I’m not sure if Goofy Pops is the right name… this is the pop that you send out of a 1.5 mount and then pull’r back into a 1.5. Like at the beginning of the “Pitch and Catch” trick.
I’ve seen a lot of people doing these fairly sideways, but for the life of me I can’t figure out the trick. Mine go pretty much straight down. I feel like if I try to throw any faster or harder or more sideways that I’m going to get the wickedest string burn.
Any pointers? Hand position or mental/visualization tricks, for example?
I did get wicked string burns getting proficient with this trick. It is the one and only trick that forced me to wear a glove while learning. I don’t do that many consecutive repetitions at a time anymore and haven’t worn a glove since though.
Can’t really think of any real advice but wear a glove if you decide to start putting some heat and speed behind them for now. This one was all about experimenting and feel, for me.
With hop tricks, it is usually your pivot finger/hand that controls the angle of the hop (along with the starting angle of the pop). The yoyo wants to pivot around that anchor point in a circle, but you stop it from doing that by sliding your pivot hand along the string. If you focus on that, you can learn to control the angle by feel. When you pop the yoyo out toward the side, make sure you move your pivot hand (throwhand, in this case) up toward your non-throwhand quickly so the yoyo does not have time to pivot downward. You can even do this trick by letting the string lose contact with your throwhand completely once you pop the yoyo off the string (which will stop the yoyo from rotating downward), and then bringing your hands together and picking the string back up there to pull the yoyo back.
It also helps to make sure your hands start at a good angle to get the pop started in the right direction. Make sure your non-throwhand is above your throwhand and not level with it so that you can properly aim to the side. It doesn’t have to be directly above, but enough that you can get the yoyo started in the right direction.
I think it’s pretty much a ‘feel’ thing, like with boingy-boingy or eli hops in general. Also, I tend to raise both my arms a little bit after starting to unwind the 1.5, if I try doing it without lifting my arms, it tends to go more downwards.
Another trick/motion that I feel would help understand this trick is where you throw a breakaway and start aiming for a trapeze, but a bit before the yoyo lands on the string, you pull it back and ‘reverse’ its circular motion, sending it back where it came from. Ultimately they’re a similar concept, where you’re forcing the yoyo to not take the path of least resistance.