Hi guys, I’m interested in learning some new hobbies and had yoyo’ing and juggling at the top of my list. I was wondering which you would recommend getting started with and why? Which did you find easier to learn? Which do you find more fun? Any recommendations on a good yoyo to get started with if I go down that route first? (e.g. I have heard the Shutter and Shutter Wide Angle are both really good, but curious to hear opinions of more experienced people!).
Thanks in advance!
ok so the first thing you need to know is that a metal unresponsive yoyo is not the best way to start. Your going to want to get a responsive yoyo, I recommend the whip by YoYoFactory its only $6 (around $10 with shipping) and is a great beginner yoyo
Get a plastic yoyo first, if you hit your self with a plastic yoyo it will hurt less then get a metal yoyo once you get comfortable and able to control the yoyo better.
For a metal yoyo get a unresponsive yoyo, you are going to learn how to bind if you want to do more advance tricks and a metal yoyo is the best choice like a sf cadence es or the unparalleled recognition.
also check out the yotricks youtube channel to learn any basic tricks or advance tricks and join the yoyoexpert discord channel people are very active on there
Hi @je11693!
So glad you have found your way to YoyoExpert! I yoyo and juggle and would recommend that you just learn to do both, when bored of one just try the other. Both can be done very inexpensively and work on several similar skills. Neither need to be exclusive to the other. I often have juggling equipment and yoyos located in similar spots throughout my world.
There are so many good choices for yoyos. Some will tell you to start responsive and some will say to start unresponsive, I say just start. Pick a yoyo or two and begin the journey! You will want to get quite a few extra strings as well.
Good luck!
I should’ve said, I used to use a responsive yoyo as a teenager (in 30s now). Why do you recommend not starting with an unresponsive yoyo?
Thanks @sktirz. Perhaps I should do both. I sometimes feel like I’ll never be able to pick up juggling even though I’ve only been trying for a day or two!
When it comes to yoyos, how long do strings typically last? What about other necessary things like bearings, lube, etc? How often do these need to be used/replaced/etc?
I think people were assuming you didn’t have any experience with throwing. If you’re OK with the basics, then learn to bind and have at it!
Both of the yoyos you mentioned are incredible performers. I have the wide angle and I really enjoy it.
Good luck. Ask questions here, there are always people willing to help!
kgb
Thanks @NitroBobby916
What is it about the Shutter Wide Angle that makes it better than other less expensive yoyos? Just trying to work out if it’s worth spending the additional money on it. Also, how many strings do people typically buy at a time/how often do you need to replace them?
It’s really a matter of preference. The wide angle has a very wide catch area that makes landing tricks easier. It’s a different design than others but it’s not necessarily better. The best throw is the one that you feel confident throwing. I bought a $25 throw recently that performs as well as some of mine that cost 3 times that price. You need to try a few different shapes/ styles to figure out what you like. Starting out, I don’t know if I’d drop a lot on one throw. There are a lot of good ones to be had for not a lot of money. Right now I’ve got a Caribou Lodge Big Dipper set up with a counter weight for 5A (freehand). It’s a great plastic yoyo and isn’t very expensive at $30. Performs well as an unresponsive 1A or 5A. You can do pretty much any trick with it that you can with a $170 Draupnir. The yoyos they’re making now are pretty much all good, tough to get a bad one these days. Good luck.
kgb
as far as strings, there’s a lot of choices. Some go through a string a day. Mine usual last a week or more. Depends on how you throw and how often. Also, what the string is made of. Lots of info on that here. When you get your yoyo, order some different strings to try.
kgb
ok so I had no idea that you used to throw responsive so thats the main reason but if you have not pick one up in a while I still recommend it, the reason why, responsive yo-yoing teaches you to have control over the yoyo and just makes unresponsive such much easier even if you only yoyo responsive for about 2 weeks.
I still play responsive to help make my tricks look more controlled
I just bought a one Drop deep state responsive and it’s incredible
kgb
Good choices for hobbies, yoyos and juggling both! I learned how to yoyo a long long time before I learned to juggle, but even taking into consideration my age diff, I think juggling is probably harder. It is a totally different learning curve, basically there is no curve to juggling, it is 100% failure until you finally get it. That was my experience anyways.
Do both, and then throw in spin tops for the full exercise in self torment. They are all fun in different ways.
I definitely started better with yo-yos. I tried both when I was younger, and I was completely useless with trying to juggle until I got much better at yo-yoing. Don’t get me wrong, if someone put a gun to my head and told me to juggle, I’d still probably have to just ask them to tell my family I love them, but I tend to think that getting better at yo-yoing has helped me to learn a little bit of basic juggling.
One of the differences I’ve seen between yo-yoing and juggling in my limited experience with each is that how you watch what you’re doing is very different for each. For example, with yo-yos, I do better when my eyes are laser focused on the yo-yo, tracking its every movement. Sometimes muscle memory can take over and I don’t have to be quite so focused, but that’s also usually when I start messing up. Meanwhile, with juggling, I’ve noticed that I do better if my gaze is fixed so that I’m looking through the objects and let my peripheral vision track their movements. As such, I tend to agree with the advice of the others who have tried both: it would be great to learn both, but you might find yo-yos easier to start with, and the skills you learn from yo-yoing can help you when you go from tracking one object in the air to tracking three.
Thanks everyone. I’m going to start learning both I think. For the actual yoyo to choose, does anyone know which of the following would be a good choice:
Infinity (Voodoo, TX10, Katana, Synergy?): https://www.oddballs.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=infinity
http://www.yoyovillage.co.uk/yoyofactory/138-velocity.html?search_query=velocity&results=1#/colour_text-black
The most expensive one above is probably around half the price of a Shutter Wide Angle, so would appreciate any advice on which of the above I should choose, or if it is worth paying a bit extra for the Shutter WA. (I live in the UK in case that makes a difference).
Hey fellow Brit over here,
Odd balls have very outdated yoyos I would recommend you look elsewhere.
Village is good, um we are not meant to recommend competing stores on here though.
Velocity is a bit of a gimmick not a great choice in today’s standard.
If you want more UK based advice send me a direct message as I am limited to what I can and cannot recommend on the forum.
But take a look at yoyoexpert as well, shipping is $9 which i think is not too bad, don’t have to limit yourself to UK based stores.
My recommendations (personal opinion not definitive guide or anything) limiting to 3 per catergory so I don’t just send you a wall of yoyos.
Responsive :
Unresponsive plastic :
Unresponsive metal under $50 :
There may also be a few of the YoyoFactory B-grades left here on this site’s store if you want to try something with less risk and don’t mind a little bit of vibration on the throw or a minor cosmetic flaw. It’s good way to try a new metal throw without breaking the bank. It looks like they may be dropping a few more of those throughout the month of May if you want to bide your time and see what they put out.
Where is the B-grade section? I don’t see it in the “Shop” dropdown menu…
Here you go:
https://shop.yoyoexpert.com/collections/deals-and-sales
From there you can just scout around. You’ll find a few throws on sale as well that you may want to check out, but you’ll see two B-grade links to the 2019 and the 2020 B grades.
If the link doesn’t work, just go to the main YYE page, scroll down, and you’ll see a fairly large picture with “Deals and On Sale” on it. That’ll take you to the spot I linked.
Enjoy, and welcome to Shangri-La!
Sorry, couldn’t resist! Haha!