My beginning YoYo journey!

Yo-Yo Tricks
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Hi all; Day 6 of my YoYo adventure; Its very VERY hard! I cant believe how hard basic tricks are.

Also my middle finger is getting sore where the string is and its really hurting anyway around this? I put on a padded band aid and it seemed to help

Here are the tricks i know so far;

I see this site has tricks separated into different skill categories; are there any beginner tricks that I must know that are NOT listed on this site?

Im mainly talking about fundamental tricks that must be mastered to get to more intermediate tricks etc;

I just want to be a basic beginner and have fun not worried about getting good fast its fun new hobby for me…

I’m using a hornet; getting a ducan freehand 1 on thursday and guess im going for 0a-1a? Still not sure what the difference is between 0a and 1a;

I guess it sounds like I’m going for 1a responsive(duncan FH 1)…with a little bit of 2a looping(hornet)

Oh I’m going only responsive until I can master responsive then ill move to unresponsive… probably after a few years of playing responsive or do you recommend an unresponsive sooner if i can progress faster ? (a few months time?); Unresponsive looks scary and extremely difficult; I probably couldn’t even do a basic bind lol

; Im doing about 1 hr of practice a day…

Heres what im practicing so far; im brand new and terrible and these tricks are
-forward toss (mastered)
-sleep(mastered)
-inner loop(in progress)
-outer loop(in progress)
-rock the cradle(mastered)
-walk the dog(mastered)
-around the world(mastered)
-breakaway(w/trapeze){in progress…}
-gravity pull(mastered)
that’s all i know lol embarrassing… I know. So everyday so far ive just been looping like crazy.

is this site good enough to give me enough knowledge to get started with beginner tricks? or does anyone know any other resources for easy beginner tricks besides on this site and forum?

many thanks and appreciate it. Also Is the YoYo tricks app any good?

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This site is good for fundamentals, I started out in 2016 and worked my way down the list before I got into more complex tutorials on youtube. I would say play responsive if that’s what you like and to develop a strong stable throw, I went strait to unresponsive when I realized there were better yoyos than the fireball. Also the finger soreness will go away the more you play and the skin toughens up.

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having the basic throw and breakaway perfected are key to getting into 1a unresponsive. if you want to eventually go that way, learning basic mounts like the trapeze, trapeze and brother, 1.5 mount, and double or nothing are your intros to almost if not every unresponsive trick, and those 4 will keep you occupied for a while. you can do all of those 4 tricks with a responsive yoyo too, so don’t worry about binds until a tutorial expresses your need for one.
if you want to stay responsive, ask the 0a and 2a fellows, they know more than i do. good luck!

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Finger = 6 days in, your body is still adjusting to the newness. It will fade, and your body will conform to your new hobby.

The throw is one of the keys. If you have a off throw, return and rethrow. All the tricks are based off a good throw. This is where responsive is a pleasure.

I started November 2022. Still primarily play responsive. Mixed in with a little fixed axel.

Another Fundamental will be the Breakaway. Maybe throw this into your current rotation.

Unresponsive? Not required at this stage. But;

My typical session;
Unresponsive- Just practicing front style bind. When that got frustrating, I moved to Responsive.

Responsive- This is where I spend most of my time. Verifying/Practicing previous tricks. Then onto the new ones. When that gets frustrating, I moved to fixed axel.

Fixed Axel- Basic Yoyo. Gravity Pulls, Forward Passes and Breakaways. Just enjoy the throw. If I am feeling froggy, I try a few tricks.

Enjoy the Journey.

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The yo tricks app is a great way to start! They do a really good job of ordering the tricks so each one is like a little step further. There becomes a point when you’ll want to branch out to find more intermediate tricks but they’re great for beginner tutorials as well as some super advanced tricks by pros. This site and the yoyoexpert youtube channel does have some great videos for beginner tricks as well.

Years of responsive only seems boring to me and you might want to explore unresponsive earlier than that but you can wait until you feel like only playing responsive is limiting the types of tricks you’re able to learn. Right now there is still a ton for you to learn with a responsive yoyo. Also, don’t be intimidated by binding or unresponsive like it’s definitely not hard to learn some basic binds and you have a ton of people here that would be excited to help!

0a is usually responsive and modern 1a is usually unresponsive. Originally there was just yoyoing and I’m not a historian. All the definitions have changed over time but when ppl say 1a, they are usually talking about playing with an unresponsive yoyo.

You will eventually build up calluses and I highly highly recommend using lotion on your hands as that process starts to happen because it is very common that new calluses can crack and that is no fun. Bandaids or tape or gloves can help prevent soreness and you should use them if you want but they will also slow the callus building process.

I would just work on your loops bc it seems like you’re enjoying learning those as well as maybe figuring out how to throw a good breakaway for now. After that it’s time for trapeze!

Good luck and have fun! Don’t hesitate to ask any questions either like we are all yoyo dorks and it makes us happy to share what we know and talk about yoyos!

