I haven't really encountered many women that like to play with any regularity at all. I can't get my wife to even play at all. Maybe there is just something more appealing to men, and the rankings reflect the massive numbers difference of serious players between the genders. Are we just simpletons to enjoy the mechanical bits and pieces and flashing lights, lol??

From an evolutionary standpoint, yes basically. Men see movement better, therefore have better reaction times and prefer things like sports and video games. There have been studies with newborns and infants, and they find every time that male babies prefer looking at objects, while female babies prefer looking at people/faces. Women generally don't like competition. Statistically you're less likely to see a woman in the top 25 players if the female player base is a lot smaller to begin with.

I don't know much about competitive pinball or statistics but a quick check of the IFPA website shows that there are 30 392 players registered in the rankings and 2131 are women. By my calculations, that is about 7%. So if you are asking why there are no women represented in the IFPA top 25, I suspect that's your answer right there. As for the answer to the question in your title, I don't think it is clear that men are better than women at pinball (all things being equal) and I don't even know how you would work that out but I'm pretty sure that a cursory glance at the rankings is not going to give you the answer.

I am very sure it is an intrerest thing. Most are just happy to get their wife's permission to buy a pin. How many are really playing, time wise, like many male competitors? Isn't the biggest thing knowing the rules of a game to score highest? I don't think it takes a male brain to do that, push two buttons, and nudge a pin.

At my league there are some women who play and they’re consistently in top 5. In general I’d say probably hand-eye coordination and spacial awareness to accurately predict ball reaction and travel.

If the number of women was even HALF of the active male players, you’d already seen top 25 or even #1 occupied by a woman. Tiny player base leads to tiny distribution in the higher level. Can be applied to everything, more than just sex.

Just because, on average, men tend to possess more intuitive (pinball) skills than women, doesn’t mean there aren’t incredible women playing right now that can destroy all of us in a 1v1.

Don't know where you are finding those numbers, but you might want to double check those calculations.

Best Pinside math ever………….

Sorry, added a number. There's 30 392 total players but I think my percentage is still right. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

From my experience, women can be just as good as men at pinball (or better). I've played on leagues where there's been no slouches, and a woman has won. Why this isn't reflected more in the IFPA standings, I don't really know. Come on women, start kicking more ass, LOL.

The entire premise of your question and poll is flawed.

Skill is by no means the issue.

The male to female ratio in the hobby is just heavily skewed.

Have you seen a belles & chimes tournament?

I saw Keri Wing and Kassidy Malinowski play for four straight days this weekend past in Wisconsin, against some of the best players in the world, and I can tell you without hyperbole they would wipe the floor with anybody in this thread.

It would be hilarious to watch them humiliate the OP in a few rounds of pinball. He’d have to create a New poll about the best ways to recover mentally and physically after getting destroyed in a pinball tournament.

Keri will be top 25 very soon.

From my experience women just generally don’t care about pinball and don’t want to play it. When I have people over the men are all in the game room playing pinball and the women are in the living room chatting.

My wife hates pinball and thinks it's the saddest waste of time ever.....she spends her spare time watching reality TV. No comment.

Truth. Keri is amazing and a super nice person. She kicks my ass every time. Its just a simple matter of numbers and she will be there eventually.

Women can kick any mans ass in pinball and their is no reason other then more men been have been playing.The question should be is how can we get more diversity in pinball.

This poll is flawed. I had my ass handed to me by a 12 year old girl playing ACDC at Pinburgh. Girls and women kick ass at pinball and can also suck at it just like men can. There are just more men in the hobby so naturally there are more ranked male players.

Testosterone vs Estrogen.

Threads like this are why fewer women want to get involved in the hobby.

My wife kicks my butt on any given night, she also brings home the bacon that pays for the machines. But has no interested in competition or pinball shows.

I would suggest adding a poll option mentioning the smaller percentage/number of women currently playing in tourneys (vs men) if you are actually serious about this and not just trying to get a reaction/lock.

My god man, you are really displaying some ignorance. Of course women are capable of being as good at pinball as men. Probably better. It’s more that it’s a male dominated hobby for many reasons Men are closer to children and still play with toys like pinball machines. It’s also that pinball machines are designed by men and so are designed to appeal to men. Have you ever noticed that 90% of pinball machines ever made are covered in drawings of boobies, butts and crotches? Also a great deal of women who have shown and interest or talent in pinball were probably marginalized or harassed or otherwise pushed out of the hobby by the male culture.

A better poll would focus on how to increase the diversity of the hobby rather than trying find some biological reason or stereotypical justification for the result.

#saturdayshitstirring

Clearly it is because men can use their penises to hit the action button while keeping their hands on the flipper buttons all the time.

Thread should get locked soon!

Why would it though? This is the sort of discussion that actually SHOULD be happening… isn’t it?

I know plenty of kick ass women players and we should definitely get them more active in the competitive scene. I’m so happy to see how much better it is now than 25 years ago when it was practically zero.

I can vouch for this comment not being hyperbole, as indeed it is accurate in my case.

Last diversity thread didn't end well.

The discussion here is valuable. If the thread title was changed to being less triggering and more of what this discussion is actually about, the idea of locking the thread should go away.

My wife only started playing pinball when I got into the hobby less than six years ago. She’s become more than able to hold her own against me, and she regularly beats me on Strato-Flite, one of her favorites.

<sigh> I guess I just wish we lived in a world that let us have it out over our disagreements… even when they get ugly.

When this thread went from cringe to super-cringe...

all this talk about locking threads . Pathetic .
People can no longer talk/text freely .
No freedoms anywhere . So dramatic .
I think it is like football. any given sunday / Anyone can win . There are more men Into pinball than women is probably why without going into all the stats ..

Pinside brass are super selective on what they deem appropriate in between bites of pizza.

I regularly play with 3 women and 2 of the 3 are better than me. We’re all amateurs but there’s nothing biological that makes any of us better or worse. My girlfriend shakes the shit out of the machines when she plays them. St. Louis is home to a female only league and if I were to be in that league I’d surely rank towards the bottom.

I think pinball is an even playing field. There is no real advantage to a male vs a woman player. This is not weightlifting and or Boxing where I could definitely see an advantage.

Ladies & Gentlemen let the games begin.

Ugh, typo. I corrected it.

I would guess it's participation level/interest.

Men's brains are larger, it is science.

Women are just as good as men. Gender is not a factor in pinball skill.

But older players with slower reflexes aren't as good as younger players with lightening reflexes.

Classifying by age not gender makes more sense.

I'd be curious to see where players over 60 are ranked on the list.

My wife is a much better pinball player than I will ever be. Poll is flawed.

People still watch the national felon league??

Ratings up 17 percent so far this year

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/10/06/nfl-viewership-up-17-percent-from-last-season/

That's because people have short memories...

One reason could be is women were smart enough to not skip school and go hang out in a smokey pool room to play pinball.

So they may have lost the head start on playing pinball.

They are catching up.

LTG : )