To have a better chance of winning a duel, score as many points as possible each time you shoot. Focus on hitting at least one orange peg. Ignore the ball count.
Gold buttons
Gold buttons can clear obstacles and also bring them back.
Pearl the octopus
Pearl the octopus's special power allows her to catch shots with her tentacles. Caught shots will not count as a lost. Use this feature to have her catch and re-shoot from the side to reach difficult pegs.
Pegs
Purple pegs will shuffle during each turn. Purple pegs will result in more points, but will disappear at the end of every turn. Aim for them if they are not too difficult to reach.
Phoenix eggs
Phoenix eggs that are caught by the Free Ball bucket will hatch instantly. Otherwise, Phoenix eggs will hatch after they are hit with a ball three. When Phoenix egg are suspended by pegs, bank a shot off the wall. Try banking the shots off the wall to keep the balls as high as possible.
Restore lives
Quit the game and remove the app's usage from your device's memory cache. Then, advance the time on your device as many hours as desired to regain all your lives. Afterwards, set the time back to its correct value. Note: This will also allow you to instantly unlock new stages without waiting.
Shooting
Hold a shot until the magnifying glass appears. This will allow your shots to become more accurate. Try to aim for the shot bonuses, such as the long shot bonus, the sliding bonus, and extra points awarded by the purple peg. If possible, use Super Guide to get to hard to reach pegs for extra points.
Sliding
Position the ball inside the first block of a "loop" which is formed with flat pegs in a half-circle. They can be cleared with a single ball if done correctly. Aim the ball at the first brick on the inside of the loop. If aimed correctly, your shot will slide instead of bounce. This will also result in bonus points.