A guy saw me yo-yoing the other day with a tug responsive plastic, he’s use to seeing me use an unresponsive metal, and calls out, “That’s a beginner’s yoyo!” I chuckled and kept on throwing. This comes to mind as in the last few days, I’ve seen posts made that could be interpreted as calling certain yoyos, beginner yoyos.
There really isn’t a beginner yoyo to my way of thinking. There are yoyos that lend themselves better to a beginning yoyoer but that doesn’t make them a beginner’s yoyo, at least in my opinion. I’ve seen many people claim to have outgrown a yoyo. I’m still waiting, but that’s never happened to me. In fact I’m not certain what that really means. Every yoyo I’ve ever owned is capable of more than I am, and each yoyo seems to grow with me. The more I learn to do with a yoyo, the more I learn about and become acquainted with a yoyo, the more opportunity becomes apparent.
I throw this out there as It would be unfortunate for those new to yo-yoing to believe that they will inherently outgrow their first yoyo. I don’t believe it’s possible. You might want to try something else, get bored with what you have, want a new look, but not outgrow.
I don’t know, maybe that’s just my perspective on the whole thing.
My 1st yoyo was a YYF velocity and I can still do some of my harder combos on it if I get a hard enough through and with more practice I could possibly do all my tricks so what you say is true
I think the term “beginner” has sort of infused itself into a term of “lower performance” compared to others.
IMO, this fits into a situation like:
Throw Monkey and Speedaholic, Price isn’t a bias factor, as the “better performer”(speedaholic is in fact less expensive"
The throw monkey has high walls for a more comfortable feeling in hand(I guess) and some rubber rims as well.
Speedaholic has lower walls, and full plastic body. Throw Monkey is a “beginner” throw due to its primitive use of high walls, and overall design.
My first unresponsive yoyo was a YYJ Lyn Fury. Later when I got a DM II I played it all the time and learned a lot. But when I went back to the Fury I had to adjust the it’s small size and lighter weight. That was a learning experience.
Thanks, skitrz. Very apt post. Reminds me of the guy just the other day who was surprised there’s more than 1 or 2 plastic yoyos still available in the world.
Skitrz said, ‘There really isn’t a beginner yoyo to my way of thinking’.
I pretty much agree with that view and the statement that generated your explanation.
But that being said; it is also logical to conclude that there are yoyos ‘more suitable for beginners’ than others.
If you were going to run a Class for New Yoyo players; you would not pass out Berserkers. You would most likely pass out: Classics or One Stars or some other Utility level yoyo.
That in no way means those yoyos cannot be used by more advanced players to perform some pretty complicated tricks or combos.
So even though you may dismiss almost all yoyos as Beginner yoyos; there are certain yoyos that are more suitable for beginners.
I have the worst luck with this. All the yoyos I buy turn out to be beginner’s yoyos. The store descriptions make them seem expert level, but it’s all smoke and mirrors, because as soon as I get my hands on it it becomes clear that it can only do the easy stuff. I can’t figure it out.
@ Yoyodoc: I agree with you as noted in the second sentence of the second paragraph of my original post. I’m sorry that I hid it. (JK) Oh btw, really enjoy the yoyo I got from you a while back. Thanks for that!
To me a beginner yoyo implies some sort of bang for your buck. I consider the YYJ a Classic a beginner throw. It performs well but not like a competition thow. I use it to clean up my accuracy and its a fun challenge to see if you can perform your long tricks on cheap throws. I have no problem picking it up after my One Drop Valor. If if wasn’t so loud I would use it more often …but I did spend a couple hours with it the other night. If I use it at night my kids won’t fall to sleep. That’s when I bring out my ninja quiet One Drops. You are right though. Play what’s fun… at any price point. It’s silly to think you’ll grow out of a yoyo. If anything it’s check out these mad skillz on this cheap piece of plastic.
Agree with OP. Look at what Ed Haponik does with a John Higby ProFly… Shoot, I’ve seen people on here pull off some amazing stuff on some “low end”, which really is what most call beginner, throws.
I have a BLAST with a ProFly, Butterfly, Baldwin, and while I’ll admit that picking up a CLYW or 2Sick will get me into the “complex” tricks, I can hit those tricks more consistent than when I try to do “advanced fixed tricks” on my TMBR woods.
Most “advanced” players will learn a decent combo in a short period of time, if you know the parts, maybe 20-30 minutes. After a bit of practice, you can land it consistently. Think of how many of you can land Kwijibo, Skin the Gerbil, White Buddha or Gyroscopic Flop and how often you actually nail the trick with minimal effort after some practice…
Now, pick up a no jive or TMBR and try to land a double kick flip suicide or better yet, Kwijibo… do it on a ProFly… with stalls and regens… that is advanced play on a “beginner” throw IMHO which is my long winded way of saying, there are no beginner yo-yos, there are garbage yo-yos that are cheap, but a beginner needs something that works right and has a low cost of entry so they are not intimidated.
I agree with all the sentiments posted here so far. But, I also understand how someone could see a responsive yoyo as a beginner or starter yoyo because there are definitely certain basic skills of throwing that must be mastered before moving on to unresponsive yoyos. This is why I like yoyodoc’s use of the word “beginner” which describes the thrower and not the throw (as does the subject of this thread). There are tricks that Ed Haponik can do on a fixed axle that I still couldn’t do on an unresponsive throw. So calling the yoyo itself “beginner” is misplaced IMO. I’ve purchased the eH from TMBR for just this reason so that I can join the Fixed Axle '15. This will give me a year to truly refine my abilities which should make the eventual move back to unresponsive yoyos more successful. It should be a lot of fun!
I mostly agree with this, and somewhat dis agree with this, mostly over one yoyo in mind. I started out with my fast 201, and while going back I can still go back and do most of my tricks with it, I’ve felt like I out grew it in two ways: One, I’ve beat it so much that it’s basically crazy un-useable. (I look at that in the same way like, someone could out grown a pair of really beat up shoes. I know there could be a really big argument that Ill loose saying 'that’s not technically out growing, but you can see where i’m coming from).
and two, I out grew my fast 201 because I needed a yoyo that could let me to do better and more advance tricks easier. I can almost do all the tricks on here with a fast 201, they’re a million times easier with a speed dial. I don’t think I’ll ever out grow and call a certain yoyo ‘A beginner only yoyo’ and like skitrz said, There are yoyos that lend themselves better to a beginning yoyoer but that doesn’t make them a beginner’s yoyo. In my mind, the fast 201 is one of those yoyos that fits that, but just makes it harder.
Which is nice when I want a challenge. All in all, I feel the same as skitrz does, but I do get that people can feel they need a more advance throw to more easily get some tricks down. Like a speed dial, since it’s the perfect throw. XD (At least, I think so.)
(JK) Oh btw, really enjoy the yoyo I got from you a while back. Thanks for that!