2A Discussion Thread

General Yo-Yo
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At BAC in 2013, Anthony Rojas did 2A, which I was surprised, but then I remembered that RecRev made the Reverbs.

Josh Yee was still throwing Yomega Raider EX’s at CalStates 2013, despite being sponsored by Mad House. He was also using I think YYJ RexTreme’s for 4A. He’s an “iron-wolf”, and if the company doesn’t make the type of stuff he needs, he has to go elsewhere.

What I find a bit odd is that Mickey(Hiroyuki Suzuki), who owns and operates sOMEThING, is proficient in all 5 styles. He’s designed killer 1A/5A yoyos, and some are better for 3A than others. 3 styles covered right there. His Jet Set is by far one of my favorite off-strings, but it’s expensive, so out comes the budget-friendly Jet Set EC, which I also like and enjoy.

I think you see where I am going next: He doesn’t have a 2A yoyo as a product available yet. This completely makes your point as one of many examples.

YYJ and YYF I think are the current front-runners in the 2A game. Thank goodness Duncan and Yomega are hanging in there too. I really enjoy the Unleashed, Loop 900 and Loop 1080. The budget-friendly Loop 360 and 808s are a big wow! Duncan just released the Hornet, taking advantage of the newer flatter trend in 2A. I feel the Adegele Macaron is a bit of let-down. Yomega with the Raider and Raider EX are still serious contenders in the 2A game. RecRev, with lack of availability with the Reverb, has basically entered and exited the 2A game rather quietly. Even YoYoJoker is entering the 2A game now.

I do feel it would be in the best interest of Yomega to make their Raider and Raider EX yoyos easier for competition upgrading by selling the pre-modified spacers and whatever else is needed.

I do have a question but you may not know the answer:
What were the top 2A players throwing? Just the Top 3 this year. I’m serious, I don’t know what they are using.

I also notice most 2A players are sponsored by companies that do make 2A yoyos. At least that’s the impression I get. However, for players of multiple styles, we may be looking at players with multiple sponsorships. It could happen. Race car drivers and elite athletes have sponsorships from multiple brands, so why not? Maybe they just change T-shirts or something between finals and/or pre-lims/semis.

One thing I do like about YYJ is the fact that they do make specialized yoyos for all 5 styles. Duncan is also another company doing that, but I feel they are coming up short in the 4A arena. I haven’t gotten a pair of Hornets yet so I can’t comment on those.

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I agree on most of what you’ve said except for the bit about the brands who are leading the looping yoyo market. I don’t have any statistics to back this up, so I’ll use assumptions and from what I see what players use. But I see more YYFs and Yomegas than I see YYJs. Raiders/Fireballs are still one of the go-to yoyos for experienced players because that’s what they’re used to. No need to change to something else because those Yomegas still do the job very well.

Top three - Takuma Yamamoto used either Raiders/Fireballs. Shu Takada used Loop1080s. Ryo Yamashita used Raiders/Fireballs.

I say Raider/Fireballs because I can’t be certain…but it’s not like it matters because they’re basically the exact same body…the only difference is the axle and if it’s a bearing or transaxle. If it’s a FB, it will be swapped for Raider axles, bearings, and spacers anyway. So it’s essentially a Raider, just a different cap design.

That’d be kinda sweet if there can be such thing as multiple sponsorships…but that’s kinda a problem for a small hobby like yoyos due to conflict of interest.

I don’t know…

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Hey guys! I knew about this thread a while ago, but I never really bothered to take up 2A until I saw the Worlds performances. I mean, wow! So, here I am, with only one raider, but oh well…thought I might jump in! Hate to see this thread die…

So, some noob stuff to get out of the way first (if you guys don’t mind)

  1. Any maintenance tips for my raider? I plan on getting a second one. I know its a really good yoyo, so I’m not going to be switching to anything else.

  2. I use string up to my pocket. This is short for me, but it give me control. Is this okay? Any problems resulting from this?

Thanks :smiley:

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Hey! As OP [and the only guy who really updates my own thread, sadly] I’m glad it sparked an interest on 2A! Doesn’t matter if you’re a noob or not. We were all noobs at some point. Feel free to jump in! My main motivation into becoming a better yoyo player is actually to bring the dying style of 2A back to the masses. It’s the only thing that’s keeping me from quitting.

As for maintenance, everybody’s different to what they prefer in terms of maintenance. Each person has their own ways of how to lube spacers, axles, and/or bearings, their string length and the gap.
I’ll send you a PM about this.

Are your Raiders modded, BTW?

