Reading the balls path and trajectory is hard to convey sometimes. I do the preemptive nudge as well, it was just a skill I sort of picked up over time. I learned to recognize what seemed like danger and what didn’t, but it would be hard for me to put into words when exactly that is. It varies on game to game and it’s sort of a feeling when I know “uh oh this isn’t good”.
We need a book similar to “The inner game of Tennis” for pinball!
A lot of that just boils down to observing the playfield and the nuances to it before plunging ball 1 and then confirming or myth busting general observations while watching others in your group play. The mental checklist of observing one’s arena goes a long ways in anticipating ball movement.
One current example I have are slow rollers to the loop of GZ will come back out, hit the rubber below the mystery target and go right outlane. So I know now to nudge hard at that rubber to send it more towards the pop bumper instead.
@ABE_FLIPS another use of the wicked shimmy is for scoop kickouts that consistently put the ball in danger (typically SDTM, but also possible for having a kickout go to a sling rather than clean to your flippers).
In this case, you very gently shimmy the machine just before, and until the coil fires, essentially creating just enough random motion on the ball to have it do anything OTHER than the typical consistent bad kickout.
Whoa, never thought of doing this but makes sense. What are some examples you’ve seen? Jackbot maybe?
Any game with a kickout. I’ve done it on Paragon to try and get more letters all the way to Dialed In when the phone decides to throw it down the middle every now and then.
A similar situation is in Walking Dead when the prison magnet grabs the ball after the second hit and drops it SDTM. A little shake as the magnet releases will prevent the SDTM.
Most recently was RBION at Free Play. Fun times.
Another game where it’s good to nudge before the ‘kickout’ is the start of GZ mb on a premium or LE. No nudge, two and sometimes all three go SDTM. A little wiggle and you can keep all three in play.
Also, those nudges aren’t wicked shimmies in my book. To me, a wicked shimmy is only done in the outlanes.
I’m not sure how much I have seen this move of Robert’s done (and I don’t think I do it), but it makes a lot of sense.
Something similar I have seen is a sort of side-to-side wiggle shaking of a game when the ball is not in contact with anything but the playfield, most often by Jeffrey Newman of Reno, and most often on slow-rolling EM and SS playfields in anticipation of a center drain, and maybe for a ball headed towards a dangerous slingshot too. I don’t really do this at all, but I likely would benefit from adding it to my arsenal of moves. Although it’s back and forth in both directions, this side-to-side shaking might need to be done more heavily in one direction to guide the ball sideways and away from danger.
The new clip with the nudging on the JP is one very good example of the need for preemptive nudging in some places; I especially like the side-by-side comparison. Some AIQ games require the exact same sort of nudge from the right loop.
The anticipatory nudging can happen anywhere on any particular game’s playfield, so it’s hard to teach it, and getting really good at it comes with a lot of experience on a lot of games, and careful attention to the less obvious places balls can begin to lead to the danger of draining later. I think your clip above and some more explanation of anticipatory nudging — and I feel you already sort of mention the idea in your first nudging video — will help make viewers aware of the important concept of these preemptive pre-save opportunities.
I’m so impressed and pleased by how you’re applying yourself so fully to this great project!
Jeff is an awesome player and a hell of a nice guy. He goes by Jeffrey on the IFPA site, but his last name is spelled Neumann, if anyone wants to look him up.
Thanks, that made everything clear for me, nothing more to say. 
There will be more examples in the video, with graphics and dashed lines explaining how to read the balls path and trajectory.
I hope I’m doing justice to the pinball enthusiats with these in-depth-tutorials… also hoping to get some young and hungry tournamet players on board in the future, to make it more challenging for the old guard 
For someone newer to pinball that has played only 15 different games, your skills are incredibly impressive. Your videos are great and having someone like Andrei involved in this thread shows that you’re doing justice to this difficult task! Keep up the great work!
Here is the unfinished video again and it will be released in a few days if you dont have anything to complain about.
Love your videos Abe! Keep it up!
Great as usual!
Best pinball tutorial video I have watched.
Wish I had seen it years ago!
Would love a follow up to the ‘accuracy’ video, as that is an area I can’t seem to improve.
Every missed shot results in having to use above skills, so better accuracy would be a nicer option.
I just wanted to thank you all for the support. Nearly a Year has passed since I started with the series and I am so happy with the result! You welcomed me very well here 
I just found out that I made it to the TWIPY’s nominees! Even if the competition is much bigger than my little project, I am already very proud at this point.
Even though we have uncovered the most important skills there is enough content for the future and I’m looking forward to it.
Thank you all and a happy new year!
@ABE_FLIPS Hey man you earned it! I appreciate the level of seriousness and professionalism that you brought to this. It’s great to show players these videos because they really do help. I think things like this is better for the sport to be taken in a more professional tone which I appreciate. No clickbait, no shock value, just a real “hey these are real skills”. Keep it up, your hard work is heavily appreciated.
Hey there, the latest video will be released in a few hours!
Unfortunately I have no thumbnail ready, so dont take it too serious 
I think it turned out well, after I used a different skill order in the video.
Let me know how you like it.
