So not to long ago I finished all the tricks on YYE and I figured it was time to start stringing it all together and make a freestyle. I figured after that Id go on to learn more tricks and make another freestyle, so on and so forth. The problem is, I cant seem to figure out how to make a combo when I force it on myself :-
For example, I made a skin the gerbil modification as well as a spirit bomb and superman combo, but those ideas just came to me. But when I openly try to make a combo, it just doesnt work. Im not sure if I should just keep learning more tricks and wait for the ideas themselves, and when enough ideas come, then I can make freestyle - or try to awkwardly force a freestyle upon myself? Forcing it on myself is pretty boring and it makes me want to yoyo less, while if i never make a freestyle (and only continue learning tricks) ill never be able to cleanly display my tricks. I fear I will eventually get bored and just stop (which ive done before). Hope this wasnt to long lol
Clyw has a lot of tutorials on YouTube, those are fun and hard to learn
PM Me if you have a B!ST Tondo F/T
I look at the YYE tutorials as the tip of the ice berg for the possibilities of tricks and combos.
Personally combo creativity does not come easy, so I am constantly looking for more tricks to learn. (Note: there are many more fantastic tricks to learn: try searching YouTube for yoyo tutorial/ breakdown and explore the channels)
As you learn more tricks and the elements involved in the tricks it will become easier to piece and flow your favorite elements together. Over time, as you learn, practice, and create you will develop your own take on the classic trapeze to develop Ytzman’s signature combos and style.
Although, above all else focus on the aspects of yo-yoing that you enjoy the most. IMO it’s counter productive to force creativity.
Thank you very much for your reply! My question is, how does one ever create a freestlye if creativity is not being forced?
For me it comes down to learning more tricks. The more tricks and trick elements you have in your repertoire the easier it is to understand the flow of combos and create your own.
It’s easier said then done but keep practicing the tricks you know and keep learning new tricks. As you practice and learn, combine elements in new ways or attempt to take an element of one trick in another direction.
Before you know it, you will have a several of your own combos to put to music.
Very well said ;D
To use a music analogy I would consider the list of tricks in the YYE Learn page as “The Standard Repertoire”. It’s not necessarily the best or hardest repertoire, but it’s what you need to know to have a good grounding in the techniques of your art.
Check out my youtube channel. I do a lot of basic moves and tricks. But I hear I have really good flow and am able to make the tricks form together. My suggestion is to just watch a few of my videos and see how I put some things together to make my own combos and then just see what you can throw together with tricks that you like doing. www.youtube.com/FabledEra
Great topic yitzman, this is something I struggle with as well.
Everyone has different ways of going about yoyoing after they learn all the basic tricks. Some people search for more tutorials to learn new elements and tricks, and other players, like me, rarely watch tutorials anymore and just do what they know until something comes to them and they make something new. I’ve heard Jensen Kimmitt never watches tutorials and only makes his own tricks. If you don’t really watch tutorials and you’re not getting much inspiration, look at other people’s freestyles or trick circles and try to pick up something from that like their trick composition or the movements they make and try to base something on their style.
From my point of view and how yoyo has evolved over the past year for me. Long story so heat up some popcorn, grab a drink, get comfy and read on 
I threw as a kid during the boom (even popularizing yoyos at my school) but at the time, my tricks were basic beginner tricks (Walk the Dog, Rock the Baby, Eiffel Tower). I couldn’t trapeze so that was kind of my roadblock there. High school comes, I put the yoyos away for a long time.
Back in 2010 my parents bought me a Duncan Imperial as a gag birthday gift so I tried my hand at some of the stuff I learned. I then wanted to look around and see what yoyos were available at that time and had bought a $5 Mosquito at Walmart. That’s when I found YYE and saw how much yoyoing had evolved from the basic picture tricks and trapeze/double or nothing. Eventually I got myself a few better yoyos to learn on and learned how to bind quick when my Duncan pads wore out. Finally I had a few decent metals in my collection (Maverick, and had snagged a Rec Rev No. 9) which took me a good distance.
During this period (2010-2012) I pretty much stuck with YYE for the tricks and thought this was what there was to learn. I had attended a couple Bay Area Classic contests during the time and wondered how people did these other cool tricks as I couldn’t find them anywhere.
I took another breather in 2012 as my best trick was Kwijibo at the time, and I had no more drive to keep furthering myself - had no other fellow throwers that I talked to that could “rival” me and for me to help.
2015 BAC - I pick back up on yoyoing and met a few people in which one I keep in touch with all the time. We both got into looking up “how yoyo tricks are made” and realized there’s a ton of tricks out there. YYE’s tutorials is a solid foundation to get you going and to get you ready for some of the other tricks out there. I realized there’s more crazy elements to learn or discover. Trick creation is kind of one of those things where you want to take an existing trick and try to mess up, and try to do something different. Linking things together is one of those things that will click. You’ll realize that one certain element can branch off many different ways, possibly leading you to another element you might already know.
TL:DR - I hit this same thing, not knowing where to go. I found other tutorials (CLYW cabin tutorials, Rethink yoyo, and Mrmattio to name a few) that introduced me to new things I’ve never seen. I began messing with some of what I learned (even if I didn’t learn the entire trick) and went from there…and new trick is born.