Random thought I had today as I was setting up my Duncan Torque for 5a; Why are a lot of us so scared to learn or try 5a with metals when there are rubber ball counterweights made by Duncan? I know in today’s time there are a ton of modern counterweights with bearings and string loop holders etc and that the biggest worry is dropping the yoyo all together. But there still are some safer options out there for your throws in regards to counterweights accidentally hitting the yoyo! Idk what do you guys think?
Damage from counterweights is super negligible in my experience. I use a Duncan dice as one of my primary weights and I’ve never noticed any scuffs or damage caused by the counterweight itself. One drop will do more damage to the yoyo than thousands of counterweight impacts.
The benefit of soft counterweights is mostly touted as: they hurt less (negligible imo, hard rubber still hurts), and they’re much quieter when they collide with the yoyo (a huge plus for me). The drawback is that softer weights tend to be grippier so they’ll kill the spin of the yoyo a lot faster on an impact with it.
This is a great take. I’m with ya on the noise from a weight hitting the yoyo and that’s one of the biggest reasons I tend to go with a rubber ball. If I’m using a plastic though it’s one I don’t really care about and I’ll throw on any weight with. I think it also can depend on type of blasting, metal etc. I used a die on my silver torque and one collision during a butterfly gave it a tiny tiny mark that’s hard to see. Didn’t effect play or vibe or anything but I guess it’s just all part of the 5a experience lol. Gotta know what you’re getting into before you just throw a weight on your 100 dollar throw
Oh to contribute to the actual question, i think it’s down to keeping the yoyos value. 1 ding from a drop or CW smack is all it takes to not be able to say a yoyo a mint anymore. And with how everyone treats these things like trading cards (which is rad) i can see why keeping a yoyo mint is so important to people. As for me… i obvi try not to ding my yoyos, but i play 5a 99% of the time and i just know it’a going to happen. My yoyos are mint the day i get them and that’s all i expect. I go into it know that if i ever wanna sell or trade a throw, it’s going to come with dings if coming from me. And that’s ok. I love a yoyo that’s been played hard. I leanred 5a on a YYF 401k and by the time i traded it, it looked like it had rings there’s was so many dings.
I agree. Whatever throw you tie a CW on you just gotta know that’s probably gonna be the last time it looks mint lol. I do however think a rubber ball is a good starter CW. I just am starting to actually learn 5a tricks (learning half bee-sting at the moment) and just from this experience I can say I’m glad a rubber ball is hitting the throw (and my body) and not a hard die or something It also gives me a little more confidence releasing the CW and what not knowing that if it collides it’s not going to sound like I just tipped over a fine China cabinet
Update: just hit half bee-sting let’s gooooo
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JeiCheetah
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I can attest that the chainmail counterweight has an amazing feel to it and is the perfect balance of softness without being “rubbery” like some of the other soft counterweight options can be.
I will say if you ever pick one up, make sure you support the OG Dustin Gunter and not the bootleg that another yoyo site (That I wont mention due to being a competing storefront to YYE) stole the idea from without permission.
My thing with the rubber balls is that when it does touch the yoyo, sometimes it’ll snag and roll up into a giant mess.
But man, nothing is worse than throwing at 1am trying to be quiet, worried about the singing bearing being too loud and all the sudden DIIIIING… makes my heart skip a little.
I feel like with what you said in the first sentence is why a lot of companies shy away from softer CWs. I have noticed when it hits although sooo much quieter, can absolutely stop the yo-yos spin drastically and snag etc. Also with my Torque the finish is that shiny, polished look but it gets sticky ya know? Great 5a throw in my humble beginners opinion, but something to mention!
Also no problem man! I woke up today and was like ya know, I have 3-4 counterweights always just sitting here but I never really have tried to actually learn 5a other than to throw it, a basic stall etc. So today we started the 5a journey! I’m actually impressed with myself I hit half bee sting on the first day. I’m a slow learner personally lol. Tomorrow we go for the full sting
It also gives me a little more confidence releasing the CW and what not knowing that if it collides it’s not going to sound like I just tipped over a fine China cabinet
