# Help Me Figure Out What to do Differently!
**URL:** https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/help-me-figure-out-what-to-do-differently/298746
**Category:** Spin Tops
**Created:** [February 11, 2019, 5:44am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/help-me-figure-out-what-to-do-differently/298746 "2019-02-11T05:44:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@smileypants707](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/smileypants707)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2019, 5:44am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/help-me-figure-out-what-to-do-differently/298746/1 "2019-02-11T05:44:23Z")
I just got a YYF elec-tric top (my first top), and it’s blowing my mind how difficult this thing is to use…
So,
I cannot get this thing to land upright. Either on the ground or on my hand (boomerang)
I can _sometimes_ land a successful boomerang, but I cannot
- Correct it, it always lands sideways
- Replicate the throw/catch more than once
Spin tops are no joke! Haalp!
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### Author:  [@vegabomb](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/vegabomb)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2019, 6:56am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/help-me-figure-out-what-to-do-differently/298746/2 "2019-02-11T06:56:44Z")
Try different string lengths. A little shorter seemed to be easier for me at first.
Also remember, kind of “push” the top. Don’t flick your wrist. Keep your arm like you’re swinging a tennis racket.
And lastly, get a YYF short circuit as well. Lots of tricks out there need to be done on a fixed tip.
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### Author:  [@smileypants707](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/smileypants707)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2019, 2:34pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/help-me-figure-out-what-to-do-differently/298746/3 "2019-02-11T14:34:18Z")
How much shorter are you talking?
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### Author:  [@Grendel](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/Grendel)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2019, 5:21pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/help-me-figure-out-what-to-do-differently/298746/4 "2019-02-11T17:21:27Z")
Hey, get ahold of Chris Neff. He knows things… Tell him Ted Mosby sent ya.
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### Author:  [@yoyoretro](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/yoyoretro)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2019, 5:26pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/help-me-figure-out-what-to-do-differently/298746/5 "2019-02-11T17:26:35Z")
Just try incrementally shorter. [Edit: Chris just reminded me that YFF strings are already short. So scratch that]. As World Spin Top Champion Chris Neff says, “string length is based on the size and weight distribution of the top and the thickness of string being used”.
You honestly have to mess with it a bit until it feels right.
Here’s an awesome post he wrote a few years back:
> [@Getting Started with Spin Tops](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/getting-started-with-spin-tops/23363):
>
> Almost everything about learning how to spin tops defies logic, is counter-intuitive, or is otherwise generally frustrating. It’s all backwards, I tell ya! The following bits of advice should help move things forward again. Which top? As you may have already discovered, there are two basic types of tops, fixed tip and bearing tip tops. Bearing tops seem to be easier for beginners because they give the player more time to set up for tricks. The bearings themselves can be difficult to remove…
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### Author:  [@Neff](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/Neff)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/help-me-figure-out-what-to-do-differently/298746/6 "2019-02-11T17:42:35Z")
Not shorter!!! YYF strings are too short already. In fact, they don’t work well at all without the plastic ring on. At work, more later.
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### Author:  [@yoyoretro](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/yoyoretro)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2019, 5:53pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/help-me-figure-out-what-to-do-differently/298746/7 "2019-02-11T17:53:40Z")
This guy. Listen to this guy.
I’ve changed all the strings on my YYF tops. I didn’t remember until now that they come so short to begin with.
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### Author:  [@Myk\_Myk](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/Myk_Myk)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2019, 3:02am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/help-me-figure-out-what-to-do-differently/298746/8 "2019-02-12T03:02:52Z")
Until you get the proper length string, experiment with tilting the top tip away from vertical.
> [@smileypants707](#):
>
> I can _sometimes_ land a successful boomerang, but I cannot
>
> - Correct it, it always lands sideways
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgyXnfTWFTU)
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### Author:  [@Myk\_Myk](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/Myk_Myk)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2019, 2:14pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/help-me-figure-out-what-to-do-differently/298746/9 "2019-02-12T14:14:27Z")
> [@yoyoretro](#):
>
> As World Spin Top Champion Chris Neff says, “string length is based on the size and weight distribution of the top and the thickness of string being used”.
You can boil the variables down to how far up the barrel the string winds. Once you know this for a given top, you can go to a thicker or thinner string (within reason), and just cut it to the length that has it wrap to the sweet spot.
Might be cool if top makers marked this.
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### Author:  [@Hades1313](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/Hades1313)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2019, 6:57pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/help-me-figure-out-what-to-do-differently/298746/10 "2019-03-06T18:57:23Z")
I had a problem at first with that top also. What I did was when I hold the top I hold it further back in my hand, and when I throw it I add a little wrist turn. So when I let go my palm is facing more to the ground. Give that a shot a few times and let me know how it goes.
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### Author:  [@kevinm](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/kevinm)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2019, 3:19pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/help-me-figure-out-what-to-do-differently/298746/11 "2019-06-01T15:19:16Z")
So, did you get it? We’re all waiting to hear back!
One thought on tops not landing straight, if it is consistently falling in the same position, tilt the tip the opposite way in you hand when you release it to compensate. If it is random, you are not winding it tightly or you are putting some spin on it with your wrist or elbow to get it out of whack.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx5lhaDzn38)
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### Author:  [@smileypants707](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/smileypants707)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2019, 3:36pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/help-me-figure-out-what-to-do-differently/298746/12 "2019-06-01T15:36:34Z")
I eventually did learn the subtle finesse required to catch one in hand. That process included adjusting my string length just a tad. I am by no means a master, and it has been a few weeks since I attempted to throw one, but I do occasionally come back to them
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### Author:  [@vegabomb](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/vegabomb)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2019, 5:02pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/help-me-figure-out-what-to-do-differently/298746/13 "2019-06-01T17:02:02Z")
> [@smileypants707](#):
>
> That process included adjusting my string length just a tad.
Curious did you shorten or use longer?
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### Author:  [@smileypants707](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/smileypants707)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2019, 5:54pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/help-me-figure-out-what-to-do-differently/298746/14 "2019-06-01T17:54:37Z")
A little shorter.
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### Author:  [@vegabomb](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/vegabomb)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2019, 6:33pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/help-me-figure-out-what-to-do-differently/298746/15 "2019-06-01T18:33:04Z")
I was curious because I’ve read that longer is what’s normally needed. I also had to shorten it a bit to get the proper return. I’ve also read that there comes a point (if you stick to it) that you can throw a top with basically any length string.