“Don’t root against your opponents! You’ll get bad karma that way.”
One of the bigger things that’s stuck with me on this topic so far, and its nice to hear a bit more behind that quote.
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Gah, so much this. I think it’s such a fine line between not taking it too seriously and not taking it seriously enough. I’m firmly in the latter camp right now, shouldering that apathy pretty hard without the results to show for a “relaxed” game 
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This is a super relevant topic to me. I have a very hard time not getting down when I don’t play as well as I think I should be playing. I also tend to get worried that I am effecting the other players around me. Like they might think I am mad at them, or upset that they are playing better then me, but that is never the case. I get paranoid that I am being a bad sport! And possibly effecting other peoples moods around me. So I have been working on trying to be more chill about my own play, while still maintaining the focus I need to try and play better. It is such a hard balance to achieve.
Our local group has taken to chanting “I LOVE PINBALL!” whenever they feel that they are not playing well, often other players join in for a bit. This does a couple of things, it is breaks you out of your bad mood and it lets the other players know that you feel down but are not upset at anyone else, plus it reminds you that you all are playing together at something fun.
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I have a name for the creeping anxiety that takes hold and makes my brain fart. I call it “the rust”. The rust slowly (and sometimes not so slowly) takes hold and builds up. Shots that were made easily seem impossible. Repeated shots that miss make the rust build faster. Sometimes I can find the flow even when I feel the rust creep in, but it feels like an 80/20% towards the losing side. The rust is a formidable opponent.
Since then, I have learned to catch the ball, breathe, take a drink and focus on relaxing. The mental visualization I use is a moonlit pool that is disturbed by the drops of distracting thoughts. When I get back to seeing the reflection of the moon without any distractions, I get back to the task at hand. This can take a few moments, sometimes 10-20 seconds of zen-like focus. Breathe deeply, relax, draw the heart rate down, let the rust wash away. More mental visualization to get me back to a better place to play pinball, or do just about anything else for that matter…
But even then, the rust is wily and can trick you into it’s waiting maw with just one mistake. Anxiety shoots through the roof and I have to reel it in once again. Does anyone here have any specific techniques to deal with this anxious state and get back to the flow zone as quickly as possible?
Thank you in advance.
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You mentioned breathing already but, more specifically, take a slow, long exhale. We tend to hold our breaths when we feel anxious so taking a mindful exhale can “reset” things.
Sidenote: Someone needs to write a Zen Meditation for Pinball book.
While they’re are some things you can do, what gets each person into the zone tends to be different. Re-centering yourself with slow breathing and a calm visualization seems to work for you.
I think it’s important to understand and accept that there will be days you cannot access that higher level of playing. I’ve said this before in another post, but I’m a juggler. We call the zone “flow” and it’s when you make fluid movements one after another with no wasted effort.
In pinball, juggling, or any competitive game, there are many conditions that may have to align to help you achieve the zone. Are you hungry/dehydrated? How’s your mood that day? Are you having fun? These are some conditions of mine that have to be met if I want to enter the zone. I’m not positive yet, but I’m pretty sure there are distinct triggers to access it as well. When I get pumped watching other players do well it makes me want to do well also. I know I’m on the right track when I start laughing upon drain. 
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That’s a very interesting concept (the imagining of the pool reflecting the moon), I’m going to give that a go.
Something that I practiced in order to ‘attempt’ to improve accuracy, is what’s called Quiet Eye (https://calm201.wordpress.com/2012/05/11/quiet-eye-what-is-it-and-where-does-it-come-from/). It’s a technique used by people who play high level sports, police etc for improving their ability to hit a shot.
I can honestly say that it works for me, and has improved my accuracy by a good margin. I will say though, I was coming from a very low base - my accuracy has always been the worst aspect of my game. My biggest issue with the Quiet Eye technique is effectively using the technique. I often don’t allow myself time to do it properly as I’m eager to keep some kind of imagined momentum going, or I’m too caught up in thinking the players in my game are impatient and want me to keep going… Which can often be true to be honest.
It’s really satisfying though to use that technique to line up a shot in a very considered manner, and watch it fly off exactly where you wanted it. I’d recommend people give it a try. Maybe it’ll work for you, maybe not.
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Often when missing a lot of shots, I’ve felt like I noticed that I was failing to actually look at my targets enough/at all. Even on machines I’ve played 100s of times and feel like I know like the back of my hand, it still seems very important to keep actually looking at the target.
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Remember Chow Yun Fat doing this in Hardboiled when he shoots the bullet? The editing kinda takes that point of view. Any of you read that book on horseback archery?
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"Jackpot!"
They show him lift his arm thrice. I imagine that they got that coverage as a matter of course and the idea of letting us see like a previsualization/mental rehearsal/spot-the-landing happened in the editing. Otherwise this might be a slow-motion sequence to show us how finely tuned Inspector Tequila’s control over shooting stuff would be.
Those old Woo movies are wicked sick!
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Truth. Hard Boiled is one of the greatest action movies ever made, but all his HK output was pretty stellar.
This way off topic and it’s Jackie Chan focused, but it illustrates many of the reasons HK Action Cinema of the 80s and 90s was amazing while the transition to Hollywood didn’t work (except for Face/Off which is great despite Travolta+Cage): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1PCtIaM_GQ
Second half is the best part, but it’s only 9 minutes so just watch it all 
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I love this YouTube channel! This dude has given me a deeper appreciation for filmmaking.
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I’m not familiar with the scene, but a common thing in Asian media, if an action is particularly important and/or dramatic, is to show it happening three times, each time from a different angle.
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What has worked best for me is not to play to win or play for fun but to play to be a skilled pinball player. Sometimes I imagine that I’m being filmed for a tutorial or playing in a big event where everyone is expecting for me to make the right move. I drain when I become lazy or impatient and lose control of the ball. I’m not being timed (unless it’s literally a hurry up) so there isn’t any reason for me to not take my time and catch the ball or pass it to whatever flipper it takes to make the easiest shot. It’s also helped me to not know or care about my opponents skill level.
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Oh, that is good.
I’ve done this too, it usually doesn’t work
But it does take the edge off!