Alright, so about a year ago I bought a yo-yo because I wanted to get to tricks and stuff, and because I wanted something other than one of those promotional yo-yos they give out for free that keep breaking ;D. I knew nothing about what responsive/unresponsive is (like a noob lol), and bought a YYF Whip.
Should I just start learning unresponsive tricks right off the bat, or buy a responsive yo-yo? I’m pretty comfortable with binding now, but I’m not sure about whether or not I will skip responsive. I wanted to get some more opinions because everyone seems legit here 8)
Would appreciate any thoughts, comments, or suggestions
Some people are going to tell you yes, you should start unresponsive. I disagree with them, let me tell you why…
I really do believe starting from a responsive yoyo can help you get a nice smooth throw that doesn’t look awkward. Learning the basics of responsive yoyoing teaches you a little bit about control and will make your tricks look smoother when you do move onto unresponsive. I really do think you should learn the fundamentals before you get into unresponsive.
Now before people start criticizing me and saying I’m wrong, this is just my OPINION.
Now for my opinion. I agree with both of the other members but will add that you will most likely be impatient so you may want to do what I have decided to do…
I have been throwing for years, am close to 70 and decided to learn some of the new ticks but I needed to go non-responsive. Now I am not great but after all these years I can throw a good yoyo.
So a couple of months ago I got a One and then a Velocity and have been using it trying to learn some non-responsive and have been doing OK.
While I throw mostly responsive to build my skills back up I add time for the non-responsive too so I do not get bored; I feel like I am moving forward. Just got my new Dark Magic II and it is great, now I am not great but I can feel the difference and it’s really cool…
so good luck to you and when you feel like it toss up some vids.
there are many responsive tricks that help you become a better yoyoer id say start doing the basics because when you go striaght to unresponsive some people don’t really learn those basics. (theirs a kid at my yoyo club that did this its not very pretty) So learn the basics AKA the front style mounts, man on the flying trapeze, possibly double or nothing you get the point. for me when i moved to unresponsive i just finished Buddhas revenge which is a long time but it helped me out. but really its a matter of who’s talking cause most say go for it but others not so much.
I definitely think you should go responsive first. There was this guy that I knew who despite what I recommended him to do, he still started out with an unresponsive yo-yo. At first, he didn’t even have enough spin in his sleepers to do a bind. The response just simply wouldn’t respond. Even after he got his sleeper down, which took much longer than it should’ve taken, it always seemed that he took a long time progressing through tricks. He’s a great guy, but I think he just “jumped the gun into unresponsive.”
Most of you guys are leaning towards doing responsive first, which is what I was thinking as well.
Do any of you guys know if I can make my Yo-yo responsive somehow? I’m trying not to have to buy a new yo-yo unless there’s no other way. If not, what responsive yo-yo should I buy?
Put thick lube on the bearing. ull still have to buy it for $5-$6. Or you could use something else as a substitute like vaseline if u have that lying around the house.
However the bearing is still C sized so the gap will be wide so iy probably wont be as respponsive as youd like.
You could get a half-spec YYF bearing(slim bearint) as well to make your whip responsive.
As someone who just recently came back into yoyoing. All I ever had growing up was responsive yoyos. I learned most of my tricks during the late 1999 boom and had become really good but then dropped off the scene in early 2001. Since then I would pick up one of my yoyos a couple times a year to keep my skills in check.
Fast forward to 2014 and I got back into it and have spent a far amount of $ picking up different styles of yoyos to find what I like.
Because of all the time I spent with a responsive yoyo, my throw and other basic skills carried over quite nicely. If you don’t get your basics down but wait and then move up to un-responsive play it makes everything click and make sense. Plus your skill will be that much better.
So I agree that you should start with a responsive yoyo.
Responsive play is so much fun, that’s why I’d do it. Sidewinder is so fun and cool to hit I often times wish my unresponsive could do it, plus it loosens your string. I think either way you go you will be fine, but because you can blast through all the responsive tricks so fast it really is so much fun learning. When you get to more advanced tricks such as spirit bomb and magic drop you will appreciate how fun the responsive tricks are to learn.
Sidewinder is super-easy to hit on unresponsive… just bind with a minimal “tail”.
Now UFO… THAT is a hard trick to land on an unresponsive.
Me, I say do whichever feels like more fun. I had my throw fundamentals and trapeze down before I even knew what unresponsive WAS. But I don’t personally think you have to learn responsive first unless you want to. I mean, this ALL should be fun times. If responsive seems “equally fun” during these first stages, though, by all means go for responsive!
There isn’t anything particularly wrong with starting unresponsive. What many throwers do, however, is play a responsive yoyo when they want a trick to look smooth, even if they are very experienced playing unresponsive. This is just because when you play responsive, you have to be very careful about how you move your yoyo from point A → point B, so that it doesn’t snag and crack your knuckles. I’d say that starting unresponsive won’t really hinder you, but it will benefit you more to start responsive.
lol reading this thread sounds like someone asking what kind of motorcycle to start with or something. It’s a yoyo, buy whatever you want to learn. Starting on an unresponsive yoyo is just fine.
some people treat their yo-yoing like they’re in the training sequence from rocky iv, running up the snowy mountain in russia. and as a huge advocate of playing fixed axle and responsive, i don’t think there’s anything wrong with learning things the hard way.
BUT, learning to yo-yo is a long road. it takes years to develop your own style and really feel natural about it. if it’s not a fun thing to do with your time, it’s hard to want to come back to it. so at any given stage, you should really throw yo-yo’s that make you feel EXCITED to play. doesn’t matter if they’re responsive or unresponsive, metal or plastic, cheap or expensive. you get some great habits out of playing responsive and you get to connect with yo-yoing’s history, but none of that will matter if you stop playing because you’re tired of beating up your hands.
if you stick with it, you’ll have time to explore every corner of yo-yoing’s massive tapestry, so just have fun and throw WHATEVER MAKES YOU STICK WITH IT.
I originally took up yoyoing in the early 2000’s, but I gave up after like a week because I was sick of having my hands busted by my Xodus 2. I could barely even brain twister, so I knew very few of the basics. Responsive play put me off yoyoing (granted, the Xodus was a pretty poor choice on my part…)
So after a long hiatus and when I came back and discovered unresponsive play, I jumped in right away.
I started unresponsive, never learned 85% of the YYE tutorials, nor learned any others. I just throw my own way and try and come up with my own stuff. Why? Because it’s fun for me, and I enjoy yoyoing a lot more because of it. I don’t plan on competing at Worlds, I just want to come up with some cool stuff and enjoy myself after a long day at work.
So basically, to reiterate what Ed said, do whatever makes you happy. If you want to start responsive, then do it! If you want to hop straight into unresponsive, then do that instead.
As Greg usually reminds us, it is a toy after all. It should always be fun.
^^^ my thoughts exactly. A few years ago I may have told you starting responsive is the responsible thing to do since that is how I started. Maybe I was just upset that I was not able to start unresponsive 15 years ago. Times have changed. There is really no real reason you must start responsive unless you just want to. I would get some a little more responsive to play along with what you already have just to switch it up but you already own the unresponsive yoyo. Just enjoy it. Forgot social convention.
hey there when i started yo-yoing i didn’t know the difference between a string trick yoyo and a looping yoyo. lol sooo i basically learned all the tricks almost up to kwijibo with a omega raider lol the after that i got a g5 yes big jump lol but it did give me a really smooth throw and teach me how to not wreck my knuckles all the time
