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General Yo-Yo
1

Just something I thought I would post.

I remember many years ago, I would often carry a yoyo around with me, and I guess I had hopes of running into another player, or using it in the past time when I was bored.
But there was one thing I noticed that was interesting. Quite often, I would be nervous to take out the yoyo and throw, even though I know I really wanted to.

It was a feeling of somewhat not wanting people to notice my throwing, and just being under the public eye like that.
It was odd, but it was what was going on.

Fastforward a few years. I eventually got over those feelings of intimidation and nervousness and now I take out a yoyo to throw quite often. And I donā€™t mind being in the public eye. But as I spent some time talking to others arround the community, I found that quite a few had that feeling of nervousness that I did, and most didnā€™t like taking out the yoyo to throw unless people werent around or not looking.

I just want to say, that you donā€™t need to be nervous.
Think about why you may feel this way. Is it because you think youā€™re not good enough? Heres a news flash for you. Most of the public only knows up to rock the baby. SO if you can pull off a trapeze and bind it, people will be impressed. Whats considered beginner to most of us, is often seen as very difficult and sometimes impossible to the general public.
Maybe you think people will make fun of you. You know, no matter what you do, people will make fun of you, its something we all have to deal with in life. If someone makes fun of you for yoyoing, ignore it, cause they are missing out on something totally awesome. And the reason you yoyo should be for your own enjoyment in the first place.
Maybe youā€™re afraid youā€™ll mess up. Donā€™t worry about it. everyone messes up. Look at the top street performers out there. Jugglers, they drop stuff. Acrobats will trip up, diabolo players will drop, guitarist will miss a note. People know mess ups happen, and if it does, just take it as nothing, and fix what went wrong, and continue. Just relax and throw.

Yoyoing in public will only get you positive results. People find it interesting, sometimes you can make new friends, and even get others into yoyoing.
And even if you are just learning a split the atom, donā€™t worry, you have skills of which most have never seen before,

Donā€™t be scared, throw the yoyo when you want. And let the nerves leave you and relax.

Its great to expose the world to modern yoyoing, and this is the first big step.

Try it.

Good luck foals.

:wink:

J

3 Likes
2

Well said.

I donā€™t take mine out mostly because I tend to be in crowded places or need my hands to carry stuff. So, Iā€™m generally in areas not suitable for playing with the yoyo.

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I have always been the kind of person who has to be doing something with there hands at all times so when i got into yoyoing pulling it out in public never phased me because i always know people judge itā€™s what they do so why not have some fun while theyā€™re judging you instead of just being bored.

4

just to add to what Jayyo saidā€¦ Please please please make sure its safe to throwā€¦ know your boundries, and know what is dangerous for you to perform in publicā€¦ should you end up whacking a stranger with the business end of a yoyo, that causes a lot of troubleā€¦

other than thatā€¦ follow what my great grandmother told meā€¦ if someone is contemping you for whatever, listen, nod your head, then do exactly as you pleaseā€¦ people who are haters of people who do things publicly, such as a yoyo demo in a mall or something, often have no skills of their own and are acting out in jeleousyā€¦ my debut performance with a yoyo, almost three years ago was a brain twister and i immediatly had people showing interest and asking questionsā€¦ and look at the comments on youtubeā€¦ someone leaves hate mail, and pretty much the next comment is hating on the haters commentā€¦

people are fascinated by stuff that requires skill and practiceā€¦ so show offā€¦ show all your colors, and most importantly, do what you love (think about itā€¦ this website wouldnt exist if yoyoing wasnt cool)

5

Iā€™m dealing with this now. Itā€™s not that Iā€™m not good enough, itā€™s just that I donā€™t want to show off. Iā€™m not scared of peopleā€™s opinions either, itā€™s justā€¦hard to explain. Ya get me?

6

I yo-yo in public all of the time. Iā€™ll be in the middle of the store or at school and SOMEBODY ALWAYS stops to stare. Itā€™s really cool. ;D

7

Yes well said

8

Well, last year at sleep away camp I brought a yoyo. I didnā€™t take it out until about half way through. I was just in my cabin. Some people thought it was amazing, and then there was this one kid (who was kind of a jerk in the first place) who said, ā€œBig deal, so he can yoyo.ā€ I understand thatā€™s not directly making fun of me, but it made me and this thing that I love feel insignificant. It made me feel bad because something that I had invested tons of time in had been put down. I put the yoyo away after that, but Iā€™m just the kind of person who would.

Of course, my other friend who went to a different camp who yoyos became like famous at his camp for yoyoing. He said that there were some kids who were jerky about it but most of the kids thought it was amazing. But he is much more comfortable with the fact that he yoyos than I am. He always takes his yoyo out before I do in public, and I usually donā€™t in the first place unless heā€™s around.

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i have an idea to cure thatā€¦ when ever youre hanging out with your friend, or what ever youre doing, you be the one to initiate the yoyoingā€¦ espicially in publicā€¦ show a crowd as often as possibleā€¦ before you know it, you will feel comfortable yourselfā€¦ and if someone comes trolling along, what do they knowā€¦ they can say what ever they want, ultimately they are the ones who make themselves look like a jerk

1 Like
10

Well said Josh!

I throw in public all the time and even if and when i mess up a trick the people watching donā€™t even notice that a mess up occurred.

11

That is what I like is that people just like what you are doing and are amazed. They can not tell when you mess up or get a know somewhere in your string. They just want to see people playing yoyos again. My mom is a fitness instructor and sometimes teaches silver sneakers(to help old people stay in shape) and I yoyoed for them and they didnā€™t care when I messsed up they even took up a collection and gave me 20$!

