a follow-up question: When the ball is ping-ponging back and forth between the slings as can happen from time to time, is there a way to nudge it out of there so it goes up the playfield and one of the slings doesn't throw it into an out lane? Or, do you just have to wait it out and hope for the best?

    Making no move in these situations seems to be better for me than making a move just to move the machine. Then again... I only earned 2 out of 12 points last Thursday at league night, so there's that

    #116 7 years ago
    Quoted from Nokoro:

    So, a follow-up question: When the ball is ping-ponging back and forth between the slings as can happen from time to time, is there a way to nudge it out of there so it goes up the playfield and one of the slings doesn't throw it into an out lane? Or, do you just have to wait it out and hope for the best?

    On most games, I've found that the top 1/3 of the sling is the most dangerous and can typically fire the ball right over to the outlane. I try and nudge the game forward at the instant it hits the top 1/3 of the sling. The idea is to give it more momentum and hope when it gets to the outlane / inlane area, that the extra momentum causes it to bounce out as opposed to rattling around in there.

    #117 7 years ago
    Quoted from Nokoro:

    So, a follow-up question: When the ball is ping-ponging back and forth between the slings as can happen from time to time, is there a way to nudge it out of there so it goes up the playfield and one of the slings doesn't throw it into an out lane? Or, do you just have to wait it out and hope for the best?

    From a pinball skill guide put together by Dave Stewart in 1994:
    One area of the playfield where nudging is absolutely vital is
    around the slingshots. A ball that is moving horizontally is much
    more likely to drain, especially on newer machines. Knowing how
    to nudge the machine, both when the ball first hits the slingshots
    and when it leaves them, will greatly decrease the number of outlane
    drains. Generally, if a ball is going to hit the lower half of a
    slingshot (i.e. closest to the flippers), nudge forward just as the ball
    makes contact with the slingshot rubber. If a ball is going to hit the
    upper half of a slingshot, nudge forward just after the ball ricochets,
    to force it further up the playfield and away from the outlanes.

    #118 7 years ago
    Quoted from Snailman:

    From a pinball skill guide put together by Dave Stewart in 1994:
    One area of the playfield where nudging is absolutely vital is
    around the slingshots. A ball that is moving horizontally is much
    more likely to drain, especially on newer machines. Knowing how
    to nudge the machine, both when the ball first hits the slingshots
    and when it leaves them, will greatly decrease the number of outlane
    drains. Generally, if a ball is going to hit the lower half of a
    slingshot (i.e. closest to the flippers), nudge forward just as the ball
    makes contact with the slingshot rubber. If a ball is going to hit the
    upper half of a slingshot, nudge forward just after the ball ricochets,
    to force it further up the playfield and away from the outlanes.

    That's great! Thanks. I'm not sure I have such quick timing, but I'll give it a try.

    There are 118 posts in this topic. You are on page 3 of 3.

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