Okay, so I have a question and the obvious answer is “buy a yo-yo glove.” But I don’t think that’s the right answer in this case, for reasons I’ll describe below. First I want to discuss the actual problem.
I have exceptionally dry skin. It’s very dry. While this wasn’t a problem in the past, it is now. The weather is changing. It’s getting colder here in Colorado. Also, it’s Colorado, so there’s no water in the air. There is zero humidity here. In the summer, it’s warm enough that my throwing finger, despite being dry, can still keep a pretty good grip to the loop of the yo-yo string.
But between it being colder, it being Colorado, that I have dry skin, and that I am pretty constantly washing my hands anyway… When I do side throws for UFO/Sleeping Beauty, or for a Trapeze (note that I throw to the side, not a traditional Break Away - See this video for details).
The result is that the string loop swings around my finger. I end up with the string coming off the side of my fingers, or even the back of my finger, and subsequently I lose complete control of my yo-yo. Sometimes the string loop spins around my hand right as I’m launching my UFO and it causes my yo-yo to spin out before it even gets halfway to the end of the string for my trick.
A yo-yo glove seems excessive to me. Maybe I’m mistaken, but it just seems like that’s a bit much for just trying to keep my string “gripped” to my throw finger. To me it seems like I’d be putting my entire leg in a cast just because I have a hang nail. I really just need a better grip for the string on my middle finger.
In the past I’ve used Band-aids to some success, but frankly, I’m running low on Band-aids and sometimes they still slip.
I also started using a lot of hand moisturizer, but frankly I think that’s ridiculous, and it probably gets the string dirty faster. I tried Chapstick, but that actually just made it slip more.
I was wondering if any of you guys use anything on your throw finger to help the string grip your throw finger. If so, what do you use?
Is this what the gloves are for? Bear in mind that I’m not worried about string burn or anything like that. Mostly, I’ve got that covered and Band-aids work just fine to prevent that even when I’m practicing heavily. But maybe that’s the solution and I just don’t like the idea of wearing a glove. Frankly, people look at me like I’m weird enough just for having a yo-yo in my pocket to begin with. Maybe I’m just being self-conscious though, and the glove really is the solution.
I don’t know. Perhaps one or more of you can enlighten me.