We might be able to say that yoyo competitions have taken yoyoing and tweaked it a bit to turn it into a sport for that venue.
But yoyoing itself is still not a sport. There’s no “rule” or scoring to yoyoing that has anything to do with string hits or trick ladders or competing with anyone. You can yoyo by yourself all day long and you’re fully yoyoing. Not just practicing or training, but straight up yoyoing.
Sports aren’t that way. They require the competition to give them purpose.
I tend to agree that tossing a yo-yo is not to be participating in a “sport”. I sense what is being sought after is not having the world recognize this as a sport, but rather to extend to this pastime the respect it is due as a legitimate adult activity. What seems to be a problem for many is the perception that yoyoing is a recreation for small children like hopscotch or jacks. Therefore a defense of each individual feeling free to do whatever they enjoy falls a little short. If a seventeen year old guy enjoys sitting on the sidewalk before school each day playing jacks he’s probably got bigger problems facing him than finding an acceptable hobby.
I believe much of the tension which can arise for some when choosing to participate in yoyoing is that so many in our society see it as picking up and playing with a child’s toy. I face this same prejudice as I take my throws to work with me and throw on breaks and at lunch time. We can talk and agree amongst ourselves on various threads that we are participants in a valid adult activity. However a strain remains in relationship with those who continue to believe yoyoing gives evidence of a hampered maturity level. It is an effort to overcome such misconceptions that leave some grasping for a classification into which yoyoing fits which grants it recognition as a bona fide adult activity.
You can also practice shooting hoops by yourself, swinging a bat, hitting a golfball, etc. Those are still sports, even if people don’t really do it to compete against others.
Arguing about this is pointless though. Yo-yoing is what YOU make of it. If it is just something you do for fun, then awesome. If it is something you choose to do competitively, that is perfectly fine too. But just because YOU don’t see it as a sport, that doesn’t mean it is accurate.
Well I’m not trying to argue, just discuss.
I did find some findings online by googling “yoyoing sport”.
The national yoyo association calls it a sport straight up as well as the world yoyo championship.
The technical term for divisions in all competitions is “sports ladder” and “sports division 1a,2a,3a,4a,5a.”
Did some digging at the yoyomuseum.com and found a pdf file for patents so i went and did a search at the US patent website and most are listed as toys and or equipment but there were a few by dif e o and others from overseas patents that listed their yoyo as “precision sports equipment”.
There are many articles ranging all the way back to the 90’s on yoyoing as a sport. Even calling it an artistic sport of the 20th century.
It was at one time concidered, but not excepted, as a sport for the olympics. (not sure but john nuram was doing an interview and this was discussed but i didn’t actually see an article on it otherwise)
Even with all this and every professional calling it a sport, you can see by the search that it’s still highly debated among the common folk like us. Lol.
Still an interesting and mind enlightening search into the history of yoyos.
Many thanx Ghost8982 for that informative and well researched post. Whether we land on yoyoing being a sport or not, you certainly have contributed some very valuable points too consider on the subject.
In my defense (or offense) I don’t consider running a sport, or swimming, or snowboarding. So I’m probably the outlier on this subject. 8)
Not hating but I don’t see the philosophy in this. I’m grateful to hear you stand up for what you enjoy though.
It’s philosophical in the fact that I learned where to categorize my favorite hobby.
Just what category did you determine it’s in?
When you’re shooting hoops or playing catch, you’re not playing basketball or baseball. You’re practicing by shooting hoops or playing catch. To actually play basketball or play baseball you need to be in a game of basketball or baseball. The sport requires the competition to be what it is. If all you’d ever done was play catch you wouldn’t tell someone that you used to play baseball.
Yoyoing isn’t like that. The person yoyoing by themselves with no competition is yoyoing. You can never enter a competition and be doing the same thing that people who do enter them are doing.
It’s in its own category.
It happened again.
Some guy: “Wow, you’re such a loser that you have a YO-YO strapped to your pants”
Me: “It’s fun if you know how to do it well.”
Guy: “Whatever”
Loser. It’s such an ugly word.
I am reminded of the young man from Missouri who was held back from achieving all he had hope he could in the military because of his poor eye sight. He came home from WWI to begin various endeavors in business ventures, all with little in the way one might call successful. He was struggling to the point he and his wife had to move in with his mother-in-law who continually belittled him, constantly reminding him he was a loser.
Finally an opportunity in public service came along when a powerful political figure backed him in seeking an elected county office job. He won and got the position. Still his mother-in-law insisted it wasn’t his efforts but the support of his powerful benefactor which got him the office, he was still nothing but a contingent loser. He sought higher offices and continued to win those as well and still his mother-in-law refused to acknowledge him any credit of accomplishment. He always had been and always would be nothing more than a loser.
Eventually his work took him to the east coast. Now he was criticized by his mother-in-law as not only being a failure but also for breaking up her family. He was just worthless in her eyes. One day the man who held the office just above his died suddenly and this fellow of our story, who’s name was Harry by the way, was instantly promoted to the top position. This job even came with a beautiful home for the family to live in. Harry invited his entire family, including his denigrating mother-in-law to move into this wonderful home. Not only did his mother-in-law not acknowledge Harry’s success or worthiness of his new position, she certainly wasn’t going to allow her daughter to live in public provided housing. Her and her daughter continued to spend most of their time back in Missouri at her home. She still thought Harry was nothing but a loser.
It’s just as well Harry had so much time to himself, with having to decide when to drop the A-Bomb on Japan and end WWII and all. That’s right, the loser of our story is Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States. Even after becoming President and then winning the office again in his bid for reelection, his mother-in-law still never regarded him as anything more than a pitiful failure and a loser.
There just ain’t no pleasin’ some folk!
Everyone must read this. Thanks for sharing.
I found a great video explaining what a sport is.