I can’t disagree with any of that, but I will point out that Rick Stetta won Papa and lots of other tourneys with nothing resembling any conventional stance. He’s likely the most animated successful player ever. If you play a few games with him, you’ll forget about your own stance completely. If dude can dance like that and still kick ass, I should be able to stand relatively still and kick ass. d;^)
The cool part about it was (and still is) that Rick wasn’t dancing to any songs in his head. Never was a big music fan. He was dancing strictly to the game. When Rick gets locked in, he’s more focused than any player I’ve ever met. Don’t bother talking to him. He won’t hear it. Dancing all over the place, yet totally locked in. Rick taught me that focus is way more important than stance.
Although not specifically stance related. Was watching the coverage from California Extreme yesterday and noticed something about @sk8ball that I hadn’t noticed before. During his 400m game on NASCAR, watch how many times he wipes his hands on his shorts, it’s literally after every shot that doesn’t return straight away to the flippers. Is this a conscious thing Keith?
My stance is narrow but long - I extend one leg and put the other back, with maybe 2-3 feet or so between my feet. This gives me a solid base and lets me view the playfield from a shallower angle, which for me is helpful to see everything that’s going on. I feel a more upright stance has me looking too sharply down since I’m a little over 6 feet tall.
The drawback is that this gets tiring after a while and I need to shift position, but fortunately it’s just swapping my feet. It can also cause issues in more cramped quarters where I don’t have a lot of room to extend.
There’s been mention of casual and power stances, but do any of you have a stance you go into when you’re having a lot of fun?
I don’t really think about my stance much… except to notice if I’m too close or far from the machine, and I try to keep equal pressure on my feet.
When I’m enjoying a game though, I tend to swing a leg around with the shots I make. I sway a little and laugh a lot. I lean in more to line up shots and then pop up and continue swaying.
Stance shows so much in how a person is feeling. I find myself rooting often for the person that looks like they’re having the most fun.
Its funny because for all the years I’ve been seeing people wiping their hands and the lockdown bar and everything, I’ve never once lost a ball because my hands slipped as far as I can remember. Is this something that happens to other people?
The reason why I do it is more of a way to reset my stance and get ready for the next mode or multiball. Helps reset my mind too and get focused again.
It’s not about slipping but rather comfort level. When I play at home there is no intensity so my hands don’t get clammy when I play unlike the pressure of finals. So to me it feels weird so I wipe them off whenever I can.
I see people wiping the bar with their t-shirts and I think that’s a little eww. But then I appreciate somebody’s doing a little housekeeping.
I don’t sweat very much. I guess it’s hard to imagine how much others sweat. You gotta do what you gotta do. I haven’t very often walked up to sweaty buttons. If it became an issue I might bring a towel around.
Depends on how hot it is - yesterday at Shorty’s it was so hot I was dripping sweat onto the pinball machines, ugh. I felt gross about it but for some reason Seattle doesn’t believe in air conditioning. I’ve definitely lost my grip to a damp lockbar trying to save an errant ball, though.
This happens on my forehead a little bit. If it’s an intense game I have to adjust my glasses and dry off the bridge of my nose often where the pads on my glasses touch it. It’s also a nervous tick before I step up to a game or during breaks.
Here’s one from the pittsburgh pinball factory which can get a little warm
Had the same thing happening with my glasses. It was bad enough to the point that I would go to push up my glasses even if I didn’t have them on! I went to my eye doctor recently and told them this. They fitted me with new glasses that have rubberized stems (oakleys), that stay snug on my head no matter how much forehead and nose swear I get.
I can always tell what’s happening on the playfield by watching Robert’s stance…except for this one at PAPA 19 on IM. I have no idea what caused Robert to be so far from the game.
Aah, I know! We were gonna go but we got stuck downtown after the game and couldn’t make it. I’m glad this city is slowly picking up on the miracles of air conditioning, haha.
