Well I liked your ramble, and I think we’re similar in a few ways with regard to how we learn
I like to have an idea of where I stand and how others progress, not so much to compete and show who’s the best, but so I have an idea of how people progress and learn. I like to be very conscious of the learning process, and tweak it so I get the most out of practise sessions, instead of just repeating and hoping my subconscious helps my psychomotor skills.
Boingy is hilarious, sometimes I feel like I’ve really got it and try to go real fast, then the yoyo pops out and I look like a fool. Satan’s trick indeed
It’s really cool that you’ve got Matrix etc down! I’m working on Kwijibo in addition to smoothing out earlier tricks, and haven’t managed to get the part where you get into the double or nothing after the second pop. I’ll get there!
I learn visually and conceptually. Like you, I pay very close attention to how the finger positioning goes. Miguel Correa’s tutorials were really helpful for me cos he breaks things down very systematically, and his videos are good quality lol. André is a gem but I wish there was a high def video upgrade…
I find that it’s a lot easier to get the hang of tricks after analysing the concept behind movements, and just ignoring the difficulty level people assign them. That’s probably how I can be working on Kwijibo without getting a basic 1.5 mount down. One of these days I’m just going to settle down and work on all the mounts though. No way to progress with shaky foundations.
I hate when they “you just” like its super easy like I want to say can I just punch you in the face LOL
Honestly the fun part of learning any trick is figuring out how to make it work in your own way and smoothing it out to look like the real trick. Cause one and half mount on the side I just turned my body like it was a front mount LOL
I still can’t plastic whip or do any slack tricks for my life ><
Your progress is about the same if not better than where I was. Believe me, things that seem impossible become routine before you even notice it. Just look back at when you started. Its such a cliche but practice makes perfect. I dont even know how, but one day double or nothings just clicked, then that day I learned cold fusion and matrix. slack tricks will come in time also. everything does. persistence, practice, patience.
“After you finish, simply dismount and do a bind return.”
does one handed laceration style trick bind
Congrats! I personally think whips are easier than they look, once you understand how it’s supposed to work. It’s just difficult to pick up cos even in tutorial vids the string is just a blur.
i dunno if anyone mentioed it or not, alil lazy eyed tonight on reading thoroughly tonight, but w/e
100% polys only melt on fixed axles, and even 50/50’s can be a bit of a problem, onestar and shutters are non-responsve, with c sized bearings poly’s wont melt t ll, unless you pick up a fixed axle yoyo,especially wooden throws. for said responsive throws you need 100% cotton to avoid friction melting your string, i learned the hard way and snapped a 50/50 within mintues of using an old school butterfly. threw it across the kitchen XD. but you’ll will be more than fine with 100% polys,and they will be alot easier on your skin, i wear a glove on my throw hand and not my NTH. ive got major calluses on my TH index. so at times it gets alil irritated. but you may not need that glove anymore if you go with straight poly.
Thanks man, you got rid of my irrational worry. Will definitely be going for 100% poly next. I’d love more than anything to not have to wear gloves, they’re thin as hell but still feel less natural.
How come you’ve got callouses on your TH index? That doesn’t seem to be a super high traffic area compared to your NTH index/middle.
I don’t really know what order to go in for tricks.
Here is the order (more or less) I went in, based on whatever the general order was that I could find on this site (and some others):
Gravity Pull
Forward Pass
Breakaway
Sleeper
Jamaican Flag
Rock the Baby
Dizzy Baby
Shoot the Baby
UFO Left
UFO Right
Pop the Clutch
Around the Corner
Around the World I
Around the World II
Around the World III
Trapeze
Front Bind
Brain Twister
I just recently got really good at the Brain Twister, so that’s as far as my list goes. I’ve started working on Stop and Go, but right now I’m really just enjoying being able to do the Brain Twister without fail each time I try it. I’m kind of basking in my latest success rather than hurrying to the next thing.
I’ve been yo-yoing about a month. I think I started on September 7th. I don’t know where that puts me in terms of learning curve, but I still can’t do an Eiffel Tower, one-handed star, two-handed star, and some of the other basic stuff. I suppose I should learn, but for whatever reason I just wasn’t that interested in making a stupid star.
Some of the tricks you can do are way beyond where I’m at, but I’m always afraid that if I don’t do the tricks in order, I’m missing some important steps that will help me learn to do other tricks down the road (like Elevator is a good beginner step for Brain Twister).
Oh, right. I can do Elevator too, but I learned it mostly on accident and without actually trying. It’s pretty much an inherent part of Brain Twister, so I never really worked on it specifically and thus, I don’t count it. Same thing with Crawler and Walk the Dog. They’re not really on my list because I don’t really like doing them, and because to me they’re basic sleepers, except with the floor involved. That and because I’m still new to butterflies, my dog always runs in a curve. I have a pretty drunk looking dog when I walk it (and I don’t really care to spend time learning to do it right). So I don’t count those.
I feel like I learn tricks by muscle memory. when I learn a new trick, I have to look at the strings while I do it, but after like half an hour, I dont have to. for example I can do most of my combos without looking. It’s more of a feel than actually looking when it comes to consistently landing tricks.
