I’ve been trying to work on 2a again lately (we’ll just call it looping for now, haven’t gotten the timing down for real 2a) and I’m trying to work on an issue I’ve had forever with 2a. I’ve gotten a little better, but I’d say 75% of the time my initial throw results in the “flat spin of doom” once the yoyo reaches the end of the string. It’s weird because lately if I can get a loop or two going, I can continue for a solid number of loops without any issues until tension starts to affect response. I know that a lot of 2a recommendations are basically “ya just gotta feel it” and it’s really a timing issue, but is there any specific problem that causes the yoyo to go into that flat spin?
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It’s all the timing of that subtle hand movement. I was doing good with one handing looping and hitting 15-25 good loops most of the time and then IT was gone. Flat spin of death almost every time and since 2016 I have not gotten IT back. I think it’s if the hand movement is a little too early or a little too late and your hand is tilted either way too much the TFSPOD happens.
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Yeah lol I feel your pain. I’ve been experimenting with speed as well as timing and I’m realizing how much you have to control the hand/ wrist motion. One of the (many) other problems I’ve had forever is that I seem to gradually increase the speed of the loops unintentionally, and I can more or less control it as it increases but I can’t slow it down. Also I’ve noticed that on top of the timing, you also have to control the force that you use on the “flick” outward. Brutal
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I understand your frustration. It took me a lot of practice to get looping down. For me, it was realizing that the initial throw has to either have the yo-yo at an 11:00 or a 1:00 angle. For right hand, the angle is 1:00, and 11:00 for the left. Then, it is critical that you maintain the yo-to at that angle. It feels counter intuitive to have to throw the yo-yo “crooked” to achieve that stability. Once you can keep it at the angles, the timing usually follows, flicking the yo-yo right when it gets to your hand. Sorry if this information is stuff you already know, I just know it is what made looping click for me. Also, be sure to make sure the string length is appropriate for the gap, the worst thing for learning it to have too long or too short of a string the the yo-yo loops too low or too high. I’m not exactly sure why your loops are speeding up though, maybe it it the speed at which you are flicking it out and having to play catch up with the next loop? Hope this helps, keep at it!
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Yeah I’m aware of what the angles are supposed to be but controlling the angles is a completely different story haha. That’s another mystery at the moment. Sometimes I can get a bet of bad loops going where the yoyo is rotating like mad and I haven’t quite figured out what motion will correct that
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I have the same struggle. I recently switched to the 85cm string and I found the shorter length offers considerably more control. I was previously using the floor-to-navel method. I’ve also found that sometimes throwing in an outside loop can help me stabilize a pass that went a little wonky.
Something I’ve been working on lately is I’ll get a wrap around my yo-yo finger which allows me to nudge the string out with my knuckle or nudge the string in with the pad of my finger. Sometimes pushing the string against the rotation direction helps knock it back in line, other times not.
I know a lot of people recommend throwing only good loops, but lately I’ve been enjoying the chaos that can happen with looping. The terror of ducking and dodging while trying to keep control of these speeding objects is something 1A just doesn’t offer.
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On the other hand, if you allow yourself to throw bad loops, you learn how to correct and get out of them.
Not sure if this is helpful, but I learned on wood BC yo-yos. Wood yo-yos are slower and give you more time to get timing down. I feel like they are also a little more finicky so you have to really perfect the movements and timing.
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I also got some of the shorter string and yeah it’s made life easier. My philosophy has been pretty much the same on the bad loops. I assume the people who are good at looping are able to make those corrections while looping so I figure it’s worth working on.
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I’ve always thought about trying to loop a wooden imperial just for the experience, to see what it’s like, but I’ve never had one laying around. I’ll throw one in the cart soon.
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