How to start competing

General Yo-Yo
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I’ve been wondering this for awhile, how does one start to put together a routine and start competing?

I don’t think I’m the best player by any means, but I know I can string together some good combos and have some ideas for a routine - but I’m not sure the best way to go about it.

What experience do you all have, and what’s the best practice to start to move in that direction? As well as do all combos have to be of your own design ?

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Learn how to do as many Hook and Brent Stole variations as possible. Be able to do Eli Hops behind your back, above your head, through your legs, etc.

Basically, just do this with an actual yoyo.

Edit: I’m 100% serious. Also, Zontals.

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Get familiar with the rules and watch a lot of people competing, not just finals but prelims and semis if they have them as well. None of your tricks need to be of your own design. I would just start putting together combos that you think will score well and find some music with strong cues so you can choreograph to the music vs just doing the tricks.

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Lmao “ I come inside, eat all the eggs” this was gold

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Thanks!

Plan is to do 100 beef hooks without missing to my heart will go on

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If you are serious about giving advice for starting competition, I don’t think citing a video that puts it down is your best bet.

If what you’re really wanting to do is poke fun at the competition scene, I’d also make sure to do it in an accurate way.

For example:

You can potentially get scored for a difficult trapeze catch variation, but if repeated in the form of “Eli hops” you wont get scored again.

Also, if you build too much of your routine around trapeze catch variations, you’ll get diminishing score returns pretty fast.

Neither necessary, nor sufficient for competition.

People that compete are skilled. People that are skilled can usually do horizontal. People that can do horizontal, like to do it.

That is why horizontal stuff is commonly done onstage so much.

(And there’s some benefit for trick variety in scoring as well, but that comes in more at higher levels, and is largely irrelevant here).

I’d also like to point out that many people that don’t do meta tricks and will never compete do beautiful things with a horizontal yoyo.

Including the man in the video you posted.

It is not a style reserved for “tiktok spastic godspeed meta competition teenagers”.

But in a lot of ways, I do get where you’re coming from. Even though I am not part of the Boomer yoyo club, I myself agree that many compeititon routines today are starting to look the same.

The META trick takeover is unfortunate in many ways, and routines 10 years ago had much more variation and personality. Again, I get you man.

But I still think its really awesome when someone decides that they want to throw their hat in the ring and put themselves up on stage. Its a huge hurtle, and is to be encouraged and commended.

I apologize if this response comes off as too impassioned or confrontational, but it just doesn’t sit with me right to have someone’s initial advice request post to be answered with the negative and jaded view that many of the folks on the forums take towards competition.

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Study the rules and learn many small elements. For 1a Eli hops and any sort of lacerations variations work great. Brent stole-reverse Brent stole-hook etc or Eli hop-neck hop- btb hop etc. simple tricks that you’re comfortable with landing consistently are better than big risky tricks that are less consistent.
(Take this with a grain of salt, it’s coming from someone who’s best title is forth at sport x division lol)

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yoyo alot of hours

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Agree on this statement but we have to think that this type of routine just do not go too far or it doesn’t really win a contest, we have to think that when you go to a competition pretty much everyone can do those tricks, those horizontal combo behind the back for example or some zoning tricks.

I will keep promoting originality, you can score also with originality and you can go up the ladder easier as your tricks will have the “wow” factor that the usual over the head slack or black hops doesn’t have anymore.

If you check the tops of the charts everyone that perform has it’s own originality put into the routine, is not only about do the set of tricks suitable to competitions but is also how you make them yours in style and execution, as usual is kind of art itself also competing

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hi, I competed for the first time last year in england, I am in no way aiming to be a high-placing in a contest, just to have fun and show off my trick’s, so ignore me if you are looking to win!!

but if you want to complete only for fun - here are my thoughts:

  1. Just sign up, everyone is super nice at competitions and will cheer you even if your tricks are not the best of the day or when you recover from mistakes and restarts
    (I am quite stage shy but it was good anyway)
  2. I do not have too many good tricks to fit in 3 minutes so I essentially just thought which are my best ones, and then attempted to put them together in a easiest flowing way
  3. I picked a song with a reasonably easy beats and mixed tempos, that way I do not have to have super precise choreography, I just try to hit my best combos during the chorus and that’s about it
  4. I did not plan the whole routine, just the main combos and the approximate order, leaving a bit of space for improvisation is okay and it lets you catch up to your music after any minor mistake
  5. I got a really good response to things like weird grind tricks and flashy binds, even though they are not high scoring, they are fun to watch and the crowd may enjoy them after watching the on-meta players hook combos

Lastly, have fun, at the end of the day that why everyone is there except for possibly the very most elite people looking to win

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I think the first thing to do is define for yourself what you want out of competitions. Do you want to place as high as you can? Do you want to use the competition as an excuse to put together a fun routine of your own tricks, not caring about placement? Your answer will help guide how you prepare for a contest.

You may have already looked at these but YouTubers like Brandon Vu, Gentry, etc have videos giving tips on putting together competition routines so I’d suggest giving those a watch. These will have good tips regardless of what you want out of a contest (advice on scoring and meta tricks Vs general advice on what makes a good routine like scoring and pacing).

Also just remember not to put too much pressure on yourself and just have fun with it whatever direction you want to take it.

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Thanks everyone great advice!!