New pinball skills tutorial videos: looking for feedback from high level players

On the microflip one, you handwave over slowing the ball down, and stopping the ball. Those could probably use more explanation for players.

Thanks for pointing that out. I thought about it too and decided to leave it this way since its not really part of the microflips. I also didn’t go into the back flips more since I will explain them in the upcoming video “aiming and shooting- advanced” clip. But I’m not sure where else this “slowing down” technique finds its place in my concept. Maybe I could include it into live catches since its the same physics and feeling, the ball just comes down the inlane instead.

Another part of my concept is to mark certain techniques during the clips which will be explained in a linked video. This way I could for example explain this “slowing down” technique in the linked live catch video.

I’ve heard it called a Bridge Pass… but Ski Jump seems to make a lot of sense too. I’ve never heard “Bop Over”. Guess this is the soda vs pop regional dialect debate of pinball. :smiley:

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The micro-flip that causes the ball to stop on a raised flipper is by far the most important skill here. It is especially useful during multiball when the other flipper is already cradling other balls in play. I have named this the “Ostemeier” during commentary because current IFPA World Champion, Johannes Ostemeier uses this technique more often and more effectively than anyone else before him. From what I’ve seen, It’s use to successfully cradle up during multiball has “exploded” in recent years led by Johannes’ success.

Which brings up a larger point, in my mind. There are plenty of “how to” videos to manage single ball play, but other than Pinball 101, I don’t think there is much content out there on the topic of multiball skills and management. This could be a whole section with demonstrating the techniques to get into the classic “Elwin” pose of 2 balls on one flipper, and one ball on the other, cradle separations of two balls and the three ball “snowman”, and the always enjoyable newton-to-micro-flip wash-rinse-repeat cycle, the classic over-under shot when you have two balls on the same flipper, and its rarely used cousin, the over-post-pass-under that Neil Shatz was so fond of. You could also demonstrate the technique where you break a cradle in order to shoot at another ball and hopefully change its direction of heading SDTM.

I think the content you’ve shared so far is top notch, but I would love to see some “deeper cuts” of the true skills that elevate the elite players above us mortals.

cheers,

Escher’s Dad

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Hey Adam, thanks for the detailed reply! Too bad Escher isn’t streaming anymore, i love his playstyle.

Regarding the Ostermeier, I heard that term already :slightly_smiling_face: and I saw that stream too. He lives only 2 hours away from here, but since I’m new to pinball and Covid has hit, i was never able to meet him or any other pinball player in person.

But- I wasn’t talking about the “Ostermeier” microflip ball stop there, I was talking about the moment beforehand- where the ball comes down the inlane and touches the flippers base. By hitting the ball at the same time you can take away its momentum and set up a more controlled microflip, since the ball loses momentum and doesn’t bounce much on its way to the tip. Just holding up the flipper while the ball rolls down the inlane leads to a bouncy ball. I hope I made myself clear, english isn’t my first language.

Your multiball idea is quite inspiring and makes sense. I think I will divide those into basics and advanced, this way new players don`t get too much confused.

There are some quite complex techniques you are describing, most of them I can understand and pull off with enough tries. The last one you described starts with two balls, micro flipping one up the sling and doing an air-defence with the second ball right?
And I’m not sure what the three ball snowman is- a three ball “triangle” seperation from one flipper?

I’m not familiar with the history of pinball and how the skills have developed over time, it’s awesome to get such knowledge directly from you. This whole thread alone is gold for me :muscle:

EDIT: after re-reading the whole subject, I will put more emphasis on the Ball Stops!

Thank You!

