Have you looked into 0a at all? I have a feeling you might like modern responsive yoyo play!
Spin tops are cool too though, not trying to push you away from that
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Well f. I never wanted to make string until you showed me a novel jig I could printā¦
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Hah! I had the exact same thought when I saw those pics this morningā¦
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Iāve looked at that a bit as well. Iāve only seen a few 0A tricks that stuck out to me, but I should give it a proper go. The simpler, the better sometimes.
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Iām certainly no expert, and I really glossed over precession principles here, but I kinda like making videos and / or helping people. So hereās some tilt correction - compensation thoughts and ideas.
Forgot to mention, the string used in this video is longer than what a Star would come with. So weāre essentially troubleshooting a ālong string symptomā.
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Good explanation, great tutorial.
Itās the same idea for short string, which is often the case with new inexpensive tops, but the direction you tilt the top would be away from your body.
Nice left handed throws snuck in there!
A helpful thing to know about string length is that once you figure out the proper length for your top, note how high the wind goes. If you swap string to thinner or thicker, the number of winds you need are different, but you need to wind it to the same point on the top body.
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Itās really interesting to see how much nuance goes into throwing trompo style tops. Honestly not wanting to deal with figuring out all of the specific throw mechanics is a big reason why I gravitated towards komas instead. I throw komas with any string length/thickness and donāt have to adjust or think much of it beyond how the string interacts with the axle while spinning.
I really need to get another trompo at some point because I donāt have my old one any more. Messing with bearing tips seems interesting, and Iām not nearly good enough to justify the massive price tag of a bearing koma.
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I have made a spin tops channel in the YYBC Discord in case folks are interested. You donāt have to be a member to use our Discord.
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Komas certainly have their own set of unique challenges, but yes, there are lots of nuances with regular tops. The string is so important, it can really make a top handle great or be unplayable, where the koma tops are ways more forgiving to diff strings.
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Maybe youāll enjoy this thenā¦.
ā¦
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Okay. So I was given two strings with this spin top. One was labeled ābetter string.ā I decided to try the better string today rather than the factory one. I realized it was a much shorter length. I believe that had a lot to do with it, and I am a dummy for not trying the better one first
Again, one expletive near the end
Edit: The kids are intrigued and trying now. Spin tips are cool
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Major success, ending the night on a high note!
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Dane, this was super informative. I am just now watching it.
You may have posted something before, if so please link me at your leisure, but I am using the plastic ring thing when winding the top, and Iād like to know how to do so without it, along with a proper wind (how tight, average string length in number of winds, etc ..)
I appreciate your willingness to help us
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I reckon I threw in a little sarcasm lol. Thatās my bad. But the lock tension I mention is the tightest part. Doesnāt need to be crazy. But give it a good pull!
ā¦
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Wow that was fast!
It took me longer than that to take some stillsš¤£
Yeah agreed, the tension is important, and you have to start from the first wrap over the knot, because the string tension is all that keeps it from just slipping out.
Most commercial tops have a visual clue as to how far up to wrap. Itās not the number of wraps, itās where the string goes up to on the body of the top. With the Short Circuit, itās basically up to the tabs on the sides.
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Yeah, not sure what I am doing but I am gonna stick to using the ring for now. When not using it, I only get a tight spin 1 out of ten throws. The other 9 feel like I am literally just chucking it at the ground
Maybe I need to make a second knot on top of the first so it is snugger
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Thereās nothing wrong with using a ring, there are even some trick elements you can do with them. The thing is, you just started, it takes a lot of reps.
I have messed around with tops for years, and at times I have practiced a bunch and made not a lot of progress, almost convincing myself I couldnāt get past the most basic tricks.
The thing I found is that the learning curve is unpredictable, but rewarding, if you keep at it. It takes a lot of practice.
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I have been enjoying it through the frustration, and thank you for the encouragement.
I get so frustrated and then one lands perfect and bam, frustration fades. I was curious what the consensus learning curve is, glad itās not an overnight and you should have it down consensus lol
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Not sure why it would make any diff ring or loop?? My guess would be you pull harder against the ring when you are winding, and therefore get a better wrap and release. The way to keep the same tension with a loop is to push down with your thumb and really take out the slack so you can still wrap tight like @danemartin explained.
The other issue you may be having could be that you are not keeping your hand straight, and your wrist in line with your arm
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Good deal, I will try those steps 
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