So, I am returning to yoyo after about 16-18 year hiatus. Ordered 11 new throws in the last week. First one came in today: Turning Point MaxBet.
I got the black with gold, and it is gorgeous. However, I was dissapointed with the play out of he box. There stemmed to be a lousy bearing. It had quite a bit of lateral slop, and spin times were short, vibe was high. Fortunately, I ordered some bearings with it, and dropped in a KK ceramic. Wow! What a difference.
So I started working on binds. This is tougher than expected. I get a good one about 50% o the time afte following the video here. I am also having a difficult time getting a good throw. About 60 of the time the yoyo is tilted on its axis. I am working on my form, but can’t seem to isolate the cause.
Any tips on things you did to improve your throw and your bind?
Draw (or imagine) a straight line on the floor and try to throw to match that line… I used the tiles on my kitchen floor when I was learning… It really helps keep the yoyo straight.
For someone at your level (just starting to bind), vibe, low spin times, and tilt are just a function of an bad throw. I had the exact same problems with my velocity when I first started, but they’ll soon disappear when you throw straight and true. To be completely honest, I think a Turning Point was probably a pretty bad buy for someone just learning to bind. When you get good at unresponsive play, though, I’m sure you’ll be glad you have it!
Lol, it’s gonna be all beat up and vibey by the time this happens anyways, assuming he doesn’t throw well now. If the vibe is visible or the yoyo is slightly tilted after you throw you just need to practice your throw more, I promise the maxbet is not any sort if a bad yoyo but really for learning you probably shouldve gotten a plastic you probably wouldn’t even be able to tell the difference if this is your first yoyo…
Sorry I don’t feel like reading all the little qouted text and comments about them so sorry if I repeat something. Honestly though it is all repetition, especially the bind. It will just become second nature after a while and you will start to not just get the mechanics of the bind you are performing down but also the whole idea and mechanics behind all binds will become apparent and it won’t seem as foriegn or difficult. As far as throws go, along with constant, unending, have the outline of a yoyo string permanently imprinted on your middle finger practice … take note of the orientation of the yoyo after the throw. It should give a hint to how you should be adjusting then just bind it up correct it and do it again like 100000 times.
I just want to offer some safety tips. After each bind, take a look at it and make sure it looks smooth, with no string hanging out where it shouldn’t. Even if it looks smooth, I still wouldn’t look down when you throw the yoyo.
For me, the hardest part about binds was remembering which direction you bind. After I got that down, they were easy. Pinch the string if you have trouble.
I didn’t even think to tell you that but actionM88 is 100% correct. Please be careful with knots when binding. When you first begin binding it is a common occurance for the string to occasionally knots around the yoyo. If you at all fell like it was a “sloppy” bind or that you might have any chance of a knot DO NOT try to throw a hard breakaway/trapeze… I have completely shattered my nose doing this. Imagine just happily yo-yoing thinking you are getting this whole binding/side throw/trapeze thing down and get more and more confident so start throwing harder and harder , hit a knot all the sudden , see stars , blood everywhere , couldn’t see for like a minute and nose hurt for 2 months. I couldn’t touch the yoyo for like an hour and am just now and continue to get more confident throwing breakways >< traumatic
If I were you, I’d stop thinking in days and start thinking in months.
Yoyoing is not an intuitive activity for most people. The motions required are used almost nowhere else in common life, so they all have to be learned from scratch. Even if you’ve got fantastic hand-eye coordination, yoyoing will push you well past your inherited abilities.
Getting a good throw takes TONS of practice. I know people who’ve spent between 2 and 3 hours each day just practicing their throw. Even with all of that, none of them has had that “perfect” throw.
I think you’ll find on your own that everything in modern yoyoing takes lots and lots of time to learn, then at least triple that amount of time to master. The throw is definitely the most important part of this, so getting it down is critical. The only place you may run into a serious roadblock is if you expect your progress to be significant after only a day or two.
Sure, you’ll be able to learn how to bind in a day, but learning how to really throw the yoyo with sufficient force and stability will take a LONG time! Give yourself a break and just take things as they come.
Thanks for all the tips. I’ll just keep working on my throw and bind.
A little context: I was a decent yoyoer back in the early-mid 90s with an SB-2. I could get better throws with that yoyo than I do now with my MaxBet. I think the wider yoyo has presented enough difference that I am struggling more than expected, and expected muscle memory from 20 years ago to kick in unrealistically.
