Flippers Skills: Cradle Seperation
After watching hours of competition videos, it’s clear to see that Keith Elwin is the master of flipper skills. I mean he practically wrote the tutorial book on how to flip. Keith can drop catch, post pass, loop pass and live catch with such ease, it’s almost as if he’s controlling the ball with his mind. Timballs reckons Keith is capable of time travel.
One thing I noticed in particular, is Elwin’s persistence at getting proper control during multiball. I say proper in the most distinct sense of the word. He doesn't JUST want to get control, he’s going for a certain number of balls on each flipper. He’s getting control with very specific intention; proper aim + insurance. If there’s a shot for a jackpot that’s best achievable from the right flipper, he may want one ball on the right flipper and one (or sometimes 2-3) on the left (as a kind of insurance). Now he’s able to shoot for that jp and if the shot is missed, there’s an extra ball waiting on the other flipper. This kind of passing/control takes a lot of patience and a lot of practice.
Cradle separation has always been a bit elusive to me. If it goes wrong, I flip too hard and end up sending the ball up, over the slings and down the outlane. OR I flip too soft, sending the ball into the slings to be tossed around. Usually it’s best to start soft and go from there. If post-passing has occurred already during a game, usually that gives one a good gauge on the power/capability of the flippers.
Again, like with any flipper skills practice, it’s good to go out, find some free-play machines and just work on that specific skill. So get out there and practice!