I had a good experience this evening. The guy who lives next door showed an interest in yoyos a few months ago and was picking it up pretty quickly. I gave him 3 yoyos and a bunch of string. We throw together every 3-4 wks. He came out tonight and asked for help with barrel rolls and to show him where he was messing up because he could not make progress from videos alone. After watching him for awhile I could see where he was getting stuck so I just had him get into split bottom mount and then I physically moved his hands through several barrel rolls until he got it and then he was doing it on his own. I was in the same position 2 years ago. A Co-worker pointed out what I was doing wrong in trying to get barrel rolls and he cleaned up my errors pretty quickly. I’m extremely happy my neighbor is sticking with it. He told me he got his friend into throwing.
I hope so
My neighbor got into throwing a few months ago (see my related posts above). I only see him every 3 weeks. Right before work today he asked me if I had any pads because the pads in the yoyo he was using most were getting wonky. I gave him a few pairs and asked him how barrel rolls were coming. I was really impressed and proud of his progress. I gave him my clear Skyva since he had no plastic yoyos yet. One more yoyo gone! I wanted to reward his progress and having a variety of yoyos will keep him fresh. I want to give him a great yoyo for Christmas and I have an extra mint Shutter but I am leaning toward buying him a Silenus.
Both great choices. I love gifting throws as incentives. I think the Shutter is a must have (even though i don’t care to throw it). The silenus i can now vouch for and i think i would appreciate it more then the shutter. Even though everyone should have a shutter… probably.
I was just outside throwing with my neighbor who began his Yoyo Adventure a few months ago. I just gave him a Zeekio soft case that holds 12 yoyos, a Hotdiggidy, a Yoyo King Dr. Smalls, and a YYF Superstar. He lives with his mom in a small apartment with little space and that makes breakaways difficult so he’s been practicing frontstyle. I am friggin’ amazed at his progress. Every time I teach him something he picks it up in minutes. I wanted to teach him double on and said some people can do triple on but I’m still trying get double on smoothly. What does he do? QUADRUPLE on…and smoothly. I feel like the boxing coach in the first Rocky movie. He could never win a fight in the ring himself but he can turn a good fighter into a champion. I’m so happy that I was and am in a position to move my neighbor further and further into this hobby. I have no doubt that I will become his apprentice in six or seven months.
That is awesome! We’ll done Chris!
Thanks. I hope I did not come across as boastful. I feel so joyous that despite my being a really, really slow learner, my in-person teaching put a newcomer on a fast track into throwing because I helped him avoid the hurdles that took me months and months to get over. I am hoping that when he fully delves into sidestyle his in-person teaching will help ME learn sidestyle.
I was just outside with the cat and my yoyo apprentice walked up with a yoyo in his hand. I was floored with how dead-on straight and accurate all of his throws were trick after trick. I kept watching his yoyo and was amazed at his plane keeping and how straight his yoyo stayed during tricks. It was cold outside but I took ten minutes to show him ripcord / wormhole. With the way he is progressing I am positive I will become his apprentice in a few months. That’s a good thing because I learn quicker with in-person teaching.
The long game! I love it
I was just over my apprentice’s house…holy smoke! He doesn’t have a lot of room for sidestyle right now and outdoor throwing due to the weather is iffy so he’s practicing frontstyle. I was floored by his jump in skill. He ran through everything he knows and I was seriously amazed at how dead-on perfectly straight / level he keeps his yoyo. I was barely looking at his hands or string wraps because I kept watching his yoyo which he kept so freaking perfect through everything. When he went into Zipper I was like “dude, I gave up on that on April 27th!” He inspired me to try again and I got all the movements down but slowly. I inspired HIM in getting started in Yoyo and now HE is instilling inspiration in me. Unlike me, he is just a total natural with yoyos and I am so excited to have created a thrower that is close to becoming MY teacher which is something I have wanted for a long time. Videos are great but I need in-person teaching because it will make it easier for me to grasp certain moves.
I wish I could give this more likes:+1:
It’s hard to quantify the “good vibes” I get from hearing how this progress continues. Truly excellent
That’s awesome! Well done Chris. And bravo for hitting zipper successfully!
I want him to join the forum and maybe he will one day. He is totally inspiring to me. Zipper is the hardest thing I’ve tackled so far. But everything is difficult in the beginning. I’m at work and I was practicing and most of the time I can do 4 repetitions before I start going off plane and / or start losing spin.
So this isn’t a apprentice story but i thought it fits…
I moved to long Island 4 weeks ago. I used to live in queens. For those not familiar i lived in a more urban neighborhood, now i am in the suburbs. Im a walker and a huge fan of public transport.
Now let’s get to the point. I’ve been walking my youngest to day care daily. I’ve started to chat with the very nice older crossing gaurd because the light is so freaking long! His name is Michael, obviously a good guy. On Friday we are chatting and Michael tells me he used to throw Duncan’s like a champion when he was a kid. I was blown away by him dropping his yoyo story, i just stood there and listened. I’ve never been told a yoyo story off the cuff like this, i am Always the one with the yoyo story.
He was the king of walk the dog and rock the cradel. Apparently in the 60s the kids with the longest sleeper was the coolest guy… Michael was #1. He grew up and forgot his throwing days.
Today i was ready. After dropping my daughter off i walked back and pulled out my Conspiracy, and showed him some combos. He was blown away. We chatted and i gave him a brand new Imperial. He said he was going to rip it open after work.
That is really cool! I have a feeling it won’t remain his only yoyo.
If i can create a local yoyoer like you did to jam with i will not hesitate to supply his collection. You know me very well.
This is so exciting and cool.
I have a brother named Michael. I can back this up as fact as he is obviously a goog guy as well.
Fact. Boom.
No no my problem is finding someone to teach me more!
My neighbor is 6-7 months in and still at it and ordering his own strings and practicing snap starts, finger spins, and double or nothing. When spring comes we can throw outside and by then he will be my teacher. The other night he had some friends over and one of them was interested in yoyos and he asked me if I wanted to come in and “show off a little” which I declined. The Walking Dead came on at 9 and I prefer to throw and miss mounts while alone. I was afraid he made me out to be a yoyo master and the thought of performing in front of several people… He’s developed enough skills of his own to attract people to the hobby.
Again not sure these stories go here but here we go…
Why do i throw in public, why do i carry a extra beater everywhere i go?.. in case i meet a Chris. I met Chris tonight in Penn Station, we are waiting for the same train, he’s watching me yoyo while we wait for the track announcement. He asked me "what are you throwing? " my spidey sense went off that this was not a lay person…i told him it’s “2evil monkeyfinger”… he asked “is that one of those unresponsive yoyos?”… Holy crap! I had the best train ride home introducing Chris to unresponsive yoyos! He had 2 Yomega’s on him. We threw the whole ride home! And i gifted him a MYY n12 red/blue half swap which i do love, but i think Chris will love more. And a10 pack of mfd vines. Swaped emails and i hope to start a long Island yoyo club with him. He apparently has 3 friends that throw better then him. By the end of the ride (40 min) he knew how to bind and throw brain twisters, i gave him zipper, and snap starts as his homework.
I might see him on the train again in 2 weeks.