As for string length, choose what is right for you. Personally string up to my pocket is still a little bit too long for me [and I’m 5’7"] so I usually use my whole arm (from tip of middle finger to the pointy part of shoulder) as referrence. I like my string just a little shorter while some like theirs a little longer. Mess with it.

And when you finally have the budget to get a pair of sweet loopers, jump right in to the loop1080 :] It’ll last you a while.

Enjoy!

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Thanks a lot!

If by the raider mod, you mean that thing where you crush the plastic spacers, then no. I read about it, but haven’t been able to get any plastic spacers. So far, the only maintenance I do is thick lube once in a while, and looping the string around the bearing twice (that’s not really maintenance, but whatever). I guess my string length is ok, so I’ll keep it there.

Btw, I make my own cotton string for 2A.

So I guess I’ll be posting in here more frequently now! :smiley:

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No problem! I’m always down to help a fellow yoyoer get started on 2A :]

Nahh, you’re good. Stock Raiders are still good to get started. I’ll send you a PM on where you can get plastic spacers. And as for string, you’re good to go. As long as you keep changing frequently you’ll be fine.

But again, once you find a budget I suggest you get a pair of 1080s as it’ll make learning 2A a lot better. I have three pairs of Fireballs still in package because I’m not touching those and do the Raider mod until I get pretty proficient with 2A.

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Ok, correct me if I am wrong, but out of the 4 yyf loopers,

360 and 808 are budget
900 and 1080 are competition?

Also, I’m putting this here for the record, so I can look back later.

Right hand - ~4 inside loops, ~3 outside
Left Hand - ~3 insides, 1 outside (not joking)

As you can see, I’m pretty bad :smiley: I also just had a thought, I have a brain lying around… maybe I could practice 2A with that. I mean, the shape isn’t THAT different, right? And I can set it to manual return, no worries.

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try polyester with your yoyos too. 50/50 or cotton just cuts up your hand too badly

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360s and 808s are the exact same yoyo - just different packaging, color, and cap design.
Even with the 900s and 1080s, you can start learning from scratch. I basically learned all my basics, and still getting there, with a pair of 1080s. I’m just saying that 2A is very picky so you need the right tools. But seems like the Raider is doing a good job anyway :]

Even three loops are still good. Don’t beat yourself up. It took me months to even loop 3 times.

Great, I was gonna link you to Shawn Fumo’s looping guide but seems like yoyoing.com is down. That guide is such an amazing resource. One tip I can tell you though is that when you loop the yoyo needs to be tilted in a 1 o’clock position [11 o’clock on left hand]. And only practice good loops. Don’t worry about ‘correcting’ the tilt or anything like that. Just practice good loops. If you mess up, stop and try again.

Practice good loops and you’re on your way.

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The main problem with my loops is that after a few, the yoyo comes back to you horizontal, you know what I mean? Also, if I can get several loops off with a straight yoyo, It’s kinda odd, it feels like the yoyo isn’t coming back with enough force, and I’m forced to loop more upwards instead of forwards. It’s a really odd sensation…I can’t describe it well.

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Maybe you can shoot a video and I can see what needs work. yeah, it’s hard to explain so that’s why maybe a video can help.

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I’ll try to put a video up soon. It’s kind of like I feel forced to go into a shoot the moon (except with loops) to continue the yoyo’s momentum. It feels like the yoyo just wants to GO in that direction, and my hand follows.

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When it comes to loops [inside and outside] you have to meet the yoyo halfway. You can’t let it control you 'cause that’s when you start messing up. And make sure the yoyo flips on each loop you make. I think that’s what you mean… Yoyo flips half a turn.

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Its super hard to get a proper half turn each time…oh well, back to practicing!

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When buying loopers, do you recommend buying 2 different colors, and switching halves, so you can see the yoyo flipping? I’m a total noob to looping, but I’m looking to get a pair of 1080s to start off.

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That’s up to you. For me I’ve just developed the feel whenever the yoyo doesn’t flip so having different color halves isn’t needed for me. But I’ve heard lots of people recommending having swapped halves to see the yoyo flipping.

Give it a try! Doesn’t hurt to try it :}

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That’s actually a REALLY good idea Big Cat!

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Oh, one thing. Once you get your looper pairs, it is recommended that only one of them is for one hand. I don’t know how to word it out properly, but do you understand that I’m saying?

In my case with the 1080s [and modded Raiders I have] each yoyo has slightly different settings [lube, gap, string] so it will only work well with my right or left hand. So I use a small sticker on both sides of my ‘left handed’ looper.

1 Like
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My addition to 2a discussion without reading any of the other posts is that Shu got robbed.

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Okay, I get what you’re saying. Thanks! So basically each hand has a different setting that works well for it?