This is probably an indicator that at the end of the day, you’ll be better than most. I have to look at the strings pretty much all the time. I can’t land a Trapeze by feel alone very consistently, despite that I’ve worked hard to use a Break Away to start it instead of a Forward Pass.
I just can’t land them all that consistently - although I did get to the point where I was doing so with a Forward Pass to start my Trapeze. I just haven’t gotten there yet with my Break Away.
My point is that I pretty much have to watch the string.
My guess is that since you use feel and don’t have to watch the string, that’s going to be a more reliable training technique and skill than sight alone is for me. In the end I’ll bet you pick up on tricks more quickly, and can hit them more consistently. Especially the more complicated string tricks that require a lot of space to be used to land the yo-yo on the string again.
You’re not alone hahaha, I couldn’t be bothered with the picture tricks too. Besides, they should be pretty quick to pick up if one day I decide that they’re cool ;D I think I should mention that when I was in primary school (more than a decade ago now), I had a basic Duncan imperial and I obsessed like crazy with it. Practised day in day out, but only could do looping. I think that counts for a lot because it makes me that much more familiar with a yoyo, even though I’m learning a totally different style from looping. If I were a complete beginner, I’d probably be learning every trick too, for fear of missing out on important stuff.
do not fear, when learning to do basic mounts like a trapeze and double or nothing, I had to look at the strings a LOT. Ive been landing double or nothings for 7 years, which is probably why I dont have to look. Not bragging, just trying to say that practice really does make perfect. I yoyo when i wake up before i brush my teeth, when I’m waiting for the bus, while I’m walking through the halls at school, etc… anyways, don’t ever look at a trick or technique and say “ill never be able to do that”, because sooner or later, it will become routine, and I promise you that.
It takes a lot to master this amazing toy, but it’s worth it. Keep at it, and you will get better, it will get easier, then you’ll want to try something new, and it will be difficult until it’s not.
It takes 10,000 hours to master anything, do the math. But above all, have fun, it is a toy!
I come on here, watch some of the videos on youtube, IG and some of you guys are INSANELY awesome. I think “Yikes, I suck”, then I am tooling around at the store, or this morning before the Lions game tossing a fixed axle around and someone goes “holy crap, that was insane” to a kick flip suicide. Something that I consider a beginner trick and then it came, “can you walk the dog?” I did… he smiled and said “show off… but that’s so cool”
Enjoy it, take your time and see this toy for what it is, a great way to spend time with your thoughts.
Yeah, at first I found myself intimidated with basic maneuvers like the basic mounts . When I learned them, it made things easier to understand. I did not intend to be systematic…it’s just that I found that learning things like cold fusion or split the atom were too much for me without fully understanding the mount.
About metal vs plastic…it’s scarier to use a metal because one hit and that’s a permanent and play changing effect. However, it’s A LOT smoother to use metal, spins a lot longer, and I can touch the yoyo while spinning (grinds). I also like the noise metals make more than my plastic does (both are running 10-ball C-size bearing). My metal also plays a lot more stable than my plastic (meaning it doesn’t go off axis as easily). Overall, I’m happy with my metal but I kind of regret moving too quickly because I feel that my yo-yo is far superior to my talents. In terms of cars, I’d say it’s more along the lines of Lotus Exige (Metal) vs Honda Civic Si (plastic). With a regular driver, both cars will not show as huge a gap as expected. With a pro, the difference will be pronounced.
I just got into yoyoing a few weeks ago. I fiddled around with it about 12 years ago with some responsive yoyos, but never got beyond ‘rock the baby’ and forward pass. I didn’t even know there’s such a thing as unresponsive yoyos until a few weeks ago. I’ve since bought a few unresponsive yoyos and have been practicing perhaps an hour or so a day. I’ve learned that certain things can get quite frustrating, such as having to constantly fix string tension (and not being able to do it with something like the UFO) and getting knots (tweezers have become an essential part of my yoyo accessories). I also don’t like the idea of having to constantly change the string and am considering switching to nylon string, since I hear that those can last for many months, but it seems to be very difficult to find. So far, the tricks I’ve learned are the bind, split bottom mount, front bottom mount, brain twister, mach 5, and barrel rolls. I can’t get the hang of side style play as of yet. My breakaway throws are quite weak and I don’t get into a trapeze consistently, and can’t bind well from a side throw. So, for now I’m focusing more on front style play. The current trick I’m trying to learn is the zipper. I’ve been working on it for about 5 days now and can do it in a rather sloppy way, but at least that’s some progress. Other tricks I’ve tried learning and decided to put on hold because I’ve had no progress with them so far (e.g. pop and fresh, boingy boing, and ripcord).
P.S. After I posted the reply I realized that this thread ended 9 years ago!
Yo markmont strings last for months and months. They’re expensive but really do last a long time, especially if you wash them. Also you might just be changing strings too often, if they look torn up and frayed, that doesn’t mean it’s time to change them yet, bulk string will often last way past that point, like a few weeks. Lots of people prefer fresh strings tho and you’ll hear that people change them much more frequently.
Also stick with it and you’ll get more comfortable adjusting string tension. It becomes way less annoying. Have fun!
Thanks for the suggestion, I just ordered a pack of 10 strings from Markmont along with another yoyo from their site. Looking forward to trying them out.
Especially the higher the level