As for regretting the MaxBet for a first throw, I doubt that. Of the 11 yoyos I recently bought, 4 of them are Magic’s, so they were cheap, and they will be here tomorrow. So they will be the ones all banged up. The 1 Turning Point and 6 YYRs will be handled a little more delicately, unless they are actually easier to learn on. Being in my 40s with no kids means I can afford yoyos. In fact this hobby is my cheapest by a huge margin. I spend more on ammunition in a year for target shooting than I will ever spend on yoyos, even going through high end yoyos as learning tools.
Also, my experience with responsive ball bearing aluminum yoyos in the past means I am relatively familiar with keeping these things relatively damage free.
Anyway, It was very heartening to hear how much work goes into a good throw. I will keep at it, staying focused on form, and ramping up speed as I get the thing spinning nice and straight. Thanks everyone.
You said you were learning the bind on this site? That’s the funky weird bind that screws up string and forms knots pretty easily correct? If I am correct, then you would be better off learning just a simple reverse spin bind and maybe a Dave bind for side style-
Reverse spin - Throw a trapeze , pop the yoyo off and around your non throw hand finger back up into the string, let the momentum carry it around and loop, pinch the loop , tug on the string with your throw hand until you feel resistance , let go of the loop and tug .
The Dave bind is basically a crossways bind I am not exactly sure how to describe it in text so I will let someone who has made a youtube video of it do it for me.
The bind video on this site starts with the version that knots easily, but then he does the version with the reverse mount that doesn’t knot as easily. It’s around 1:40 in the vid.
I finally got some time to trow today, day 2 in my re-engagement in yoyoing, and I will tell you, it is all coming back faster now after putting it down for the night.
I was throwing about 90% solid stable throws today. Executing the binds at about 90%, and pulled off a few brain twisters with ease. Staying focused on the throw and the bind still, but some simple intermediate tricks every few just for variety’s sake. My power on the throws is medium at best, but that can come later.
I never had as good a breakaway, so I will have to work on that one a bit more than the front throw, but by the end of the week, I should be doing very reliable front throws and simple binds, and landing the intermediate tricks that you can do from a front throw.
OH MY! I didnt even read that part, dang this guy hasta be trollin right? I mean who decides after 18 years they are gonna get back into a hobby and just up and gets $1500 in yoyos…but hey if you have that kind of money then good for you man I’m hecka jealous, wish i had 11 high end metals all comin in at once but the suspense and excitement would probably kill me…
Not trolling. I swear. To be honest, not all of the yoyos were high end. I ordered some Magic Yoyos as well. I also ordered 4 plastics today for responsive play. I got 6 YYRs from the B/S/T here from pertyo at a good price. I’m well under $1k.
To answer your question, about who does this: I do. 5 years ago I got into pinball machines, after not playing pinball for over 10 years. I peaked at 6 machines, I have now only 3. If I told you my budget for refurbing these next year, you’d probably crap yourself.
3 years ago I got into target shooting. Dropped a bunch on some nice high end target guns, and a ton of ammo over the last 3 years.
2 years ago, I got into RC helicopters. Dropped a bunch on that.
Been back into poker after a 4 year hiatus for the last 3 years. Spent a ton on building new tables, comfy chairs, and getting high end casino grade chips. At least this is one hobby that makes moneyt over all.
I’m currently saving up for an airplane. Plan to start pilot lessons next spring.
Here’s a secret for you guys out there still in college or not even yet in college: when you graduate, you might get yourself into a good paying career, that comes with a high pressure, high stress job. Then these little hobbies are your life line to de-stressing and maintaining your sanity. The cost of the hobbies may be expensive to outsiders, but small compared to your salary. I have been lucky in that I have a PhD level education, and I make a lot of money by most standards, but do so in a high pressure situation. The downside of all this success, is that I am frequently exhausted and burnt out, and that the joy of the ramp up of new hobbies is one of my great pleasures in life, and helps me recharge myself.
Here is a pic of my MaxBet in the foreground, and 2 pinball machines in my home office in the background.
I understand spending way more on hobbies than other people consider reasonable it just seemed like a lot of excess for something you werent sure you enjoyed yet, but I ain’t judgin man yoyos are the bees knees, also i assumed you ordered them all new and posted before i read so i though you bought 10 brand new YYRs at once i mean you said you yoyo’d before but it was different back then anyways I hope you enjoy them all
I loved yoyoing back in the 90s, and I am already loving it today. I already found about 1.5 hours in my busy day to work on my throw and bind. I can tell these new yoyos are awesome. I’ll probably play a lot for 6-12 months, and then just occasionally after that, but it is already buying me a lot of stress relief.
My goal is to get to the Expert level tricks in my lifetime. I htink this is possible, even for an old guy like me.
