seriously? Janos of course
Yes there was, Zack Gormley recieved it in 2013! A rightly choice too.
They are just too lazy to update that.
1 Like
I was there when they announced it! 
And to answer your previous question, kinda around 2007 and up.
Ricardo
Drew
Ed
Miggy
Spencer
Rodrigo Pires
ALL deserve/d that award now and in years past.
1 Like
yes, Sid seed
I would add Lazar Medvedev and Nikita Efimov.
Alright, since you are speaking about all the way back to 2007, there has been an incredible list of players that have helped push yoyoing to absolutely new heights.
Innovation is generally split between the influence portion of it and the raw creative innovative play portion.
For this, I am speaking directly about 1a and there is two players in particular that I shall call “the most innovative”.
One is John Ando. In 2008, John stepped away from 2a and took the 1a game by storm using his arm techniques he has masted in looping into the technical game of 1a. When he stepped on stage and shown the world his collection of Arm/elbow based technical skills it literally took the whole entire yoyo world by storm.
Everyone was doing arm combos, it was real crazy! You still see players doing arm combo based tricks to this day. Now, while there was players that did do “some” arm tricks (I’m looking at you Mark Mont) Johns addition really stepped it up and he has forever cemented his legacy.
Step into 2010.
One name should ring a bell.
Jensen “Duns Broccoli” Kimmit.
He read the rules, conquered them and took every contest he went to and won it. While one could say he didn’t exactly “innovate” a trickstyle or developeped a completely new concept, he shown the yoyo world the power of “Hops” between 2009 and 2010. His entire style seemed to be based on using hops as a way of transitions and technical play. His use of transitions also essentially infected the yoyoworld as well, as you can see how back in the day Gentry Stein’s style was highly influenced from him but also Augie as well.
Those two deserve mega credit for influencing the community and pushing yoyoing to the next level.
Again, I am only speaking on behalf of 1a. There has been many players for 1a that has continuously pushed it.
~Z
2 Likes
Is there a rule book?
Zammy makes a good point, innovation could be considered doing brand new things but also popularizing them.
Me? ;D
Gennady Malinin also.
Just saw this video:
I’m not just posing this only because its Innovation Movement. I just happen to agree with them lol.
Holy cow how could I forget: Grant Johnson. :o
I agree. I love Russian players! InnMovement has some great videos, but some of the players are not innovative. I am not saying they are bad, just not innovative.
Online rules for contests+ speaking with the Judges.
Jensen did yoyoing like how he does chess, moving one piece at a time.
That is usually how the trick innovator award is usually based on. Its a combination of both raw innovative qualities and how much influence the person has on the community.
1a:
Grant Johnson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu0CP8TtiDE
Takeshi Matsuura: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ausL4AjsUxY
2a:
Grant Johnson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6N6_9UhSmM
3a:
Elliot Ogawa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQGB5DXuRo4
5a:
Chase Baxter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTr23ceABME
And follow blablanchard (Riccardo Fraolini) on Instragram to see the craziest 1a tricks.
I’m losing it. How could I forget Ryan Gee 0_0
I gotta say Anthony Rojas has some innovative stuff going on with his rejections and slack.
Riccardo fraolini is insane!, the man has the most innovative tricks I have ever seen! He’s insane also palli has some super sick tricks
Janos, his tricks are mind blowing. Not only can he invent them but he also executes well on stage.