How to choose your main throw? and string questions. CLYW's involved lol

Hey guys, Im kinda new to the hobby of unresponsive yoyos but bought my first duncan echo 2 and loved it. I went ahead and ordered a CLYW AC2 and WM2 in confetti colorways and decided I would get both in my hands and see which one I love more.

Heres the issue, I loved them both so much I wanted to get one of every confetti that came out. Nobody really wanted to get rid of theirs and I decided that I would let someone else appreciate one of them and I would keep the one I liked the best. They are just slightly different but different enough I cant tell which one to keep.

The AC2 seems amazing and with all the awesome videos I see it in it makes me think that I cant go wrong by keeping that one. Then i see the WM2 in others in great hands and just mind blowing tricks done with both. Those guys could probably do those tricks with any throw so the endorsement aspect throws that logic out the window.

Im just doing basic things like Man on the Flying Trapeze, Plastic whip, and working on my binds. The WM2 seemed a little easier to Plastic whip at first and as I got better at it I could do it on either one with relative ease so now Im not sure what to do.

What do u guys look for when you have to choose between one or the other? Also i got both types of the CLYW string, can anyone chime in on benefits of different strings? :slight_smile:

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Personally, and this is just me, if you aren’t pressed for cash I’d hold onto both a little bit longer until your skill improves. I have a couple of throws that I bought when I was starting off that I didn’t like, only to go back to them now and realise I love them. I’ve also had a couple of throws that I sold over the years because I thought I didn’t really like them, only to regret selling them later.

Once your skill improves and you start finding your own style you’ll be able to get a better feel for the individual characteristics of each yoyo and whether or not they fit your play style :slight_smile:

That being said, if you are set on selling one I can only advise you just to play them both as much as you can. At the end of the day it’s all down to you to decide which on you feel you like the best.

For the most part strings come in varying degrees of thickness and softness/slickness. Addressing the issue of thickness first:

Thinner strings (example: Kitty String) will tend to be a little less gentle on the fingers, however the trade off is that you can fit more wraps of string in the gap of the yoyo before it starts rubbing the response and slowing down. They don’t tend to whip or hold tension as well as thicker strings.

Thicker string (example: Fat Kitty) is more generally more comfortable to use and has more momentum behind it for slacks and whips, however it’s more likely to snag or slow down the yoyo when you put multiple layers in.

Softness/slickness wise:

A softer string (example: YYSL Ammo) will be more comfortable to use, however will not whip as well as a slicker string.

A slick string (example: Toxic String) will whip and slack very fast. The trade off is that it will be rougher on the fingers, as well as sometimes requiring a specialised knot in order to keep the loop on the finger properly.

Now obviously there’s a lot of generalisations there, but it’s just the rough guidelines to give you an idea.

Generally, the most popular options tend to be Fat Kitty:

and Blueprint Strings (not that there’s many left in stock)

The reason why these are so popular is because they’re good value. Cheap, but play well with middle-of-the-road characteristics. If you want a specialised string you’ll need to shell out a bit more money, but it’s not a necessity.

Personally, I use Yoyostringlab’s Ammo because I like the feel of a thicker softer string. Really it would be best to try a few out for yourself and see what you like the best. :slight_smile:

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What specialized knot do you use? There are some tricks that I do that cause the string to loosen and rotate around my finger. I’d like to know what you do to prevent that. Thanks.

I dont personally use one but I think that the ‘Finch Head Knot’ is a fairly popular option. Theres a topic on loops for slicker strings here:

Greg posts up a few videos on it about halfway down the page. The thread is worth a read if it’s something that you’re struggling with, there’s a lot of useful information there. :slight_smile:

I just make the length of the loop equal to or just slightly less than the girth of my finger.

Awesome, I think Ill try a few other types of strings. I’ll play with them both all day and see if I can make a decision. I dunno if I will keep both or not but if I am not going to use it for a while I dont want to keep it around, Im sure I will come across another that I want to try by then anyways. They seem to be kinda in demand so I think having someone else love it and play it is what its all about.

Thanks

Buying Caribous for trapeze and plastic whip? You’d do much better with a budget metal.