Bein A YOYO Expert

[Dv888 (Mitch Ginder)]

I didn’t start competing until after 9 months of practice, and I’ve never won a comp. Take a minute to think about that… 3 weeks psh…

[Phazon_enhanced_yoyo (PHAZZE)]

Hooray!!!

[Mage1342 (Mark)]

The time it takes for being a yoyo expert varies on how much you practice, mindset and other factors. I personally think that it is not the destination that yoyoers should worry about. I think it is the journey to becoming the so called “expert” is what we all should think about.

It’s not about the fancy titles but about having fun and being able to see progress. I think there is a time where you have just learned so much about yoyoing that you feel like you can compete. This is a crucial moment and well, COMPETE!!! Even if you do horribly, you will know where you are now and then you can set an attainable goal and progress further.

Being an expert is not about winning titles, but is about having fun while yoyoing. See Guy Wright for example, isn’t a “world champion” but he just has fun yoyoing and is what you could call an expert. Hiroyuki Suzuki on the other hand, I would personally call a professional because he always seems to just only try to win titles. (Don’t get me wrong. I’m a fan of Hiroyuki Suzuki and hes probably a great guy)

Mark

[TheAngryPun]

@cmbranscum

Dude Thats great advice and coragement from both of you,I appreciate that. I dont nessacessily want to be a expert i jus want to have a routine and do it with no F’ up’s…

Oh and guess what THE MACH 5 CONQUERD(check for spelling)…Today around 2 hours into it

It wasnt a hard trick,it was easy after i learned split the atom but the end of the trick is what screwed me up,my yoyo would rub the strings and die.
But now i can do it and bring and bind my yoyo back up!

Huzzah! Good job!

[Pheenix (JonasK)]

Being an expert is decided by people around you. I let other people decide my “skill” as I’m not really liable to do so myself.

[cmbranscum]

@Mitch Ginder

I didn’t start competing until after 9 months of practice, and I’ve never won a comp. Take a minute to think about that… 3 weeks psh…

I’m not sayin 3weeks is something,i was jus preparing my self so i wouldnt get discouraged.

[dryoyo (Chris Allen)]

Guys, lets keep it civil. No need to call people or what they are saying stupid until you start evaluating the value of what used underwear of the pro’s go for on eBay

[YoYoExpert (YoYoExpert HQ)]

This is one of the best articles on the topic of being a “pro or expert” written by National Master Steve Brown.

I think there are many definitions of an expert or pro and this is at least a good way to begin thinking about the question. Enjoy!

Player, or Professional?

I had a conversation with a fellow yo-yo professional recently that really twisted my noodle. He was talking to a yo-yo player, young kid, probably no older than 18 or so, and talking to this kid about doing store demonstrations. The kid looked at him, and said “I don’t do store demonstrations. I’m a professional.”

His comment was that he had never wanted to smack someone so hard in his life. My feeling was that he probably should have done it.

There are a lot of yo-yo players in the world right now. Not as many as there were, say, in the 1950s or 1960s, but a lot. And there seems to be some confusion over just what exactly a “yo-yo professional” does and does not do.

See, a lot of kids have learned almost entirely off the internet. They never saw a demonstrator come to their local store or mall. They saw videos of kids standing on a stage at a contest, staring at their hands, and shredding out tricks as fast as possible to take advantage of the fact that quantity, not quality, is what wins yo-yo contests. So they look at this, and they think this is what it means to be a professional.

Of course, they are dead wrong.

Here is what it means to be a professional, in case you are wondering…

Being a professional means rarely, if ever, doing any tricks harder than the ones you are trying to teach. It means slowing down what you are doing, so that people can really see it…and see it in such a way that it actually looks possible for them to learn.

Being a professional means the knees of your pants get dirty, from spending a lot of time crouched down and trimming strings for kids.

Being a professional means smiling, and looking at the audience instead of your hands. It means making eye contact with kids, throwing them a wink, and doing a trick that you can teach them after the show.

