Kickers

A general category of solenoid-powered playfield devices that propel the ball when it strikes them or rolls into their range. The Slingshots are the most common and recognizable type of kicker, but the category encompasses any mechanism that uses a solenoid to kick the ball from one location to another. Kickers add energy to the ball’s motion and unpredictability to its path — the player triggers them by proximity rather than by aimed shots, and the resulting kick can send the ball in directions the player did not intend. They have been a staple of playfield design since the earliest flipper-era machines.