WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT PINBALL, YOU'RE GOING TO LEARN.
Training, secrets, and the full athlete's system from Jason Zahler, three-time IFPA World Champion, the threepeat, and Steve Zahler, the coach-dad who built him.
3-PEAT WORLD CHAMPION ★ 3X CONSECUTIVE PINBURGH CHAMP ★ THE PINBALL DIET ★ THE PERFECT WARM-UP ★ SDTM IS A LIE ★ READ THE BALL ★ THE SECRET TAPES ★ AGE DOESN'T MATTER ★
3-PEAT WORLD CHAMPION ★ 3X CONSECUTIVE PINBURGH CHAMP ★ THE PINBALL DIET ★ THE PERFECT WARM-UP ★ SDTM IS A LIE ★ READ THE BALL ★ THE SECRET TAPES ★ AGE DOESN'T MATTER ★
The Story
A dad, a kid, and three straight World Championships
A dad lifts the glass off a pinball machine and starts placing the ball by hand for his kid. Years later, that kid is ranked #1 of the 70,000+ competitive pinball players on Earth, with three consecutive World Championships. Players keep asking us how. So we're finally writing it all down.
Jason Zahler
World #1 of 70,000+ · 3× World Champion
Playing since age one and a half, competing since childhood, studying nutrition and exercise science in college, and now the only player to threepeat the IFPA World Championship. As of July 2026 he's also the only player ever to win the Pinburgh World Match-Play Championship three years in a row. He'll show you the saves that look like magic, and prove they aren't. Still hasn't beaten his dad at PAC-MAN (some records take longer to threepeat).
Taekwondo guy, owner of Modern Pinball NYC, where he taught lessons and ran classes for school groups. Glass-off drills, warm-ups, sleep schedules: he coached Jason like a taekwondo drill sergeant, and now puts the same regimen in your inbox. Once did seven minutes on FOX's Good Day New York, then caught a flight to Germany for IFPA10.
Started competingAGE 41
PAPA A Division finalsMONTHS LATER
Peak world ranking#19 · AT AGE 55
NJ State Champion2013
Ranked #1 · NY & NJ2012 & 2013
AGE DOESN'T MATTER
It cuts both ways. Jason played his first tournament at age 7 and won his first at age 9, against players multiple times his age. (That same year, he and his sister Maxine were featured on NBC's TODAY Show with Lester Holt.)
Meanwhile, Steve started competitive pinball at 41 and achieved his highest world ranking 14 years later, beating players half, even a quarter, his age. Whatever your age, you're not too late. You're right on time.
Pinball University with Jason & Steve
What you're going to learn
Not just flipper tricks. The complete system: the same one that built a world champion.
FLIPPERS & PHYSICS
Master the ball itself, on any machine: electromechanical (EM), solid state, or modern.
Saves that look like magic (most drains only look unsaveable)
Read the ball before it reaches your flippers
Playfield physics: learn which shots give you safe ball returns
Rubbers, bounces, and the right way to shake the machine
TOURNAMENT CRAFT
How Jason qualifies #1, and how to survive every format.
Entry management, game selection & player order
The Little Black Book: their tournament note system
Venue conditions & climate, before you plunge
Format playbooks, TD diplomacy, travel planning
BODY & BRAIN
The part nobody else teaches. Pinball is a sport. Train like it.
The Perfect Pinball Warm-up (taekwondo-derived, no gym)
The Pinball Diet, hydration & the sleep pattern that peaks at finals
The Pinball Mindset: zen, breathing, staying calm under pressure (Steve did an NBC spot on this)
Energy management for 11-hour tournament days (sometimes over several days)
What lands in your inbox
Things you'll wish someone had told you years ago
Not vague advice. The specific stuff (the moves, the routines, the tournament habits) that took Jason and Steve thousands of games to figure out so you don't have to.
SAVESThe save that looks like magic
Most balls headed straight down the middle only look that way. Learn to see the lean, and what your hands should already be doing.
VISIONRead the ball before it reaches your flippers
Knowing the future has its rewards. Rubber types, bounce angles, and where the ball is going next.
BODYThe Perfect Pinball Warm-up
Taekwondo-derived, takes minutes, needs no equipment. Steve and Jason do it before every tournament day.
BRAINThe sleep pattern that peaks you at finals
Most of this game is mental. Sleep, caffeine (OR NOT), hydration, and focus, timed so you're sharpest when it counts.
STRATEGYHow Jason qualifies #1 almost every time
Entry management, game selection, and "which games to avoid." (A lot of it is situational. He'll explain that too.)
NERVEPlaying calm when everything is loud
Breathing, tilt discipline, handling pressure. Play calm and carry on.
NEW ON THE FLOORReviews of new machines
Rules breakdowns and early strategy before you waste your first game guessing.
"Love this. I've been practicing it already and now I'm inspired to keep at it!"
Jess Salzman · OMG Pinball
"Nothing has improved my game more than just stopping and taking a deep breath whenever the chance presents itself. Thanks for that, changed my life."
Hugh Newmark · Whatcom Pinball League
PLAYER 1 · ENTER EMAIL TO BEGIN TRAINING
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Jason had no idea. Steve wanted his son's real, unfiltered reaction: what actually went down at the IFPA World Championship, in private, champion to coach, son to dad.
ZP-001 · iPHONE MEMO · UNEDITED
No cameras. No interviews. Just the truth. Not released yet. They go out by email, to the list, before anywhere else.
Yes. Signing up is free, and every new edition lands in your inbox free. Some day there may be paid extras: back issues, courses, coaching, an emergency pinball hotline (really). The tips keep showing up either way.
I'm a beginner. Too early?
No. The fundamentals are where champions are made. Steve coached Jason from age one and a half. If you can reach the flippers, you're ready.
I'm already ranked. Too late?
Also no. Tournament craft, qualification strategy, energy management: this is the layer above flipper skills. It's the part most ranked players never train.
One more time, for the players in the back
What they know about pinball, you're going to learn.
No fluff, no fixed schedule. Just the secrets of a three-time world champion and his coach dad. Free.
The Newsletter
JOIN PLAYER ONE'S INBOX
Straight-shooting tips, tournament secrets, new-game strategy before it hits the scene, and interviews with champions. Subscribers get everything first.
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Same newsletter as above. We just saved you the scroll back up. Free. No spam. No drains. Unsubscribe anytime.
Pinball needs more than machines. It needs the people who organize tournaments, share what they know, fix what breaks, and give players a place to play. Jason and Steve have learned from plenty of them over the years. This section is for them.
PLAY COMPETITIVELY
THE IFPA
The International Flipper Pinball Association maintains the world rankings, oversees the World Championship, and sanctions thousands of events worldwide. It's where Jason entered his first ranked tournament at age seven, where Steve entered his at 41, and where both learned how competitive a game with two buttons could get.
Find tournaments near you
Enter your first sanctioned event
Get a world ranking of your own
Yes, your first event counts
WATCH & LEARN
WORTH WATCHING
People, projects, and channels putting real time into teaching, documenting, and covering pinball. Jason and Steve still watch, listen, and learn. That part never stops, no matter where a player is ranked.
Pinball is better loud, crowded, and slightly too competitive. Most pinball stories, including the one on this site, begin with someone showing up to a local event.
Pinball communities and forums. Deep knowledge, strong opinions.
Bring a friend. Somebody has to see the improvement.
FINAL BALL · DON'T LET THIS ONE DRAIN
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Same newsletter as the forms above. One signup covers everything. Free. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.