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In the Learn section right here is a trick ladder. Basic tricks that will you advance. It’s good to practice responsive and unresponsive just to keep things interesting. I was scared of unresponsive for a year and avoided it. Practicing tricks on a responsive DOES help you master precision because unresponsive yoyos are usually much wider and have a wide gap allowing for success with sloppy throws which is not really so good a thing. Whatever you find is fun is important.

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I just learned breakaway( its scary )and on the initial throw the yoyo either snaps right back at me immediately almost hitting my face or sleeps at the end of the throw lol

i bet using the same string for 6 days around 12 hours practice might be culprit

cant wait for my kittys to arrive t minus 1 hour

thanks for the feedback guys makes sense

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You want to be able to control if it sleeps or not. Like usually you want it to sleep off a break away. Maybe learn trapeze next.

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I think the freehand is a great choice if you plan on sticking with responsive for awhile. They are a ton of fun and play great. I’m not sure if you watched the yotricks video on breakaway or if anyone else said it yet but if I recall they teach to practice the trapeze at the same time as learning breakaway since it’s the same motion and you’ll have to learn trapeze after anyway. It also might not be as scary with the yoyo snapping back at you when your going for the trapeze. Catching a breakaway alone the yoyo is coming back in pretty fast. Hope this helps a little. Keep having fun!

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Great point! might as well practice trapeze if I’m doing hundreds of break aways :slight_smile:

I smacked myself right in the face pretty hard just now on a break away LOL ;

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I try and practice two tricks at the same time so if I land the first one I can keep the momentum going and see how it translates to the next.

Like, when I was learning trapeze I was also trying to figure out brother. I struggled with both and then all of a sudden I could hit both at the same time.

Just a thought!

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Haha, I made a post on here a couple weeks ago on the injury thread. Actually it was with my freehand one, it took a weird bounce when I missed the string and it snapped back and clocked my eye pretty good. I had a black eye for over a week. :sweat_smile:

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I see you have masterd rock the baby, you can do throw the baby out of the crib which is kinda around the world in the craddle.
Another one you should learn is a responsive trick, and I assume your using a responsive yoyo so you should learn sky rocket, in sky rocket you take the loop off you finger and toss it up and catch it. If you have an unresponsive yoyo I would take it off, bind and toss up at same time, catch.

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Changing string’s definitely helps alot, if I don’t change frequently my yoyoing isn’t as good as my usual string. I would also cut it a little so you don’t ding your yoyo.

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Not sure if you watched or read anything about string tension yet, but tension could be contributing to your issue with it coming back hard at your face.

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i notice a big difference with the kitty strings i just put on normal size; much better than my 6 day old stock duncan string WHAT A DIFFERENCE. smoother all around;

I havent done much reading or research about tension; I have to figure out what is the best way to restore tension to default usually i just drop the yoyo and it will spin for like 15 seconds then i restart practice… not sure if thats correct

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I believe yotricks has a video about this. I remember watching one a bit back.

Letting it spin is a valid low tech way. But if you’re going that route for now, I think it’s quicker to do the opposite and hold the yoyo and let the string drop. Spins out much quicker without the weight of the yoyo.

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There are alot of different ways and tutorials out there on adjusting sting tension. The most common with a responsive yoyo is to learn sidewinder. Basically you pop the yoyo up and as it is coming back to your hand you will move your hand to side parallel with the yoyo. Another is ufo. Tutorials for both are really easy to find.

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Hop the Fence is a good one that is fun…and…

This won’t be too hard for you. I learned it on a responsive.

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Ok bear with me you opened a can of worms and I have tons of questions…

Wow this is BLOWING my mind; just got the basics of side winder and ufo;

So with sidewinder doing it inside tightens the string. Doing it outside loosens

So with UFO throwing to the right tightens… throwing to the left loosens

so with regular loops; im not sure if this is correct but do

inner loops tighten and
outer loops loosen?

hop the fence tightens…

my main issue is how are you supposed to tell the tension if its too loose or too tight without looking at the string? lol;

If its too tight whats the signs?. But if the string is too loose i don’t know the sign of that either…

also when my string is tight from doing inside sidewinders ive been practicing a left ufo after to loosen but it will just bite right back at my hand HARD and wont sleep almost every time. and that bite back HURTS after a while I think 5 hours of practice today was enough to get me excited to try again tomorrow

this hobby is deeper than i ever imagined i have enough stuff now to practice for months.

side winder is easier then ufo i was able to atleast get the motion down right with side winder i just couldn’t get the return down. but its at least got the correct motion of the yoyo; at the end of side winder what makes it snap back up to your hand just a small tug when its parallel to your hand?

UFO though is gonna take me a long time to figure out the dynamics of it.

sorry for all the questions I’m just super excited :slight_smile:

what a great and underrated hobby. Thanks guys appreciate your expertise

Thank you for your patience and help.

Did you feel excited when you started and realized with disciplined practice there is HOPE.

I almost quit on day 3 with frustration; I would say i have close to 15 hours total in 6 days

im ALL IN.

Braintwister is a good challenge ill start grinding that.

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