have any of you notice like when someone is brand new to the yo yo scene they think the yoyo makes them good not the practice that really gets them there? Like i know my friend who just started yoyoing thinks if he gets an almost $100 yoyo and buys it he will be automatically good? Now this is before the kid can do a bind or a simple walk the dog… errr not looking up too good. So have any other people have noticed this or am i just going crazy?
1 Like
Yes I have too, but sometimes it takes time for people to take yo-yoing seriously, maybe when someone is watching you both yoyo and they are paying more attention to you and not him he will realize that he should learn some more tricks, or you could always challenge him!
It’s not just yoyoing. It is in everything. The new golf club will improve my score or a better instrument will make me a better musician.
People tend to put tools over learning. That is one of the biggest take aways that yoyoing has taught me.
I taught most of my friends in 6th grade to bind on a Dark Magic, they thought it would be great to buy things like genesis’ and a severe 2010. Total waste. They were both thrown out
I would actually say that a better instrument, to an extent, does make you a better player. if you have a good instrument that connects with you, you will be able to play to the flu extent of your potential.
with that in ind, you NEVER buy a semi-pro instrument unless you are POSITIVE that music is something that you truly want to pursue.
I know the owner of the place where I take guitar lessons pretty well. I’ve been told a story of a kid whose parents bought hm a $3000 Gibson guitar, when he couldn’t play Smoke on the Water.
Practice over equipment, people.
I’m dealing with a bunch of this mentality with my yoyo group.
There’s a bunch of kendama cross-overs, and they feel if they just get more expensive equipment, it’s gonna fix their issues. In my 2 years of buying, never once did a new or pricier yoyo ever fix or help any of my problems, with the exception of the XCon Pro and Hop King. These two yoyos don’t tolerate bad throws, so you have to improve your throw to use them to the best of their potential. Having a better throw has translated directly to overall more enjoyment of the yoyo as well as better play on all my yoyos.
How, I will buy yoyos with features to help me. I want to work on orbits soon for 4A, so I picked up a ReXtreme, since the wider shape will help me land the orbits initially, let me build initial success and confidence with the trick sooner and then let me move onto my more preferred 4A throws. Or I find wider yoyos help me land hopping tricks or tricks with a lot of the yoyo having to land on the string. Again, similar mentality: the wider catch zone lets me get initial success with the trick, which after I get used to the mechanics, I can then go back to one of my more “normal width” yoyos to really get things dialed in. Regardless, the only way to have success with a trick is through hard work. Period.
I will say that if I can’t do a trick on my modified Classic(bearing and silicone), having a $345 Ti5 or $289 Anglam ain’t gonna magically make me land those tricks just because they are most expensive.
But, I’ve kind of given up. They want to spend the money, whatever, it’s their money. As long as they are happy, that’s all that matters. Honestly, I’m not all that great a player either, yet I’ve got cases full of $100+ throws. If skill is equated to dollars spent, I’m a world champ. However, that’s misleading. I’ve spent a lot, and my skills are only mediocre. I’m clearly not worthy of most of what I own. But I’m happy, and I guess that’s all that matters. However, in my case, I never spend more than I can afford. With these cross-over guys, they don’t have the funds in the first place, so it’s tough to upgrade, and most of them honestly do have some decent stuff already.
2 Likes
I’m not saying everybody should just throw money at a hobby and expect that alone to make them better but having good quality equipment can make all the necessary practice easier and a lot less frustrating.
Yuki
1 Like
true but. When starting out I can all the tricks with a legacy 2 than with a chief.
Let them spend their money… it’s going to a good cause
6 Likes
Certainly there are going to be better yoyos for those initial steps. The problem is that when you’re a newbie, you don’t realize (unless you ask) that a Classic with a large bearing is a fantastic learning platform for not much money.
So you buy a Flying Squirrel.
You can’t tell me that the Flying Squirrel is going to give you the same learning curve as the classic or… with money spent… a Supernova/Genesis/Whatever.
If they throw $100 at it, assuming they HAVE $100 disposable money, it’s not THAT much, folks. It’s not like the kid with the $3000 Gibson. It’s “only” $100. And they KNOW at that point that it’s not the yoyo, it’s them. 
Buy yoyos with high resale or trade value that way you can try many different yoyos and find the one that fits your style. I say if you have the money and it makes you happy then do it.
That’s why whenever a beginner asks me what I’d recommend, I always ask exactly how much money they’re willing to invest. If they’ve got $200 they’re just itching to spend, I can give them some recommendations in that price range with the caveat that anything over $85 will be very nearly as good.
Yuki
You mean my fancy golf clubs won’t make me better?
With golf clubs it’s tricky. Fancy clubs won’t make you better but clubs that match your swing can help a lot. 
1 Like
A Peak will make your tricks look a heck lot better than a Duncan Butterfly will.
Unless you’re Drew Tetz.
2 Likes
Actually, you can apply this to almost anything in life.
How many beginner guitarists think that if they buy a totally sick Gibson Flying V, then they would be able to play like Randy Rhoads.
A lot of my friends do this. They think that just buy getting a more expensive yoyo, it’s sleep time will be longer.
But by the same token, how many beginner guitarists are told, “Just get a cheap guitar when you’re starting out,” and they end up with a piece of crap with miserable action and give up because they sound awful?
Skateboarding… I had a total piece of crap and I thought it was just me that sucked. Years later, I tried a real board… quality deck, trucks, and wheels. And within minutes, I was better than I ever had been as a younger kid. If I had a proper board, it could have become a hobby that I loved and got a lot out of. But the bad equipment meant that I never stood a chance.
There’s a lot to be said for not just getting a “beginner level” piece of gear. But of course you don’t need the absolute top-end, either. You need “enough” to be assured that it’s not the equipment holding you back, and then you can focus on advancing your skills.
2 Likes