Here's my MO: Qualify high and then choke in head-to-head. My IFPA rank sucks, and gets worse daily, since WPPR points reward participation as much as outcome, and I have a fkn job. That said, I can tell you what I lack:

1. Attention Span. Players like KME attack Banzai Run in terms of chopping wood by getting ABC, Cliff Jump. Rinse, repeat. That's not going to be a "fun" way to play, but I can tell you it's a winning strategy.
2. Flipper skills. Live-catch takes practice. I'm still working on that one. Watching Bowen play my TNA was a tutorial I'll never forget. Short plunge, live catch. There is NO substitute strategy that works as well. I'll put my drop-catch up against anyone's, but live-catch is far more important.
3. Have a game plan. I can't tell you how many times I end up screwing up because I play by instinct (how I play at home) instead of with a defined strategy/agenda on each pin. Tournament strategy is about POINTS--not objectives. Sometimes--like on TAF--it's best to AVOID multiball.
4. Go to your happy place. AVOID THE YIPS. This often becomes my Waterloo, until I have nothing to lose and play relaxed. Playing while afraid to lose the ball is the surest way to choke. Take it from a tried and true choke-artist.
5. Know where the points are. It literally took me decades of play to resign myself to avoid the CF drop targets, and to light, then shoot, spinners, spinners and more spinners on most 80s pins. Firepower is not about multiball.