I have been yo-yoing for about 3 years. I have been very serious about yo-yoing for 1 year. I consider myself to be passed the intermediate skill level but I always wondered when do you cross that line from intermediate to master? For me it was when you could land spirit bomb. Any thoughts?
One crosses the line, when they feel that their line has been crossedā¦
bark
You cross the line from intermediate to advanced first. I would say that you cross that line when you start competing, or start learning Rethink L4 tricks, YYE Master Level tricks, etc.
You become a master when you are competing at a āprofessionalā level.
I can can land spirit bomb. I am not a master.
Same ^^^
yah. Just because you can do a trick youāre not a master. I believe you become a master when you are given a list of tricks and you can think up a combo in 2 minutes that links them all together. Then youāre a master.
Or if you win worlds 
wellā¦
mastery is a funny concept. people want so badly to feel āauthorizedā to shed those beginner and intermediate categories, but whatās the point? iāve played yo-yo every day since 2005 (and on/off for years before that) and i feel way further from āmastering the artā now than i did after 6 months of play.
if mastery means you can hit trick x or y, thatās pretty easy to define, but completely useless. some people define it as the result of 10,000 hours of practice, but thatās also pretty arbitrary. to me it means that you have control over your own art, and by proxy, your self. it has become a mode of expression for you and you are able to use it and approach it in a way that is as unique as you, yourself are. thatās a tall order, and iāve got miles to go.
maybe iāll ācross that lineā someday and maybe i wonāt. maybe iāll be aware of it and maybe i wonāt. iād like to think that if iāve REALLY mastered yo-yoing though, the title wonāt make a shred of difference to me.
Me? Never.
Having fun? Always.
That is sufficient.
^^^ This
Spirit Bomb was one of the first tricks I decided to learn, while skipping a bunch of other tricks that sit lower on the trick ladder, and it took me forever to land.
Sadly, there are less complex tricks that I still have issues with, so that puts a bit of a hole in your theory.
You can not define your YoYo Skill level on the basis of completing one trick. Itās an overall diversity of skill in all areas of YoYoāng that must be examined.
I do not ever see the day when I can call myself a āMasterāā¦and Iām totally OK with that.
Itās all about a very fun journey in my case.
Sphinx! Is that you?? (please say yes)
Iām just like stickman. Spirit Bomb wasnāt too far down on the list of ānot a beginner anymoreā tricks that I learned. I definitely donāt feel like master. I think youāre on the right path (but not a āmasterā) when the yoyo goes where you want it to go, when you want it to go there. Being able to just start doing stuff and experimenting with reasonable certainty of what will happen along the way.
But hey, Iām not there, so Iām just imagining what it will be like to feel proficient.
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Whatever happened to those days when you met with your friend and told him/her youāve learnt all the tricks at glasseye/kwos/?
Sure, i felt great. But certainly didnāt call myself āmasterā. Iām just some kid who enjoys what he does.
Letās say intermediate to advanced, and not go straight to master. Advanced has a different meaning to everyone of course. Some think itās as simple as getting to the advanced section of this site and some think itās when you compete and do decently. Now, hereās my opinion.
I personally believe an intermediate is someone who knows somewhat advanced tricks like skin the gerbil, spirit bomb, etc. up to stuff like Plan D, And Whut, White Buddah, etc. but can not put them together smoothly. This means they canāt make good transitions between tricks and make a routine flow. I also believe an intermediate arenāt skilled enough to start making up their own tricks. If an intermediate player were to compete at a contest, they would stall a lot between tricks, because they lack flow, and donāt look smooth, but instead, awkward. An intermediate player is not ready for competition. That is what makes an intermediate thrower in my honest opinion.
Now, the step from intermediate to advanced. I believe this is when an intermediate player can take those advanced tricks they know, smoothen them all out, and learn and to make good transitions. Add along the ability to make up tricks, not necessaily something completely new, but are able to combine different elements together to make up a trick. They are able to experiment with elements and maneuvers they knew and make something different out of it. An advanced player has finally developed their style, and know what tricks fit their style. If anadvanced player were to compete, he would have flow, look smooth, have some advanced tricks and there, some which he has created, and just generally look good.
The main difference from an intermediate and an advanced thrower is that an intermediate relies on tricks he has learned. He is unable to make up is own. He also looks awkward and pauses a lot when he throws, because he hasnāt developed flow yet. While an advanced player can make up his own tricks, and can create a routine and do it smoothly and just look good.
Iām able to do spirit bomb and a number of tougher tricks as well as incorporate some more fundamental ātricksā (brent stole, suicides, slacks, etc) into the beginning/middle/end of tricks. I would consider myself a very amateur yoyoer. My technique is not very smooth and I donāt really fully understand how some tricks work (I can land brent stole >95% of the time, I still donāt know exactly what the string is doing that makes it end up how it ends up). I think the most important step people can make in almost anything they do is master the fundamentals and understand why things happen the way they happen. In the case of yoyoing and my brent stole example, I think that understanding how what youāre doing will interact with the yoyo/string is important in order to branch out from the basic concept into other things.
I think the last time I even tried learning a new trick was like 2011 but Iāve been putting some work in on some stuff the past couple days when I can. Even learning the beginning elements of some longer already defined tricks is worthwhile since they can be incorporated into what you already know and make it more enjoyable.
Iād say itās when you are able to execute complex tricks smoothly together, as a combo, completely on the spot. It took years for me to do. Another definition would be when you can consistently make the finals in contests. I donāt mean to say those things will make you the best in the world or whatever, it wonāt. Both of the things I mentioned apply to me, but I have a loong way to go. So yeah thatās my thoughts.
I think the ability to improvise on the yoyo is a big part of mastery. when you are comfortable with just making stuff up on the spot, stringing together what you know, and maybe adding in something you just thought of, you really understand yoyoing and have the skills to make it work.
Kind of like levels of music learning. You cant master an instrument until you can improvise and play music out of your head.