So I bought this kendama used. The paint seems to be really slippery it seems hard to land tricks
Yeah the tamas are usually really slippy, which does make it difficult. There ARE the Sweets Atack series which are more grippy, but some people consider it cheating. However, the slippy tama should only affect tricks like lighthouse, etc. Just keep practicing!
The picture looks like a Kendama USA Tribute. Those are pretty nice kendamas. After you break it in it should work well.
I remember someone quoting that tacky/grippy tamas are analogous to ball bearings in yoyos. It opens up a whole new world of tricks which were never really possible with slippery tamas.
I did also remember (on this forum as well) a tip to put a light amount of beeswax on the tama to make it a tad grippy.
Learning on a slippy tama is a good trainer. Practice by dropping the ken on the tama and trying to keep it balanced. Over time you’ll feel the subtle movements and be able to get the ken to “set”.
thanks for all the tips yall guess im still pretty green to it maybe why so difficult to me. def harder than yo-yoing!
haha that’s for sure! Although simple cup and spike catches become pretty easy with practice, as does anything.