I posted in an introduction thread a little about myself. Im an adult family man and recently got hooked on throwing. Just wow. Room to improve and expand. A solid variety of yoyos and resources im just now learning about. And to be honest, just throwing in general is soothing and entertaining.
Now as I am just starting. Maybe a week into it? I did a little scrolling through the web and came across two main things. This forum and another tutorial site. There is several tutorial videos and they have their own line of yoyos.
The main reason for this post, is mostly in hopes of a “veteran” player pointing me in the right direction of need be. The other site has been very helpful but I have just a couple concerns/questions.
LOOPING AND FLIPS- Im using the sage yoyo and have the responsive bearing on it at the moment. I have had zero success in remote understanding the process and mechanics of the move BUT i do know its easier with a yoyo designed for it. I have oracle yoyos arriving soon.
BEARING CARE- I was wondering how you all know when it is time to lubricate your bearing. As well as how exactly do you apply your lubricant.
OTHER RESOURCES- Would any of you reccommend any other resources for a begginer like myself?
Any knowledge and advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much for taking the time to read my post and thanks again if you have any input!
Well, firstly welcome to the community. I’m going to recommend all channels I have viewed. For the most beginner and intermediate stuff YoyoExpert and Yotricks channel rock. When you learn the basics and some advanced tricks I recommend you YoYoJoe’s channel, @hobbygod’s channel and MrMatio:)Those are the principal tutorial sources I’ve been using.
Also for any help or doubts do not hesiate to post it here. The community is very welcoming! Good luck:)
The Sage, even with responsive bearing, isn’t the best choice for looping if that’s what you’re looking to do. I would recommend something like the Loop720s for that.
Also, this post may interest you:
RyoCanCan
(W I D E & T H I C C ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°))
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Not only is a dedicated yoyo easier to use in looping, it’s highly recommended. A yoyofactory 720 is a great upgrade if you ever want to up your oracle
You really don’t need to care about lubing when you start out. Clean them when they get responsive (in case of unresponsive bearings) and run them dry.
Yotricks is great, and there are other sources such as Reddit - Dive into anything and their discord channel.
Granted, I am waiting to try again when i get my oracle yoyos rather than practicing with my sage. But should i wrap the string around the bearing an additional time?
Just be warned, looping is considered to have a high learning curve compared with other styles. It takes many hours to perfect and is a style of its own. Not many stick with it long enough to do proper 2A.
Im all about challenges! That is actually solid informatiom because now it makes more sense in my head why its taking so long to do. With most things in my life whether it was strength training, marksmanshio, or a difficult video game that took a long time to master, it always gave ne more pleasure in the end when i achieved it.
So i will expect to have to practice it a lot.
Welcome to the yoyo community, and your new addiction!
I started out with a Sage and used it through the Beginner and Intermediate stages of the YYE trick ladder. Before I started learning the first “Advanced” stage tricks (like The Matrix), I switched to an unresponsive yoyo and started learning binds. You don’t have to follow this same approach, but I just thought I’d give you an idea of how far I journeyed with a Sage in responsive mode (before moving on to unresponsive play and a different caliber of yoyos).
If you are truly interested in 2A looping, then my advice is the same as everyone else’s: invest in a pair of Loop 720s. You’ll be glad you did. I personally would not want to try learning 2A with a 1A yoyo, and the Loop 720s are not that expensive.
As for lubing, I would recommend lubing a bearing when it gets to be louder than you like. However, it is worth noting that a brand new bearing may start out relatively quiet and smooth, and then suddenly without warning start screeeeaaaaming at you. This is not a sign of a bearing that needs lubing so much as a sign of a bearing that has shaken loose some internal cruft and just needs to be cleaned. The subject of whether to lube or not to lube is a slightly controversial one, and the community is somewhat divided on it. I regard lubing as completely optional, and prefer to run my bearings dry–clean but dry–while many others lube religiously.
If and when you do decide to clean/lube a bearing, there are numerous videos on YouTube that cover the procedure. I would recommend @codinghorror’s “HyperSpin” method. I’m sure he can post a link to the description of this method; it is pretty straightforward and involves a can of compressed air.
Wow I appreciate you taking the time to give me your knowledge and experiences. Keep in mind, for 2A I ordered 2 Oracles. I will look into the other type you suggested but do you think the Oracles will be fine for learning?
They are 2A yoyos so yes you should be ok. Loop 720s are all the rage as the best all around looping yoyo. I have a pair of loop 2020s, and they haven’t turned me into a looping master, so I suggest just practicing with the Oracles that you already ordered. I kind of gave up on 2A already tbh.
Since were talking about looping, how does one make the string the same length for both yoyos in 2a? I’ve lined them up and cut them, but the discrepancy happens when i make the slipknot. Any way to make a more consistent slipknot? For reference Ive been liking around 80cm of length.
Pretty much what the other guys have said. If you want to do looping then you need yoyos designed for it. I only play unresponsive but I’m sure the oracle’s will do fine. Looping yoyos must be responsive, but not all responsive yoyos will be good at looping.
As far as the bearing, when you get a new throw I would leave it alone until there’s a reason to mess with it. Basically, cleaning the yoyo makes it spin longer, and lubing makes it spin quieter. When I get a new yoyo, if it starts to get too loud, or worse if it stops spinning properly, I will clean it by soaking it in lighter fluid. That removes foreign particles like dirt and will make it spin as long as possible. I prefer my bearings to be quiet, so when it dries I add a drop of lube. It slightly reduces spin time but noticeably reduces noise.
Not sure about how to make the strings more even. You may never be able to get them the exact length every time. But the more you replace the strings, the better you’ll get at it. I’d say as long as you cut them the same length it will make little difference.
Pre-stretch both stings to reduce the stretch factor from interfering. Generally, when we tie the initial string loop, we fold the string back on itself and use that doubled string to tie an overhand knot (making the initial loop). Where that knot is doesn’t make a throwing length difference. The string length of the from the yoyo to the hand is determined by the placement of the fold-over before you tie the overhand knot. How far the overhand knot is from that fold-over end doesn’t change the overall length because the yoyo side of the string still has to go through an overhand knot regardless of if it is close to the folded end or further away.
