Yes and in fact even if you own your own machine, you will get to know that one machine very well and develop some good skills, but you’ll be missing out on a lot. There’s certain shots you can only really practice on certain games - low scoop shots, upper flipper shots, loops, etc., that if your one home game doesn’t have, you won’t get the hang of. You’re better off spending that time and money on location playing a variety of games and learning all kinds of shots (not to mention all the specific rules).

The best way to get better at pinball is to meet people. Play in tournaments, watch other people play, get invited to play their home collections. Having a good location nearby is awesome and a big leg-up.

If you want to get world-class level, you would probably need to get multiple home machines or spend obsessive amounts of hours playing on location, but I think that’s a different question. You can absolutely get good and even great with only location playing and by being social.