Golf is similar

Nope.

Its rhythm and timing... somedays my reaction time/flipper timing is just off and I suck... other days it's great. I don't have great pinball muscle memory.

I'm right there with you, including getting rid of all of my pins. But then I have an amazing game or three where everything clicks and it's awesome.

Because... the ball is wild.

Randomness (controlled chaos). I am not a pro that can collect 3 balls on one flipper and make shots with the other. Sometimes I can collect some balls on a flipper but then do need to flip or lose the balls in play. Anyway it's very hard for a middling player like myself to make consistent great plays. I can have some great moments that seems like I'm on fire but they I'll do something like drain three balls at the same time to end a Multiball and say to myself "yep that's about the size of it".

Sometimes you can be playing swell and the ball take an odd bounce and sometimes it's not your fault because the machine wants you to drain, partial ramp shots will roll back to your doom, STM from the pops, brutal rejects from stand up targets etc..

That's the beauty Pinball. It never gets old for me. Some days I am the wrecking machine some days I am the ball!

Does anyone have a mental picture of smashing the glass? After a truly brutal or bone headed drain (just in your mind thinking I'd like to smash this glass to pieces) and then say but no it's $300 f-n piece of glass.

What I do do is when I drain, I will nudge the machine (to get a tilt warning) but hopefully not tilt because I have my machines set to three warnings and typically don't get many warnings. My favorite is the tilt quotes from Tron "no noo" and of course TWD (custom) "That is a no-no!"

This is part of the reason the game is addictive and we keep coming back. There’s a psychological principle at play.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brain-wise/201311/use-unpredictable-rewards-keep-behavior-going%3famp

This differs slightly from the article in that we are creating our own reward by playing well rather than getting it doled oit. But it’s the same addictive phenomenon.

I should really check this out. From the description it sounds like it addresses my biggest problem in competitive play...getting out of my own head. I am so inconsistent it is ridiculous, and a couple bad games can really put me in a slump. I need to learn how to shake that off, and keep having fun. When I start telling myself that I have to win, or should be playing better than this, it gets worse. When I just say screw it I'm going to have fun playing pinball, I tend to do better. Gotta keep that stress off of myself, but I find that easier said than done. I am amazed just how much of pinball is a mental game.

As for getting mad and selling your collection, be careful with that. I have done it with a couple games, and ended up regretting it. When a game ticks me off I will find some (usually minor) annoyance to focus on and make a rash decision to sell based on that rather than the 95% of the game I love. Then a few month down the road I realize it was a mistake. Walking Dead and Star Wars are both examples of this one for me. At least they are games I know I can buy again someday, and they were replaced by games I enjoy, so it works out one way or another I guess. Just try not to let emotions drive a decision you might regret.

Playing pinball isn't riding a bike...

Almost every single day. Luckily, no one has been able to come up with the cash yet.

Or to better sum it up.
Ball one: almost beat my high score.
Ball two: plunge ball, get a crappy drain.
Ball three: two shots in and I’m flipping like a mad man because I can’t get control of ball. Brick, brick, drain.
Game over man, game over.
Walk away and don’t come back!

I can have 20 bad games, and then one gem of a game. And all I will remember is that gem. It's those games that make me want to hit start. I want to "win" (even though I don't win anything in my house). I just want to dominate the game. And I'll keep playing until I do.

Inclined hard surface, hard surfaced ball, and Gravity!

Be the ball, Danny

Sometimes you play Pinball...sometimes, Pinball plays you

It’s amazing how many of those dumb drains come right after u miss a shot .... then u beat yourself up for missing the shot.

This is another thing that makes pinball great. You are given NOTHING

The beauty of pinball is its randomness.Not one game or ball in play is the same.I have played pinball for a lot of years now and still enjoy the challenge.

Thanks for the book recommendation @grantopia. It's changed how I approach the game. The book suggests concentrating on something to keep the critical self occupied..like the seams of the spinning tennis ball or the sound it makes when struck. But neither of these translate well to pinball, IMO. Have you found something particular to concentrate on when you're playing?

Depends on how much I drink. That goes for golf also.