12

donā€™t be a closet thrower people, I know how it feels i used to kinda get nervous when throwing in front of people too and i still do sometimes and itā€™s funny even the people that make fun of you, you can tell that they are still impressed. for instance one of my friends used to give me alot of crap when i would throw around him heā€™d say stuff like ā€œwow, get a life,ā€ or ā€œyouā€™re such a nerd is this what you do all day?ā€ but one day he sort of apologized and said ā€œI know i give you alot of crap about your yoyo and stuff but yā€™know it is actually pretty impressive.ā€

another thing itā€™s both unnerving but also encouraging at the same time when youā€™re throwing in a public place and you can tell everyoneā€™s looking at you, because youā€™re not sure whether theyā€™re judging you or amazed by you, but lemme tell you more often than not someone will come up to you and say ā€œwow thatā€™s pretty coolā€ or like ā€œI used to have a yoyo but i could barely make it come back upā€

13

I throw everywhere and have people stop and watch some video tape and others come talk to me.

Out of all of these years the worst response I got was ā€œIā€™ll never be impressed by that.ā€ but whatever that guy was just mad that the girl he liked was interested in my yoyoing. XD

But yeah the thing is if you want more yoyoers you got to show the world how much yoyoing can be, donā€™t hide it away.

14

i throw in public all the time!even when i started yoyoing i have thrown in public!1 year and two months ago when i started i did a performance for my class and they where impressed even though i was a beginner.seriously if you dont see a guy like marcus koh walking around walmart with his skillz you shouldnt be nervous

15

When I got back into the groove of yoyoing, I admit, I kept it to myself, behind closed doors. I wasnā€™t sure what people would think, seeing an adult playing with a ā€˜toy.ā€™ After being involved with the community and realizing that there is no set age and even adults throw to pass time when out and about, I decided I should do the same. So far, everythingā€™s had positive results. Last year during my nieceā€™s softball practices, Iā€™d bring a couple yoyos to mess with when I quickly became known as ā€˜the yoyo guy.ā€™ It then became a staple to bring a yoyo along as it was almost ā€˜expectedā€™ of me to do such.

Yesterday when waiting for my food at Wendyā€™s, I was doing a couple tricks (Matrix, Boingy Boing) when I overheard people at a table say ā€œWow, heā€™s good!ā€ as they conversed with their group. When leaving, the people looked over at me and said 'thanks for showing us the awesome tricks, Iā€™m impressed!" Iā€™ve even heard comments similar to the above just from a simple bind, my braintwister bind, or even a failed simple trick. Then after doing a mind-blowing advanced trick, they stare blankly at you, followed by the infamous ā€˜walk the dogā€™ request. Arm grinds are better :slight_smile:

Probably the most negative thing Iā€™ve heard which is the reality of things is hearing statements like ā€œWow, I have not seen one of those in years!ā€ Itā€™s quite depressing actually since other staple toys like Play Doh, slinkys, legos, and tinker toys (and similar alternative brands to the real things) are widely available. This happened when I stopped at the McDonalds down by the wharf when checking out the Bay Area Classic. I was messing with my just purchased RecRev when the worker told me that she hasnā€™t seen yoyos in years. I then informed her that thereā€™s an event going on right up the hill where people are learning tricks, buying yoyos, and participating in the contest. I think they were a bit shocked.

I do wish I could go back some (back when I was at the university prior to graduation) and threw more often rather than keeping it hidden. I think I only threw once during finals, when I needed a break from studying. Iā€™m sure college students (especially the hipsters and art majors) would have caught interest.

16

Yeah, iā€™m with you on that.

My wife tells everyone that I yoyo and wants me to bust out some tricks, but I feel awkward for some reason.

17

Wow, i thought i was the only one who was afraid to throw in public :stuck_out_tongue:

18

Whenever I leave my house I ALWAYS take a Yoyo with me, even when I go to work. (though I usually donā€™t ever have time). I use to care what people theoryught about it, now I just dont. I Yoyo when Iā€™m browsing through the store, walking form the sidewalk, standing in line. I always make sure I have room, but Iā€™ve gotten pretty good at being able to judge my bubble of space around me that I need to throw. People stare, children stare.
I like to make it a point to do a couple tricks when Iā€™m waiting somewhere with children close by. They usually really enjoy it, and ask questions. I view it as an opportunity to spread the joy of yoyoing, Every time I go out.
I get many, many people asking how they can get into yoyoing and learn tricks. Iā€™ve pointed lots and lots of people to yoyoexpert.com probably once or twice a week.
So its a good way to spread the love. I saw one kid that I told about yoyoing a couple weeks later with a plastic grind machine and working on double or nothing. That would never have happened if I hadnā€™t taken my Yoyo while waiting to pay for my groceries.
If people want to make fun them thatā€™s their sad little problem. The point Is: do what you do. Who knows maybe you will meet a new friend. At the very least you will have fun.

19

normally i want to but people tend ask me if they can try. Then someone walks the dog with my brand new throw and then i get sad when it dings :ā€™(

20

Yes I used to have this problem because I was to shy to speak up and say" oh wait donā€™t!" but I learned to now. My first metal the lunatic was my favorite yoyo and this happened. i was at my familyā€™s Christmas party and my older cousin asked to try and immediately threw it and walked the dog. It was on like fake tile so it burned and scratched the anno. It was a bad moment but just tell them not to. But this is sooo true Jayyo. We need to be confident about what we do and not be shy and hide it. That is how we can spread the love. Plus if we will just all do this we might be able to bring back the yoyo like kids in the 1980ā€™s had.