Imagine you're gripping the handlebars of a bike - you can push it a little bit laterally, but much more by leaning into a turn. Gripping the side of the machine to nudge works in the same way - you can slap it a little bit to get the ball going off its designed trajectory, but you have to use your legs and core to get it to move a lot, and if the game is set tight that will usually set off the tilt warnings.