So I’ve noticed that though I can do a fair amount of tricks up to 1 master trick, I feel that I’m not very good. In the videos section I can see videos of people making up really good yoyo tricks even though they are still a bit new to yoyoing. I can’t make up any tricks or get any creative ones. How do you guys come up with your tricks/style?
The best advice anyone can give in this situation is to try things that seem unnatural.
If it seems really odd then you are on the right track.
It’s fine keep going I haven’t got all the intermediate tricks yet so just
Put more tricks in one throw that you know
This thread has a pretty good video about making combos.
Just experiment with different mounts. Put the yoyo through every gap and just see what happens. I’m not the most creative at making tricks etiher but I’ve made a couple.
This is actually very good advice. I would have never thought to word it this way but this is spot on.
Watch some videos of people you really look up to. If you see them do a particular “move” (not necessarily a whole trick) try to impliment it into one of your own mounts or tricks. Just taking Jensesn Kimmitt as a universal example. Everyone knows him for his very “hoppy” style. Try going into a Double or Nothing and hopping to the back string. Then go from there. Don’t be afraid to get knots or let the yoyo spin out. Just explore mounts and different things to do with the string.
Important aspect about trick development:
These are some steps that I go about to doing whenever I decide to want to make new tricks which is always constant.
1: Influence
The thing about yoyoing is that it is reflective to art. In the art world people are constantly inspired and influenced by eachother. So, pick out your most favorite yoyoers out there that has a style you appreciate and tricks you can dive into.
2:Analyze
Once you have at least one good favorite yoyoer, and one good video, analyze their tricks. Often times yoyoers will watch videos with quicktime to do frame by frame analysis of the material they see so they can fully understand. This is where you try to grasp a concept and attemp to copy it.
3: Experiment
Once you have a concept, its time to attempt to steal it. I know it sounds weird, but the best artists out there all steal from one another. But, what they do is they steal it while changing that very concept into something new. Thats why this is stage is the experimental stage. A good suggestion is whenever are trying to create something new is to purposely make a mistake. Those mistakes actually turn out into something positive.
4:Output
Once you have gone past experiment with a concept, adjusted it into your own creative flavor you find unique, polish the trick out and your set.
That really is the secret to anything creative. Good artists “burrow”. Best artists “steal”.
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Every time I’ve learned a new mount, I’ve spent the next couple weeks exploring every possible trick that could come from that mount. I’m never satisfied with just learning one trick on its own. Once you get even 2 or 3 mounts, the possibilities start to really pile up. There is a few minutes worth of combos that can come just from trapeze, double or nothing, and 1 1/2.
I’m all for structure and discipline. I feel that learning the stuff via the videos here is a great foundation to obtain the “tools” you need to come up with your own stuff, provided you’re able to come up with your own stuff.
With my son, he doesn’t want to really learn things the YYE way, which is fine. He can front bind, side bind and is learning what he wants and is making up the rest. I think the way he plays with stuff,he’s gonna play like JD. Sometimes a lack of structure is key to preventing something from getting in the way of creativity. When my son wants to learn something, he asks. No point forcing him. He’s five and a half and having a great time at it. I don’t want to wreck his enthusiasm.
Me, on the other hand, need more structure for the time being. I may never come up with anything great, original or worth learning. Then again, maybe that’s totally wrong. I have low expectations for my progress. Even so, I have no reason to not desire to improve. I figure I might as well get as good as I can at this.
Also, don’t feel that you need to get through all the tricks presented here before you feel the urge to come up with your own stuff. Also, try to meet other throwers, go to meets or organize meets and go to contests.
Lastly, don’t concern yourself with being “good”. Are you enjoying it? Are you having fun? If you can answer yes, then the rest doesn’t matter. For me, any time I can spend yoyo’ing is a very enjoyable activity and period of time. I know I’m not good. I don’t really care if I’m good or not! I’m enjoying myself, and for me, that’s good enough!
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Studio42 is the man 
but how long have you been yoyoing? At a certain point when you’ve learned allot of tricks your brain just starts doing the work for you and you can come up with different variations of tricks and string them together. It takes TIME! Just be patient. It’s hard. If im trying to make up new tricks I try to do stuff on purpose and I fail at it and get nothing accomplished but if im just doing tricks and having a good time I often accidentally come up with tricks and really like them.
I’d say keep learning the YYE tricks, when your through with them or you’re getting bored then start looking up other tutorials and start making up combos and what not. Though i have met people that refuse to learn the YYE tricks and are amazing. Andrew Maider told me he never liked learning the YYE tricks and he is definitely one of the best yoers on this site.
Just depends on how you work you have fun and good luck!