Top row: General Yo Model 10, Werrd Alliance
Bottom row: CLYW Peak, Werrd Sentinel, VsNYYC Flying Hut, ILYY Lynx
What is float?
“Float”, for those unfamiliar with the term, refers to a yoyo’s seeming ability to hang or hover in the air while playing with it. Float tends to be very subjective and I suspect it depends on several things, including yoyo shape, weight and personal play style.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, a “solid” feeling yoyo is one which conveys a sense of momentum or deliberateness on a throw. A yoyo which is very “solid” might feel heavy on the string. I tend to find that solid yoyos also convey a sense of confidence on the throw. Solid yoyos in my mind are also more stable than floaty ones with less of a tendency to tilt off axis.
For many people, including myself, float is a very enjoyable quality in a throw and is something I tend to look for. As a non-competitive player, I’m mainly looking for yoyos that are a pleasure to throw rather than something that is 100% performance oriented.
Different people tend to interpret yoyos differently. Therefore, readers should keep in mind that this roundup is purely my own personal rankings. Others may have different opinions and they would be just as valid as my own conclusions.
Tier 1: Deep Space (Model 10 and Alliance)
By far the two floatiest yoyos in my collection are General Yo’s upcoming Model 10 and the YoYoJam Alliance. Both of these yoyos almost levitate when thrown. They’re about equivalently floaty in my mind, but the Model 10 sports a somewhat more conventional shape than the Alliance which is extremely oversized and has a very exaggerated catch zone. The Model 10 also excels in a couple areas when compared to the Alliance which are stability and power. Immediately after playing the Model 10 prepro, I picked up a couple more from Ernie. Yes, it’s that good. The Alliance is also fantastic, but is more of a ‘fun’ yoyo than a serious competitor’s throw, imo. The profile and rim design is very unique and unlike most other yoyos on the market. It’s unfortunate that the Alliance seems to have had only a very limited release, because in a sea of very similarly spec’d and shaped yoyos, the Alliance stands out as very unique and original.
Tier 2: Stratosphere (Flying Hut and Lynx)
In the next tier, we have the VsNYYC Flying Hut and the ILYY Lynx. Both of these yoyos are also very floaty but less so than the Model 10 and Alliance. These two are also more conventionally shaped than the prior two. The Flying Hut was a prototype released by VsNYYC and will likely never see a production run due to the closure of VsNYYC. (This is a shame, because it’s one of my favorite throws.) The ILYY Lynx, like many other ILYYs is highly underrated. The Lynx has that awesome Candyblast coating which makes it a great grinder as well as very sparkly and visually attractive. Lynxes show up on the BST for very reasonable prices, so if you’re looking for a fun floaty throw I’d suggest you pick one up.
Tier 3: Cloud layer (Sentinel and Peak)
Unlike the difference between the Tier 1 and Tier 2 yoyos, I found the Tier 2 and Tier 3 throws to be much closer in floatiness. In fact, I kind of went back and forth as to which throws belonged in which group. The first one, the Werrd Sentinel is an oversized yoyo from our friends down under. In some ways it reminds me of the Alliance as it’s both oversized and light. This is another fun yoyo which is readily available, fairly priced and a unique one to add to your collection. Lastly we have the CLYW Peak which is probably the yoyo most commonly associated with the term ‘floaty’. Although in my mind it’s the least floaty of this bunch, it’s still very floaty compared to the majority of throws. In addition to being a great player, it has an organic shape and is definitely the most collectible of this group.
Anyways, that’s my quick round up. Would love to hear other people’s thoughts on floaty yoyos! Agree or disagree, let’s hear what you think. 