Ah. I see. And if the ball slows down enough to cradle, we call that a “Stern Catch” because it’s easy to do on a number of newer Stern games. The right ramp of AC/DC is notorious for the Stern catch, because if you can do that and backhand the right ramp, as we all discovered at PAPA one year, you can play that game for a very, long, time. The cousin of this catch is the “Post Catch” where you flip a bit later than the Stern Catch with the hopes that the ball traps itself between the raised flipper and the bottom of the sling shot. The post catch is another tremendously useful skill in multiball play and we see it more and more from players at the top. In this past pandemic year, Karl DeAngelo has streamed a lot on twitch, and has a new set of maneuvers that are mesmerizing to watch and incredibly effective in regathering all the balls in multiball. I call his moves “The Valet”. During multiball, when a ball in play is returning to a flipper with balls already cradled there, Karl will micro-flip the cradled balls - in essence, to move them out of the way to better make room for the newly arriving ball. Much like a Valet in a parking lot will move the existing cars around in order to make room for another car, lol. While it doesn’t always work, I think it gives him a better-than-average chance of recradling all the balls during multiball and it’s a thing of beauty. I think many players would try and quick-flip the incoming ball to send it back into play while keeping the cradle ball still cradled, but Karl’s ability to park the ball is a much better option, in my opinion. So many high level skills out there… good luck!

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Thanks for the explaination! I`m not sure yet how far i will go with the terminolgy on this, but I added your “Ostermeier” :slightly_smiling_face:

I just learned “the Valet” too a few weeks ago of the DeAngelos streams. It really makes a difference because it prevents the kinetic energy to conect with the cradled ball which would cause the ball to roll up the flipper forcing a flick pass. It is a micro flip too you use there but i will add that in the multiball video.

Here is the latest clip.

cheers

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This is crazy good. Perfect videos for me to introduce someone to pinball. Keep it up!

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That is an amazing comprehensive video on aiming. Well done.

The only thing I would have added would have been a segment describing how aiming your shot from flailing away (not a rolling feed) drastically decreases your chance of hitting your desired shot, due to the additional variables introduced with that style of shot: incoming ball speed, angle of approach, ball spin, and the timing of when the flipper strikes the ball on an inconsistent incoming vector.

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Wow these are awesome! Have you posted them on pinside or anywhere yet? Everyone who wants to better their pinball game should probably watch these!

I`m really thankful for your feed back, this helps alot, also @beyndtstng and @raydaypinball

This is the first part of two, called basics, the second part is the advanced one, where I will explain all of your well thought points! I also don’t want to make the videos too long, the basics one is already quite long.

Upcoming videos now will take longer since i have to research, write and record all of this. I try to make a video every 2 to 3 weeks depending on private factors, posting the unofficial clip here first. The current videos will be released officially in a few weeks, those short clips are ment to be shared on mobile devices and in forums too, which hopefully gets more people into pinball. I`m not sure yet how I will promote the series, but according to your feedback this may be the easy part :smile:

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I suggest renaming this thread to “New pinball skills tutorial videos” or something like that. These are really good, and I would especially want all players to check out this thread and the videos – and not only experienced players. :slight_smile:

I agree with this suggestion and have updated the topic title! I kept the “looking for feedback” portion since that’s the thread’s specific purpose, but hopefully the “new pinball videos” part is eye-catching.

I don’t have any specific feedback right now, but just wanted to throw in my +1 that the production quality and information provided are really nice!

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Fantastic work and very impressive skills for somebody who’s only played for two years.

(In my mind “the Ostermeier” is when you have what seems like an out of control ball, near but not on a flipper, and you casually shove it into the opposing inlane area)

@JSZ thank you, are you talking about the nudge pass,

or the flick- or tip pass?

thanks for the animations @DEADFLIP

the upcoming video will be drop catches and variations of it.

Can anyone help me with the terminolgy of this variation, i call it tip- or spring shot.
here my explaination:
A Tip shot is a drop catch but done on the very tip of the flipper, followed up by an instant shot. You can gain that little bit of extra reach on the flipper and it`s a very fun shot! In timed modes it can come in handy to get a last chance for a shot. It also works well to counter rejected ramp shots or very fast rebounding balls from targets.

cheers

Neither of those, by “shove” I really meant a kind of on-the-fly Shatz in a situation where most people would just flail the ball away. I chose this word because when he does it it looks so easy it’s like he just puts the ball there. If you watch the IFPA videos of him you will see this constantly.

now i got you, thank you!

I don’t think this one has a common name. Tip shot seems good. Or tip drop shot (TDS) maybe.