Not to discredit your ability, but LOTR is well known as a long ball time pin.
I'll have days where I play mine for 45 minutes a game. Skill might have something to do with it, but learning ball travel helps a lot. I speak generally, but for instance if you have a clean shot around the orbit you simply hold up the adjacent flipper. A clean shot from right to left: hold up left flipper and the ball will either bounce into the Shire, or hit right above the Shire come down hitting top of sling and then down to flipper. If you reverse this scenario, (MAJORALLY depends on if the ball hugs the orbit rail or strays a bit from it) the ball will hit the right flipper and end up going in the direction of palantir, the Gimli VUK or hit the posts to the Aragorn ramp.
Learn to cradle/stall the balls when in multi ball. Also, a good strategy to use is always start a ring mode BEFORE you start a movie multi ball.
Nudging is MANDATORY! Don;t let the ball volly between the slings because you're asking for a drain. I've noticed if the ball hits the guide rail right above the shire (Next to the Arwen plastic area) your chances of a SDTM drain is almost a certainty. Also getting a ball stuck behind Balrog, when he closes nudge the hell out of that machine as the ball has a tendency to hit the left sling and shoot to the opposite drain.
LOTR is by far one of the best pins ever made IMHO.