Hi, me and my son have been having fun with a cheap yoyo and looking into a great beginner yoyo to have alot of fun with.
Can someone recommend a good beginners yoyo and affordable? Are there yoyos that have an automatic return? Do you guys recommend them?
Any links to the yoyos would help too. thanks!
Yes. There are yoyos that automatically return but I would not recommend them because they will not get you far into yoyoing and will eventually limit you to buy another one. I would recommend looking at the Velocity or Kickside and some thick lube to make the yoyo responsive. Both yoyos will get you to at least advanced to expert if not master. The Velocity has an adjustable response so it can be responsive or unresponsive. The Kickside cannot adjust the response but can adjust the gap to make it more responsive with a smaller gap. You also will need thick lube to help the responsiveness of the yoyo.
You can get all the items here:
Velocity:
Kickside:
Thick Lube:
Please note that these yoyos I am recommending are meant for a beginning String Trick yoyo style or “1A” style. This style is the most common style in the yoyoing community today.
Oh and by the way, welcome the the yoyoeXpert forums! I’m sure our community will help you out.
I started out with the Kickside (YoYoJam – YoYoExpert). Later I threw down 40 bucks for a Hitman and used that for a couple months before considering my Kickside again and subsequently realizing I liked it way better. My only complaint is about the response system. Binds just don’t feel as nice with a hybrid response system, and the starburst side rubs my string if the yoyo tilts too much.
As for auto-return yoyos, you can still get 'em, and they’re an awesome concept mechanically, but in terms of yoyo play, they really don’t bring anything positive to the table. Yoyos spin for long enough now that you should have more than enough time to get it to come back to your hand no matter what kind of tricks your doing. Also, if you screw up a trick and you’re yoyo gets knotted up or caught in the string, the LAST thing you want it to do is try to shoot back to your hand. Really, the best time for a yoyo to come back is when you tell it to.
The Speed Maker’s (YoYoJam – YoYoExpert) also a real nice beginner yoyo. I got one for my twin brother when I was trying to get him into yoyoing. I think I played with it more than he did, but I loved the way it felt. Also, like the KickSide, it’s got an adjustable gap with a fairly wide range. Despite what Mark says, I never used needed thick lube to make my KickSide or my brother’s Speed Maker responsive.
Strongly recommend staying away from auto return yo yos you will learn nothing form them.
I never understand why beginner players want to begin with a bearing yo yo. Fixed axle yo yos teach you so much more discipline in the beginning. They help you get the basic skills down well not just ok or good enough. It’s like a sports couch that keeps making you do something over and over until you do it right.
A person can learn how to do a sleeper, breakaway or forward pass with a bearing yo yo with very little effort.
There is a difference between completing a trick and doing a good quality trick. Take a breakaway for example. You can throw one with a kickside but I know it will be sloppy and week arm motion. Learn how to do it with a fixed axle you will have a far more powerful and quality throw.
Duncan ProFly $5 it’s a fixed wooden axle take apart very easy to succeed with. What more could you want to begin with?
When your ready for a bearing yo yo the go for a Kickside or Journey. Great for when you have the basics DOWN and your read to BEGIN intermediate play.
So is the Velocity or Kickside a better choice? So far, these looks like the recommended ones. Also, anywhere local in Southern Califorina to get them from?
If you MUST have a bearing yo yo to begin… KickSide
San Gabriel Valley, California
Not sure where this is in relation to you, but a shot in the dark 
You might be right about that, but there’s only so much you can do with a fixed axle and I’m guessing I’m not the only one who passed that limit within his first couple days with a yoyo. If you’re ordering a yoyo online, and you do want to start off with a more classic approach, I’d order a ball bearing yoyo at the same time and save yourself a 2-3 day break in the delicate but exhilarating fledgeling stages of your yoyo career while you wait for your new throw to come in the mail.
Id get a plastic grind machine and a bottle of thick lube. That is what I recomend to my friends and they are begining beginers and they love it!
Speed maker, velocity
I totally wish I’d done that. The PGM is soooo nice!
velocity. for sure. adjustable response and a small bearing. great setup for someone just starting.
you can buy one… WAIT FOR IT…
here!!! Velocity by YoYoFactory – YoYoExpert 64 in stock!!!
sorry, but this is yoyoexpert. it’s a site with an integrated store. linking other [and largely inferior] stores that carry the same product you’re talking about is beyond tacky and a slap in the face to andre, whether intentional or not. go hang out at those stores’ forums if you want to recommend products from them. and learn from their tutorials while you’re at it… oh WAIT! they offer you NEITHER! it’s one thing if we’re talking about products that yye doesn’t carry, but that’s not the case here.
hipertec, if you want to go to a brick and mortar store, choose one that SUPPORTS the yo-yo community. my suggestion would be golden apple comics (http://www.goldenapplecomics.com/) in l.a., which has been a huge part of the scene for over a decade. call first. if they don’t have velocities (or whatever) in stock, they can definitely get it.
also, as a fixed axle afficionado, i’ll answer this. apologies for the tangent.
