Please help trying to prepare for first yoyo competition I know nothing about the rules
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Gentry stein has some good videos based on the judging system and how to prepare for a contest. If you want to know more about the judging system, scales has a few videos judging routines.
Hey there!
Congrats on your first contest coming up!
First time competing can always be daunting and a bit scary, but it’s ultimately extremely rewarding and a great experience that can lead to a very awesome future.
First of all, the TLDR of yoyo contest scores are summed up pretty well in this short from Brandon Vu:
Showing that your final score is based on a mix of your technical score (how much a yoyo trick “clicks” with points)
And the other mix of performance or “eval” scores.
The eval side of things can get a bit confusing but the NYYL has a pretty good guide for explaining the different categories. I’m not sure if you’ll be competing in the USA or at a regional contest but the gist of this system is followed fairly closely to the rest of the world as well.
Other than this, first time being on a yoyo contest stage will definitely bring the nerves, I can still remember my first time competing with a preliminary freestyle at US Nationals 2005 and literally feeling my legs and knees shaking as I stood in front of the judges, but ultimately once the music starts, you kind of loose a lot of that and just “go”.
My own personal advice to prep for things like this is to ultimately practice of course, but go beyond this and practice yoyoing in front of people. Yoyo while in public, amongst your friends, at the store, etc. let yourself get used to the idea of people watching you and it will make the stage seem much less of a daunting place.
As well, focus on tricks for your routine that you are VERY confident with. Going for “too big” of tricks that you aren’t totally confident with increases the chance of misses, and early on, misses can definitely mess with your head. Take it easy and approach it with confident tricks.
As well, get to know people! Before your moment on stage if you get to talk to and know some other yoyo players, you’ll feel all the more supported and comfortable by people who know you in the audience than going at it alone. Forming community makes all the difference at yoyo contest. 
Once again, best of luck! What contest are you going to be attending? Will definitely be cool to see how ya do!
S̴̪͎͚͖͓̪̊̽ ̵͍̰̺͆̄͛̈̉͑̂͝L̴̢͉̺̪̥̻̠̱̜̾͠ͅ ̵̢̟̥̰̰̠͖͗̽͝Ą̶͔̹̙̻͍̇̽̇̇ͅ ̶͉̻̬͖͚͐̂̂̏͂͗̌̍͜͝Y̷̢̲̓ ̷̨̛̛̹̰͖͕̣̼̱
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Hey thanks so much for the support I will be attending the Midwest regionals and the national yoyo contest
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I would join the ante discord server as it has tons of people willing to help with this stuff. Also if you’re in MN there is a yoyo club and one in IL. My suggest is practice and have fun and accept the first one is a great learning experience. Can’t wait to see it at MWR.
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