Contest advice?

General Yo-Yo
1

Hey YYE I was planning on competing in a contest soon, but I didn’t know what to do for my routine.
I have no shortage of tricks to do, but I don’t know what “style” I should do (I don’t mean 1a,2a,3a,4a,5a).

what I mean is should I do a slow, smooth, and more graceful routine, or one that is fast, maybe less appealing, but higher scoring? It would be like jensen kimmitt worlds 2011 vs. markus koh 2011

So putting on a show or getting a better placement?

(NOTE: I may have offended some people by saying that the markus koh super fast style isn’t as good looking, but the thing is when I go fast it doesn’t look nearly as good as when I go slow and graceful)

thanks

2

I think you need to do whichever speaks to you the most. Neither is better, do whichever seems more important.

3

Let the routine and music work together and guide you what to do.

Some areas might demand slow and smooth, while other areas might want you to go fast. The contrasts might be a welcome change, but also shows versatility. Not to pick out players, but even Mickey and Marcus Koh aren’t just constantly string banging speed demons. They do mix things up. Mickey seems to really work the music angle very well.

4

My 2 cents.

Don’t worry about the judges or being scored at all. Throwing isn’t about competitions, it’s about the art and the expression of ones self. To quote Jensen “when I yoyo, I get lost in what I like to call flow”.
What I’m trying to say is, pick a song or beat or cut songs together to you’re liking and create you’re routine to what you hear in the music. Let the yoyo and your arms and hands be the expression of yourself.

5

I feel like I can’t describe what I’m trying to get across by just talking. I’m thinking I should post a video of each possible routine and have you guys vote, but I don’t want to spoil it

6

I have been to seven contests since September of 2011 of my first competition at Tennessee states and seriously, just do a good solid and clean routine that you can’t mess up. If you try and show off and mess up a lot then it will not look good, better to do the good stuff great than the awesome stuff horribly.

Don’t change it last minute, don’t constantly think it isn’t good enough, and just have fun. Also do what you want to be recognized for, just do you basically. Do what looks good in your mind too, it has to be good in your eyes but you don’t need to go over the top either.

I have seen great performances that get low placements due to restarts and deductions. I thought Si Yee Pong would have at least got top three in worlds this year with his 4A but towards the end he seriously messed up and changed yoyos and had to restart so much that it destroyed the routine. I’m not saying it’s all about the points but it is a part of it and you can’t say you don’t think about it. I think about them a lot when I try to put together a routine especially when it is a regional contest and not just a state.

I’m trying to not have too high of risky moves that I know I can’t hit for South East Regionals this November, and it’s hard to actually do what I am saying here.

This is what I will try to do and what I encourage you to do…solid, clean routine that flows. I haven’t placed very high like I have been wanting because I try to hard, " I gotta do this since it is regionals", or “This would make it great and should go in there”, but it is too much and you keep adding and changing it soo much that it isn’t even you anymore.

I got third place at Tennessee states in the open division…after allmost three years of 1A I end up in 9th place and after less than three months doing 5A I am next to Andrew Robinson and Jon Rob taking 3rd place. It was smooth and I didn’t try to do soo much just because I didn’t know any other 5A than what was in my routine because I hadn’t been doing it that long. It wasn’t beginner 5A that got me that placement since I worked my but off for that routine but I had done that stuff soo much that I couldn’t horribly screw it up. That is when I finally realized all this, hehe.

That stuff that Jensen and Marcus do when they are on stage are the easy stuff that they can hit time after time. The have awesome stuff that they can hit at home but not on stage but they don’t do that. They are just so, so, good that the easy stuff they do is the amazing stuff we see. Have you seen Mickey’s worlds perfomances from years ago…like 2008 and before? He has the same speed combo, the same awesome stuff we see him hit allmost flawlessly every time…it’s because he has done it so much it becomes routine. Some people I have heard say, “It’s just the same old stuff he does time after time and he should come up with new stuff”. That is somewhat true but he hits it cleanly. He is a 4 time world champ and he has done stuff in 2008 that he is still doing now and taking world titles and placing high every time, every time.

Have fun and sorry for the long read.

7

Ultimately just try to have fun and you’ll discover which is more appealing to you.

8

Ultimately just try to have fun and you’ll discover which is more appealing to you.

9

I like to slow it down a bit for the stage, just because I feel like I play faster due to nerves and I don’t want to push myself too hard.

Keep in mid that there is a performance score, too. More so now than in recent years. So instead of focusing on just landing the tricks and staring at your feet the whole time, try to move around a bit. Look at the audience. It’s always good to have a few bangers so you can get the crowd going.

Also, practice.

10

Make sure you don’t repeat tricks. That’s always bad.

And also, you want good music, that you can yoyo to the beat of, that gives extra points for music use.

Move around the stage, it’s big for a reason, that gives stage presence points.

Be professional. On or off the stage, believe it on not, but the judges are watching you. That gives professionalism points.

Also, always try to have the safety of those around you at the top of your priority list.

You want some tech tricks (I’d say about 3/4 of the freestyle) and you want some bangers. So it should go like: two(ish) techy combo, banger, two(ish) different variety of techy combo stuff (E.G. horizontal, frontstyle, behind the back, etc.), and ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS try to end with a banger. That always gets the crowd thinking you are the winner.

Hopethishelp$