I have been in a rut since mid-May and it’s getting frustrating. I’m stuck at this weird plateau where I can’t seem to find a trick to learn.
Either it’s easy enough that I get it pretty quickly and end up not playing because I have nothing to work on. Or if I try to push farther it’s a massive jump in skill level that I just can not do.
I guess my question is, how do I find tricks that are actually within my reach?
A note to add, I don’t do social media, so outside of YYE I have a hard time finding tricks and I seem to never see any here. Sometime I find a video where I think something looks fun to try, but doesn’t say what the trick is called, so I’m just lost. Also a 100% for fun and to chill out player. What’s meta doesn’t make it fun for me
Other notes:
I play 0A and 1A, plateaud in both
Already tried taking a break
YoTricks level up is great for this. I wouldn’t be surprised if everybody here had been in a rut or two. Patience is also important. Just don’t stop playing. Try to build on what you know. That’s how I learned about stuff like Calypso and Chop Suey. Repeater tricks are also not a bad way to go, as they tend to have simpler elements
Part of my enjoyment of yo-ing is coming to accept my limitations, but having said that, I have been “working” on shoot-the-moon for years.
If you are needing inspiration, you may do well to find some folks that throw that you could hang out with some.
You might get a bump from trying something different, like 4A or even juggling. I find it hard to stay really focused on one pursuit, so it is more fun for me to have spin tops and juggling in the ‘rotation’.
I hit a ceiling in 0A that goes by the name Sweater Combo iirc. I still run through a bunch of the FAF tricks and once in a while can land the under the arm stall, but it’s still exceedingly rare. The sad thing about 0A and maybe even 1A for me is that there is a slide backward in ability if I get too busy and don’t play (or play much) for a long stretch.
Otherwise, I think the advice above is great. And, if you have a club, you can ask the masters who are generous with their time to show you things or recommend things to look up that might help you advance from where you are.
When I hit a dead end in trick tutorial exploration, I just start watching yoyo videos/edits and if there is a concept I would like to pick up, I pull the 0.25x speed and learn slowly.
Personally whenever Im in a rut with
side style tricks I just start working on my front style. Front style comes easier to me so I will say Im never really in a “rut” but I will slowly clean up stuff Ive been working on. Protrusions have recently been my addiction
Yeah I remember feeling like this at one point as well. I saw you say you were around a year in somewhere and that ls about when I was feeling like this also.
To answer this question i think the trick a week thread is a great resource. They might not all be within your reach and you def don’t need to follow it. I mean more for you that it is just a big repository of tutorials by a ton of different content creators to explore. There’s also a ton of tuts from past years also.
Think about what it is that you enjoy. It sounds like that is learning new tricks vs polishing the same tricks and i am like that as well where I get bored polishing or I can get bored polishing like very mood dependent for me. Maybe keep learning those easier tricks like usually there is still good yocabulary in them that will help you down the line or inspire you to try something original. I like learning easier tricks. Learning those helps me just stay playing and be excited about it like you can learn an easy trick a day if you want there are an insane amount of tutorials out there and then maybe start putting them together into longer combos and that could be something new and exciting to try.
Some other strategies are to try out some other divisions. Maybe grab a cheap offstring like the sky dancer and give offstring a shot. I love 3a but that can be soul crushing bc it is really hard for a long time before things start to click.
Just explore a lot though like watch a ton of tuts and see if you can find one that you think would be fun or look cool and at about your skill level. And also just try some even if they look kinda hard. Often a trick might look really hard at first but then youll start to get into it and realize like ooo this isnt all that bad or if it is actually too hard rn, then just shelve it for later. Meta tricks are fun also like no need to put meta in opposition with fun and chill. Bc some of those tricks are very fun and i do some while im just chilling all the time.
Also if you want, you can try to be specific like “here are the last 5 tricks I learned, does anyone have and trick recommendations to learn next?” And I can give you some recs or other people probably have recs also.
Good luck yo you can get through this and have yoyo feel fun and exciting and not like too hard for sure
Don’t let the small portion of people who actually post make you think that you are low on the totem pole of trick mastery. It doesn’t help to compare yourself to others. Only compare where you are now to where you can be in the future. Look how far you have come. I’m even willing to bet you know more tricks than I do!
Excellent response, thank you, just want to clarify, I don’t have anything against meta. Just wanted to add that I’m not playing for clicks/competively
As someone who’s only been throwing a little over a year i just go through Lin Junyi tutorial vids or Yoyojoe. I find their vids easy to understand and helps get in mounts etc ive never done before. Both have youtube channels so dont need social media.
Okay I begrudgingly accept that I am decent at yoyo because I do know some hard tricks but my instinct is to not accept that and think I am bad because the players I look up too and admire are still so so so much better than I am. Def not worth comparing where youre at to anyone. Try to just enjoy the process and know that you can eventually get where you wanna be. Youre only about a year in so like new still pretty much and lots of people have been playing for decades. Here is the first video I ever recorded and posted and you can see I was still like very awkward and landing tricks sketchy just like for reference. No one lands trapeze on their very first attempt yo like everyone was at one point, worse than you are now. But yeah just trust the process