Being a professional means that you are there to entertain, or to sell product, or possibly both. You are there, on that stage, in that store, to inspire someone to pick up a yo-yo and want to be like you. You are not there to show them how hard your tricks are. You are there to show them how easy your tricks are, so that they want to buy a yo-yo and play like you.

Being a professional means that the only people you need to impress are the people who aren’t yo-yo players. If your player buddies show up to your gig, you smile and acknowledge them, and move on to the people who came to see The Yo-Yo Man. You do not sneak away to hang out in a corner with them and compare tiny knot tricks.

Being a professional means sometimes you only get one uniform shirt. Sometimes you have to spray it with deodorant for a few days. Sometimes you have to wash it in the sink with hand soap, and dry it with the hotel blow-dryer. And you don’t complain, because it simply needs to be done and there isn’t time to do it any other way.

Being a professional means you stay until the kids have gone. You count the stock when you get there, you count the stock when you leave, and you try to do twice as well the next day.

Being a professional means sometimes you have to be in 10 locations in a single day. And you get there. On time, every time.

Being a professional means you are never too good to teach or show someone “Walk The Dog” or “Rock The Baby” or any other trick that your skill level has surpassed. You are never too important to stop and sign a yo-yo, or show a kid a part of a trick that they cannot figure out, and you are never too busy to stop and talk to someone. Being a professional means you make time, as best as you can, for everyone who is interested in what you are doing.

Being a professional means you are there for them. This is not a paid practice. You are not there to amuse yourself. And if you are unlucky enough to perform or demonstrate somewhere that there is no traffic, you talk to the store manager/tour manager/supervisor and find out what they want you to do. You don’t wait for them to tell you.

There are a lot of yo-yo players in this world. There are very few yo-yo professionals. Anyone can learn how to play…it’s being the person who teaches others that sets you ahead of the pack. It’s a special, sacred thing to be responsible for someone’s inspiration.

Being a professional means never losing sight of that.

[cmbranscum]

Man that is straight up,no doubt the best thread .

Thing is i live in somerset, kentucky and I’ve only seen one craze in yoyos and that was 10 yrs ago in 7th grade when dungan had the butterfly and i think firestorm.
Every since then havnt seen a yoyo player but once or twice,I sure wish there was a ACTUAL Expert As was describe my Steve Brown here in my town.

[Samad]

I agree with Jonas when he says the status of pro is decided by people around you.

To people on Youtube, I (and these are true quotes):

you are beast
5 freakin stars. You’re amazing.
Amazing Samad. Keep it up!

And quite honestly, I am not satisfied with my yoyoing at all.
Point is, there will always be room for improvement. You need to understand, that no matter how good you get, you can get better. No matter how cool your trick is, your trick can be cooler. By all means, I highly doubt most pros consider themselves the greatest. Some of the greatest masterminds of the yoyo still look up to many other players. Maybe for their trick difficulty, innovation, etc.

Being professional is an undefined state of mind when it comes to yoyoing, IMO. In a sense, I think we are all professionals. So have fun, because isn’t that what yoyoing is about?

Woah, I just re-read that, and it made no sense. Ah well, I’ll post it anyway.

[Zer0F3AR (Zer0)]

@Gafunka

You’re right, it’s not a stupid question.

But how long… depends.  It’s a matter of practice, dedication, and the all important natural talent.  As an example, I could dedicate the rest of my life to becoming a major league baseball player, but I don’t have the natural talent and could never make it no matter my dedication.  And then with all the natural talent in the world, without practice, it won’t amount to much.

So for how long… I don’t know.  And probably neither does anyone else because everyone is going to pick it up differently.  It just depends on talent and dedication.

Also, three weeks in is too early to be discouraged.  You aren’t going to master a new trick every day.  Just practice and it will come along.

Absolutely correct. Mach 5… i remember that one. Dont worry. So you’ve been at that trick for 3 weeks, ya gotta keep tryin and tryin to do it. Longest i took on a trick was 3 1/2 weeks. If your persistent itll happen. Find your mistakes and probs. And most of all:

- YouTube