Breaking beyond the "window" so to speak

General Yo-Yo
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Have you ever taken the time to look at your yoyoing? And I mean actually look at it? Whether it be watching yourself in a mirror or recording yourself and looking back at what you do. I found something out that was a bit of an eye opener for me.

I don’t make yoyo videos. I had once put up a video of a trick I had created and listed out of excitement, but then took it down a few days later. Simply, as strange as it sounds, I don’t like watching my own yoyoing. Not that I am a bad player! I like to think I have made some interesting things, and I have no issue showing tricks when I am in public, but something about watching myself and knowing others are seeing it makes me feel a bit uneasy for some reason, so I never really recorded much of myself.

Anyways, with that out of the way, I took some time to record some of my tricks for the reason that I was curious how the outside world would see me yoyoing. And watching myself back, I had this feeling that all of my tricks are sort of “tiny” compared to what most do these days. Its as if there is a little “window” box that my tricks are confined within and the motions never really go beyond. This isn’t talking about body tricks either, as I have a few of those I’ve dabbled within, but I am talking about the everyday “tech” tricks I see myself doing and compare to the other videos I see of players and there “tech”.

I am not sure what it is, but somehow my tricks just seem " small" and its hard for me to find out why. Perhaps others just move their arms and body more while they yoyo? Or maybe it’s an illusion resulting from speed? I just get this feeling as others do big slacks and big motions, I’m doing these little slacks and string hops that are maybe just me trying to be 04 era JD.

Any of you struggle with this ever? Feeling that your tricks are always confined within that window and you can’t seem to comfortably “get out”?

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Yes it happens to me when I record and see my video I feel its not good or great but when I post people see they say that it is good. So it’s like listening your own voice.

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Yeah. I don’t like watching my self yoyoing. But I think it’s like parvar says, you kinda hate the sound of your voice, and same for yoyoing. I look ridiculous, and I think that everyone will laugh when I finish my CZPoint video.

In regards to the window, I can’t really offer any feedback since I partially feel the same way. I guess that again it might be perception, but it all depends on your style. Some styles are confined and techy while others might seem more extravagant. Or, it could be that maybe you feel like you should be doing bigger motions and stuff, so you trap your own self. IDK. Very deep post though I just can’t explain using text

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This is a very interesting post.

I guess I’ll be the odd one and say that I actually like watching videos of myself although I do hate the sound of my voice.

As for being stuck in a “window”, I sometimes feel this way. Occasionally I wish that my tricks were “bigger” and more flowy like Gormly or Kimmitt. My style has always been on the old school tech side, and I will be the first to admit that my tricks are probably not very impressive to non-yoyoers.

In analyzing how I make tricks, it seems like the tricks I come up with most easily are tricks in the old school tech style. This leads me to wonder if different people are predisposed or conditioned to make a certain kind of trick. As an example, I remember when I first saw John Ando’s worlds '08 freestyle and being completely blown away. I immediately started trying to create tricks of a similar nature. I ultimately failed of course and have never been able (yet) to create “arm tricks” or other big flashy tricks. There is just something that feels foreign or unnatural about trying to make that kind of trick. The tricks that I do come up with just feel right.

With all that said, I am happy with my style despite wanting to change some aspects of it from time to time (who doesn’t?).

I hope some of that made a little sense.

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ive seen this it is annoying when you feel so confined looking what ive found that helps is trying a Lindsey Stirling impression really helps open it up… it may seem a little silly thats why i suggest practicing in a room. but it helped me open up a little more.

Also practicing in front of a mirror helps. my sister has this huge mirror that keeps on somehow finding its way in my room for me to practice in front of… good thing she is gone for most of the year at college or else there might be a fight.

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If a trick has value to myself or a spectator it’s not small it’s special. :wink:

Make and watch videos of myself? Nah, I don’t even take selfies. Mirrors, me and a yoyo? That would require safety glasses and a lot of bandages!

