Predicting the Ball's Path
Nudging
Increasing the Ball's Speed
Catching the Ball
Aiming the Ball
Passing the Ball
Saving the Ball

Predicting the Ball's Path
Learning to predict the ball's path is the most important skill a new pinball player can learn. The best way to improve this skill is to practice.

If you take a strictly reactive approach to the game, you will not have the time to set up your shots or to consider the most appropriate strategy. Once you get a feel for where the ball is likely to go, you can begin to use both basic and advanced techniques.

Nudging
Though you do run the risk of tilting some sensitive tables, you can occasionally use some well timed nudging techniques to direct the course of the ball.

Nudging causes the ball to move farther and more quickly than it would otherwise. Nudging from the left or the right can alter the ball's original path and occasionally help you to keep the ball in play.

Notes: # The tilt mechanism temporarily shuts down a pinball machine when a player nudges it too vigorously. The flippers stop working until the ball leaves the playfield. When you tilt some games, like Humpty Dumpty, Knock Out, or Slick Chick, your game ends. #Nudging is pushing the table from the bottom or from either side at the same time the ball hits a pin or a bumper. #Many pinball machines have one or more lanes on the outside of the two standard bottom flippers. If the lane drains the ball onto the flipper, it's called an inlane.

Increasing the Ball's Speed
You can score more points by increasing the ball's speed with the following techniques:

• Nudge the table when the ball hits a pin or a bumper.
• Maximize the amount of time that the flipper is in contact with the ball by activating the flipper at exactly the same time that the ball reaches the flipper's resting position.

Catching the Ball
The easiest way to set up an effective shot is to first catch the ball. Try one of the following techniques.

Easy Catch
There are two easy ways to catch a ball. In both cases, the ball must be moving relatively slowly.

1. When the ball enters an inlane, raise the flipper to keep the ball from proceeding, or
2. When the ball approaches the flipper from an acute angle, raise the flipper to send the ball into the inlane, and then hold the flipper up to keep the ball from escaping.

Drop Catch
To catch the ball with a drop catch, hold the flipper up until the ball contacts the flipper, and then immediately release the flipper before the ball bounces. When timed correctly, the ball appears to push the flipper back to its resting position, then roll up the flipper slightly, and then roll back down. The longer you can delay dropping the flipper before the ball bounces, the more time you will have before the ball rolls toward the out hole.

You may have difficulty catching the ball with this technique, but having slowed the ball, you will have more time to aim it at your preferred target.

Live Catch
You can use a live catch to catch a ball that is rolling toward the tip of one of your flippers. If you raise the flipper to meet the ball at the exact same time that the flipper reaches its full extension, the ball will roll down toward the flipper's pivot point.

Don't give up. Live catches require well-practiced timing.

Aiming the Ball
The easiest way to set up an effective shot is to first catch the ball. If you have caught the ball, and you understand how it behaves in relation to the flippers, you can control where you send the ball. When the ball hits the flipper close to the pivot point, it rises perpendicularly from the bottom of the table. If you flip the ball from the end of the flipper, the ball will travel diagonally across the playfield to the other side of the machine.

Most of the time, you will not have the advantage of setting up a shot with a caught ball. In these cases, remember that you must hit a fast moving ball closer to the flipper's pivot point than you would need to hit a caught ball to achieve the same trajectory.

Passing the Ball
From time to time you may find that you would rather use one flipper instead of the other to aim the ball at a target. In these situations, you can try a bounce pass or a hold pass.

Bounce Pass
When the ball is rolling at a medium speed toward the center of the flipper you don't want to use, do nothing. The ball will bounce off this flipper and onto your preferred flipper.

When the ball seems to be moving just a little too slowly to perform a bounce pass, try nudging the table from the bottom when the ball hits the flipper. The nudge should increase the ball's velocity and height.

Hold Pass
When the ball is rolling at a medium speed down the inlane toward the flipper you don't want to use, activate this flipper before the ball gets to it. On tables with longer flippers, the ball will leap to the flipper you want.

When the ball is moving swiftly down the inlane, repeat the previous steps, but drop the flipper before the ball reaches the top of the flipper to make sure the ball doesn't leap so high that it rebounds off other playfield objects.

Saving the Ball
If you're a beginner, you might feel like there is no way to stop the ball from leaving the playfield once it begins to pass between the flippers. However, with a few practiced techniques, you can keep your ball on the playfield for longer gameplay and higher scores. Try one of the following techniques.

Double Flip
When your ball is about to pass between the flippers and off the playfield, try a double flip. Activate the flipper closest to the ball, and then immediately activate the other flipper. Usually, this will send the ball back up into the playfield at an angle from which you will be better able to save it. Be sure to release the flippers immediately after you activate them or you might block your ball's only escape route.

Slap Shot
If your ball is about to pass between the flippers and off the playfield, try a slap shot. Quickly nudge the table from the side closest to the ball and activate the corresponding flipper at the same time. Nudging the table moves the ball closer to the flipper and the quick flip slaps the ball away from the out hole.

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