I recall shake/tilt was most useful in the sections of the field where rolling over a sensor would toggle a light, and lighting all three toggles yielded a prize.
There is one cluster at the top centre, and another in the left purple platform. The ball is moving slowly enough here that a nudge can send to one toggle or the other.
I bought this knowledge with my uni gpa, NO RAGRETS.
you are correct in what you say, but the other thing you need to do is hit the flippers, not to impact the ball but because they rotate the lights that are on and off (your goal being to light all three) so if you see the ball rolling toward an on-lite, rotate them till it's an off light. nudging the table is bit more useful to get repeated bounces off the bumpers near by
Possibly because it's easier to approximate the ball's position moving vs the table than simulating the table's position in space moving (which is what happens in real life with a nudge?) and the ball's trajectory not altering?