Hi all I haven’t had a yoyo since I was a kid 30 years ago what do you reccomend as a good quality yo-yo that will last a while ; price doesn’t matter what do you recommend? I would like to spend to get a good own that will last. I wouldn’t mind buying a few YoYos for variety ;
Right now I have a Duncan hornet is that a good one? Bought one on vacation
So on the Duncan hornet is the ball bearing the Metal piece the string sits around or ? What’s that black plastic piece on top of the string?
Do I need to get yo-yo lube and do you all reccomend polyester or cotton strings ;
My stock string broke after only 3 days …
I see the design of the Duncan butterfly is popular among yo-yos what’s that style called versus the hornet style ;
Right now all I’m practicing is regular throw , sleep, and inner / outer loops it’s quite difficult for me but I just need practicing but I’m hooked!
Hornet is a looper if you get a second you can practice two handed looping. You can do string tricks and stalls on a hornet but it’s harder.
So the hornet has a body with starburst then a cap on the outside on each side. Then unscrewed near the starburst (raised plastic bumps) is a slot where spacers sit and the bearing sits inside of that. A screw then sites in the middle holding it all together. With a nut on either end of the plastic body. Yo-yos work off of friction and drag to return so slower bearing, thicker string or smaller gap will make more drag make more responsive yoyo.
For your hornet thin poly string will work cotton only really works well for wood as it doesn’t last long but cotton blends play really neat. String is a preference so play with what you like there are literally hundreds of string options. Only reason you want cotton on wood is poly can melt due to the heat made when spinning on a fixed axle.
Yoyo lube is helpful in responsive play it slows the bearing and reduces wear and noise.
It can help in unresponsive play to reduce wear and noise but too much and you get a responsive yoyo as lube slows the bearings spin.
A butterfly shape is the other kind then there are sub categories
As for good starter yo-yos the snap back will give you a much easier catch zone than the hornet while still being really beginner friendly and the first base can be responsive or unresponsive and is a solid easy to play with yoyo that’s at an awesome price point.
Pardon my ignorance what is the difference between responsive and un responsive?
So the bearing is the actual piece the string goes around that black piece on top is a spacer then the washer goes …? I couldn’t grasp that complicated pic
I have good form (using mostly wrist/finger)but my loops are like not coming back straight half the time ; the yo-yo keeps angling horizontally on the return and not clean vertically guess just takes lots of practice !
Yes bearing is the stainless steel part your string sits on. It has an inner and out race, a cage and 8 or ten steel small balls that make the thing spin hence ball bearing.
Unresponsive the yoyo does not come back with a tug you have to do a bind. It’s for more intermediate and advanced tricks where the yoyo coming back to you would make landing the trick much harder.
Responsive is anything with a small gap or lubbed bearing, plastic sleeves (Tran’s axle) or fixed axle play you tug the string create slack and the yoyo returns.
A responsive yoyo is the classic type where you just tug and it comes back up. On the other hand, unresponsive yo-yos will not come up with a tug, and you need to perform a trick called a bind to get it back. This allows the yoyo to spin a lot longer, which helps with modern tricks. Anyways, hope this helps!
Last quick question with my hornet sometimes when I do the toss to practice the looping it sleeps when I through it straight ahead other times it comes back …
I don’t want it to sleep when I do a forward toss is this a technique to get it to not sleep?
If you are just beginning I would recommend the Arrow because it comes responsive and when you get good enough you can change the bearing to the unresponsive one it comes with. It also has a fingerspin so you can learn the DNA🧬
That’s mostly string tension you’ll note it as how tight the string is by holding the non spinning yoyo close to your string finger and noting how twisted it is. You can adjust string tension with a side winder or by taking it off your finger and letting the string spin back to neutral.
Another way to get more consistent loops would be to use a shorter string and or add some lube to the bearing. Shorter string will loop down more while line will slow the bearing making it sleep less.
The string wraps around the bearing … do I place the lube where the string wraps around it on the side of the bearing or do i drop the lube on top of the bearing?
What’s the best yoYo money can buy if I want to get the BEST responsive Yoyo?
A very tiny drop of lube has to go inside the bearing. If the bearing is making no noise and spins fine you don’t need any lube unless you want to make your yoyo more responsive. Yoyos can seem very complicated but we all had to learn these lessons along the way. You can lay the bearing flat on a piece of paper towel and try to only get a very tiny drop of lube in the bearing and use a paper towel to wipe off any excess lube. Thick lube is for narrow bearings (responsive) and thin lube is for wide bearings (unresponsive).
Not a great example picture but I’m too lazy to head downstairs. for a hornet you’ll unscrew it use thick lube on the side of the bearing if you de shield the bearing it’ll be more effective. Also you can put a small bit on the bearing spacer (the black thing) and a bit on the screw share the bearing sound on. Honestly can’t over due it on the lube on responsive not like you can with unresponsive.
Try to keep the side the string sits on from getting lube on it similarly don’t get lube on the response which is starburst on a hornet but still. Once everything is nice and lubricated you’ll put it back together and throw it for a bit to work it all in.
Look up de shielding. Yoyo bearing. You don’t have to but it works a bit better.
Here you’ll find several tutorials that explain some beginning basic such as string tension, yo-yo types, play styles, string adjustments, and of course…tricks. Click the link and begin your journey.
