Oh god, I had a modular addiction for a hot minute…it was glorious…
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I came to the conclusion it’s better to get your elements smooth and flowing, even if they are the basics. Just like music, simple things played well are better than a flurry of notes with no real flow.
Don’t wait so long to get good at regens though. I wish I had worked on them early on. It’s pretty impressive to combine basic moves with regeneration of spin, plus it’s satisfying when I get it.
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i think this all the time… maybe because it’s true…
You guys need to think more positive. Just think of someone who doesn’t yoyo, your so much better than them! It doesn’t help to focus on everyone who’s better than you. YOUR DOING GREAT!!
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That’s like being physically inferior to, say, a UFC fighter and trying to feel better about it by thinking, “Hey I’m stronger than an infant!”
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I guess what I’m saying is that you’ve put work into it and you should be proud of that.
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Yes, and as far as that goes there’s always someone who’s worse off than you. 
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ahhhhh, remember this… @FrankieJR & @Yoyo_Garden tell’m…
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never underestimate your opponent. you could end up stuffed and locked somewhere that you weren’t expecting…
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nobody has a monopoly on crazy. thinking so could end up getting you stuffed and locked somewhere you weren’t expecting…
fatguy snacks will ensure your yoyos will get to you safely and as described. come hell or high water, or hell…
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I made it my new rule to never engage in “stressful yo-yoing”
If it’s not an oxymoron, it should be.
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If 95% of the people yoyoing are better than me, so what.
If 95% of the people enjoy it more than me, I may be in the wrong hobby.
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Comparison is a way of suffering. Never compare yourself to anybody—we are all different.
Enjoy yoyoing or whatever you do.
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I can understand that for sure.
But comparing myself to others who are more advanced than me is one of my main motivations. I do it in yoyo, violin, martial arts, and weightlifting.
And it motivates me to strive to better myself in all of them. I guess it all depends on whether you want to get better at yoyoing or not.
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In a way it’s a dead end though. There will always be someone “better” than you at each of those things. And even if there weren’t… what then? Where is the meaning simply in being at the top of a pile? Don’t get me wrong - I’m all about working to improve. I just believe intrinsic motivation is more powerful. If I strive to get “better” at yo-yoing via extrinsic motivations, my benchmarks end up being OTHER people’s tricks, standards, results, expectations… whereas if I focus on the development of my own style and approach, I set my own benchmarks. I develop in a way which I find more authentic, and ultimately more rewarding.
Same with everything I do (martial arts and music among them). You have to learn the fundamentals and “rules” of any vocation, which includes looking at how others have progressed. But at some point, pretty much anyone who’s made a lasting impact in any field (or simply found their own unique voice) recognizes the importance of releasing themselves from constraints, rules, and timelines set by their peers and predecessors.
This doesn’t mean I don’t let others INSPIRE me - I do that all the time across every discipline, but that’s not the same as thinking they’re better (OR worse). We’re at different points along different paths.
I’m no one to tell anyone else how to live, so by all means, take meaning from throwing yo-yo in whatever way you choose, but I think qualitative comparison with others will only take you so far in helping you “get better at yo-yoing”.
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Yeah I can see what you’re saying for sure. What I’m talking about is really taking inspiration from those who have progressed farther (further?) than you.
And it’s good to look at people who aren’t better than you in more concrete ways as well, to help you learn faster. And I completely agree that eventually you have to move on from what other people are doing, and make your own stuff.
But especially in classical music or traditional martial arts, you have to have a pretty unbelievable level of skill first.
Of course in yoyoing you can make your own tricks from day one, but it seems like it’s always useful to look to other players to improve your execution, even if you’re already pretty advanced.
For me, looking at players who are better than me is not about being “the best” or getting to the top of the heap, because there’s is indeed always someone better. It’s about improving myself, and attaining the highest level of skill I can.
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I think seeing in others what you do not have (yet) makes you motivated of what you can become.
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Normally, I would say that this phenomenon is called the “wife” but given that we are on a yoyo forum… 
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yeah, you start pushing that attitude with shoes and purses, your butt and yoyos are likely to end up in a pile of knots on the street bro
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…Wait…
Are you trying to tell me that this yoyo makes my butt look fat?
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noooo… your butt makes your butt look fat, the yoyos just draw attention to it, dear
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lol 
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