[quote=“WoodenYoEr,post:4,topic:8175”]
it’s taken me a long time to accept this, but not everybody is trying to refine their skill and discipline. not everyone is ready to embrace the wicked learning curve fixed axle offers, where double or nothing and a 15 second sleeper could take months of work. to some people, it’s NOT a coach at all; just a toy. and they’ll put it down if they can’t make it work right. i’m the FIRST to agree that there are benefits to fixed axle, and it’s cool to point them out… but most beginners see amazing yo-yo play and they want to do amazing tricks. and like everything in our culture, they want it yesterday, with as little work as necessary. yo-yo can be about developing yourself, but it can also be about mindless fun. it doesn’t diminish your commitment to the former if someone else views it as the latter. plus if you start yo-yoing with a bearing and you have some success… you’re that much more likely to have some success and stick with it; to come to love it and eventually appreciate the roots.
sorry for blathering on. i think the velocity is one of the best choices out there for someone just starting out (or anyone, really).
ouch… sorry man. sorry andre… i guess ima poopoo head.
well, my beginner yoyo was an Aerobie Aerospin, but i dont recommend them. They fly apart and the bearing/washers/o-rings go everywhere. After that disappointment, i went straight to a dark magic which is rated for intermediate - advanced play. If your willing to, i would say go for the dark magic and learn to bind early.
otherwise, my current beginner’s yoyo is a yomega fireball. sleeps a decently long time (for a non-bearing, that is), comes back with a tug and is inexpensive. but again you’ll probably be looking for a more advanced yoyo pretty quickly.
bottom line, Dark Magic 
:o Wow I am going to keep my mouth shut on recommendations from now on, or send them in a P M.
I am also going to keep my mouth shut trying to encourage what I think is a good way to begin. Not the best way, but a good way, was just trying to encourage people to at least try a fixed axle and mybe have just one in their arsenal . I’ll just keep my mouth shut and only ask questions when I am having problems.
I just checked for stores in California, and I found a kite store in California, and they have yo-yos on there website, but I don’t know if they have them at the store or not, but it may have some beginner yo-yos. I don’t know if it is close to you, but here is a link to the locate page YoYoExpert.org - Connecting Yo-Yo Players Everywhere.
I hope this helps.
You seem to take this attitude quite often in your posts. Why is this?
As I’ve said in threads you’ve been in before, there is no personal attack here, from me or anyone else I daresay. Your defensive posture is dubious in appearance to me.
No one is asking you to keep your mouth shut, or anything else so subjectively rude. I don’t think anything ed was saying in regards to advertising competing products was directed at you, but not doing so is the professional and courteous thing to do here, just in case you’re not clear on this matter. You don’t stand in the middle of a “Starbucks” telling anyone who will listen all about the joys of “Seattle’s Best” coffee. If you must point the greenhorns towards fixed-axle (or similar) products, hit 'em up with things readily available here. The Sunset Trajectory, the Velocity, the Loop 720, the Speed Dial, the AOM, etc.
It’s also worth trying to understand that 99% of the newbies are not here for fixed-axle play. They’re here to learn the modern 1A style, discuss it at length, and purchase equipment capable of performing it. Fixed-axles do not meet this requirement by any stretch of the imagination. Whether you want to admit it or not, folks like us are throwing “grandpa gear” around, with “old-fashioned” 100% cotton strings, in a style of play harkening back to the days when Trapeze was considered master-level stuff. The younger set just doesn’t dig it like that anymore.
not at all. just recognize who pays to keep this site open for us and don’t use it to promote sites that don’t do jack for the community.
don’t fly off the handle. no need to keep your mouth shut on recommendations, so long as you’re not using this forum to advertise other stores. honestly, the only product that the store you linked shares with yye are duncans. not a big deal, imo… but at the same time, andre sponsors contests and does a ton for the community while that other site just rakes in money for its owner.
this is a forum. say what you want, and don’t feel offended if i (or anyone) offer a perspective that differs. people who care about yo-yoing are going to disagree sometimes. you will NOT find a bigger advocate of fixed axle play than me, but in my experience FEW people are up for the difficulty a fixed axle presents as a 1st ‘serious’ yo-yo. hence my giant tangent.
They have a wide selection of YoYoJam’s, YoYoFactory’s, and others. It is a really fun place to go to also.