Duncan free hand turninig to the side when I the sleep trick.

I throw the free hand yo yo and it sleeps for a little bit but then it just turns to the side and I can’t do any tricks?

You must be new, correct?

Chances are you just need to work on your throw more. You may also need to cut your string to length as well.

When the yoyo is spinning, that’s what makes the yoyo stable. When it slows down below a certain point, it loses this stability and will start to tilt. Eventually, it will slow down to the point where it’s no longer tilted, but just flopping around…

For now, work on your throw. Let it sleep for a few seconds(anywhere from 2-5 seconds is enough for now) and then gravity pull it back. Increase sleep times gradually. Worse case is “oops, way too long” and then you just shorten that time up and start over. Once you can get 20 seconds of sleep time, then why not dare to try some of the tricks? Heck, maybe even 10 seconds. That’s all you need to walk the dog or rock the baby.

Be patient, be determined and don’t give up. You’ll get it!

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This could also be due to something called precession.

Precession can get very scientific and complicated, but all you really need to know is that you can correct tilt.

For now, work on straighter, stronger Sleepers like Studio42 suggests in the post above. Once you start on string tricks (such as Braintwister and Trapeze), hit the search tab and see what you can find here on correcting tilt.

Professional players’ yoyos tilt all the time, they just constantly correct the tilt as they play without anybody really noticing.

I had a very unique view of the performances from the side of the stage when running sound at CalStates in 2012. One thing that amazed me was HOW straight the throws were and stayed true. But, years of dedication, endless hours of practice and tons of drive, it shows.

That’s not to say I disagree with your statement in the least. There’s a reason why professionals get to where they are. I agree that they probably have tilt issues frequently, and they know how to deal with this issue, either through doing corrections or knowing how to play through it better.