# 12year old, self-taught for 1 years. Hit a clean 90s routine at Spirit Contest but missed podium. Need advice to level up! **URL:** \ **Category:** General Yo-Yo\ **Created:** [November 8, 2026, 5:09am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/12year-old-self-taught-for-1-years-hit-a-clean-90s-routine-at-spirit-contest-but-missed-podium-need-advice-to-level-up/456389 "2026-11-08T05:09:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![xu19671967](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/b5e925/32.png) [@xu19671967](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/xu19671967)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2026, 5:09am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/12year-old-self-taught-for-1-years-hit-a-clean-90s-routine-at-spirit-contest-but-missed-podium-need-advice-to-level-up/456389/1 "2026-11-08T05:09:28Z")
Hi everyone, My 12-year-old son has been self-teaching yo-yo for 1 years (mostly using YouTube). He just competed in his very first contest—the Spirit Yo-Yo Contest in SoCal. He managed to hit a 100% clean 90-second routine with absolutely zero drops/restarts, which we are incredibly proud of! However, since he has never had a coach or any guidance on contest scoring, he didn’t score high enough for a good rank. We realize he might be lacking “trick density” or missing the elements that professional judges look for (the clickers). Here is the video of his routine:[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AhhfVsw9qYU&pp=iggCQAE%3D](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AhhfVsw9qYU&pp=iggCQAE%3D) He loves yo-yoing so much and wants to prepare for next year. We would deeply appreciate any constructive feedback on his trick selection, speed, and how to structure a higher-scoring freestyle. Thank you so much! ---
**Author:** ![suspense](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/suspense/32/178499_2.png) [@suspense](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/suspense)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2026, 6:37am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/12year-old-self-taught-for-1-years-hit-a-clean-90s-routine-at-spirit-contest-but-missed-podium-need-advice-to-level-up/456389/2 "2026-11-08T06:37:33Z")
If he wants to score higher in contests there’s a lot of factors and I don’t really have too much info or help on some of them. If he really wants to improve then I would recommend looking up some top players who offer lessons. To preface, I don’t compete, though, I am surrounded by people who do compete, and through listening to their conversations I have learned a lot over the years. I’ll parrot some points to help out. If I’m wrong, someone please feel free to correct me. You have to go clean, if you can’t hit the trick 90% of the time, then it’s better to remove it from your routine. Just imagine, 1 click is better than 0, or a neg. You’re misunderstanding what “100% Clean” means, I am not trying to bash your kid because he did very well, but within the first few seconds he missed at least 3-4 tricks. That’s “dropping” the yoyo, or missing your trick, which won’t score. So his priority should be focusing on landing his tricks from his routine as clean as possible. Pressure from the stage can affect your ability to go clean, so if he’s up to it, I’d have him perform infront of strangers or groups of people; otherwise the other option would be more contests to get more stage time. Trick density is really important. There’s the saying “clicks per second” This is like the concept of putting in a trick that scores 2 clicks, vs something that could get you 3 clicks in the same amount of time. It’s why a lot of routines have the same tricksets in them. It’s about efficiency, over time people have learned what the best tricks are to use in competition. That includes the above concept of going clean. If there’s a trick that can click for 3, but you can’t hit it consistently, then you have to sub in a trick that clicks for 2. It’s also why a lot of routines are done rather “fast” even if they’re not necessarily speed combos. The more tricks you can get into your routine, theoretically, the more clicks you can get. There’s a lot of points in your son’s routine where he rebounds the yoyo off the bottom of the string, this is what you would consider a waste of time. That scores 0, and instead of that, you could be putting a trick that clicks in that second. Another thing is that rail combos do not click anymore. So from 0:11 to 0:22 your son might get 1 click or even 0. That’s 10 seconds of a 90 second routine you’re getting 0 clicks. (I’m not completely sure if this is a 0 or if some judges would click it for a couple, but it’s likely 0) Trick clicks are somewhat… debatable. As time goes on, some tricks click for less than they would’ve a few years ago or even one year ago. There is a sort of “standard” that most of the community agrees upon, and again, why you see very similar tricksets in competition. If you throw out a complex trick then sometimes the judges don’t know exactly how to click it. They might under click it, which could cause you to lose points where you could’ve substituted a more common trick that you know for sure clicks for “x” amount vs. gambling on a trick that you’re unsure of what it clicks for. If you want to structure a better routine, I would have him study and copy routines of winners. I would take the top competitors and have him copy their routines. This would help him understand constructing a routine, but also allow him to learn what clicks and what doesn’t; so that he can focus on learning tricks that are guaranteed to click if he lands them. Thomas who won Spirit would be a good person for him to emulate, or someone closer to his age would be Geo. Of course, when he competes, he should structure his own routine, but I think having a baseline to go off of is important when you’re learning. Especially when you and your son (even me) don’t know what tricks click or which tricks are the most efficient. Again, hiring a pro to give your son some pointers, or lessons would help him a lot. You could have them help him understand how competition works, trick selection, routine construction, and help his overall performance in competition. ---
**Author:** ![xu19671967](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/b5e925/32.png) [@xu19671967](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/xu19671967)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2026, 7:16am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/12year-old-self-taught-for-1-years-hit-a-clean-90s-routine-at-spirit-contest-but-missed-podium-need-advice-to-level-up/456389/3 "2026-11-08T07:16:01Z")
Thank you so much for taking the time to watch my son’s video and provide such detailed and helpful feedback! I really appreciate your kindness and advice. Your explanation helped me better understand how competition scoring works and what Leon needs to improve. I will share your suggestions with him, especially about clean execution and trick density. Thank you again for your time and encouragement. It really means a lot to us! ---
**Author:** ![suspense](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/suspense/32/178499_2.png) [@suspense](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/suspense)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2026, 7:17am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/12year-old-self-taught-for-1-years-hit-a-clean-90s-routine-at-spirit-contest-but-missed-podium-need-advice-to-level-up/456389/4 "2026-11-08T07:17:55Z")
No problem, happy to help! Tell him that just going on stage is a win in itself and to be proud of how well he’s doing for only 1 year of playing. He’s got a lot of time to improve and supportive parents. Good luck!