To directly answer your question, no I don’t look at my yo-yoing to see what it looks like. I don’t compete, I’m more interested in how it feels. I like tricks that flow but then become chaotic and flow again, sometimes I just appreciate the feel of a spinning yo on the string.

When people see me yo-yoing I hope they see in me, what I hope my yo-yoing brings to them, happiness.

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http://new2.fjcdn.com/thumbnails/comments/5199034+_1fd72f11547d4f9285e978eebe9e7ea3.jpg

I’ve been yoyoing seriously for a couple of years now, and I’d like to think that I’ve gotten fairly adept at it. Still, I’ve yet to release a video because I have this desire to make the next “Diamondback”… a video that people will really enjoy and be inspired by. I’ve spent hours and hours filming and editing videos over the years that I’ve never released because I just don’t think they’re up to a high enough standard.

[quote=“UsagiCat,post:1,topic:75801”]

[quote=“UsagiCat,post:1,topic:75801”]
I propose a counter argument… is this a particularly bad thing? A unique style is a unique style, and perhaps it’s the ‘smallness’ of your tricks that makes them unique?

At Nationals last year a guy turned up (his name escapes me) who used to be a sponsored (by yoyojam I believe) and competing player back in the JD days, and his style was exactly the same as it used to be back then. It was all slacks and grinds and ladder escapes and string whips and everything, but everyone was loving it.

It was so different to what we were all used to, and so out-of-the-ordinary, that people were standing around amazed watching him yoyo. Heck, it blew me away completely.

So just because your style seems a little old-fashioned isn’t a bad thing… in fact it could be what makes you stand out. :slight_smile:

[quote=“UsagiCat,post:1,topic:75801”]
I’ll admit, I’m not 100% sure exactly what you’re referring to. Whilst obviously a video from yourself is out of the question, would you be able to locate a video of another yoyoer that has a similar style to yours to give me a better idea of exactly what you mean?

Believe in yourself Buggot! I’m looking forward to seeing how that video turns out. :slight_smile:

It’s true though, we always tend to be more critical of ourselves than of others, sometimes to a rather extreme degree. Who knows, maybe your tricks aren’t as window-ed as they may seem…

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Actually yes, there are a couple videos on youtube that has me on it but I’ve never watched.
Sometimes I look weird in the videos, other times I feel like, oh man I’ll look like crap in this video, but then realized how wrong I am.

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As of lately, I’ve been overly obsessive over recording myself landing a new trick I learned. I feel a bit narcissistic recording myself constantly though, like those who obsess over selfies. At the same time it’s rewarding to see what I was able to pull off, as well as send a clip to fellow yoyoers (you know who you are if you’re reading this thread) when showing them my progress, if I need help, or if they need help.

Good chunk of the time I’ll upload my trick onto my Instagram (@AngryGumball if you want to follow me).

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Your playing style may be an involuntary extension of certain aspects of your psyche, in much the same way that your car/house/room/desk is. The “small window” thing might be a sign of modesty, or simply the natural personal-space-awareness of living in a metropolis. If you’re at all quiet or private, or you enjoy cozy nooks and crannies, intimate gatherings, or cutesy miniature things - it might just be you. You walk like you, and talk like you, so why not yoyo like you?

At my last job, when I needed to take a moment to myself on busy days, I’d sometimes retreat to a cramped little janitor’s closet to yoyo for a few minutes. Yoyoing “small” like that was difficult for me (and I’ve got the horribly dinged-up M1 to prove it).

One more thing, I remember hearing (I think it was something on Vsauce) an explanation for why people dislike seeing themselves on camera; it’s simply because we’re far more accustomed to seeing ourselves in mirrors, where all of our facial features are reversed. A camera shows you with all your features oriented correctly (but reversed to you), which is kind of creepy, like seeing a doopleganger of yourself. Yet this is how others see us; and conversely to the above, if you used photoshop or something to mirror-reverse an image of yourself, your family and friends probably wouldn’t think it was a particularly good photo of you.

The solution, I suppose, it to become a narcissist, and constantly stare at pictures of yourself until you like what you see.

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Very well said.

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