I appreciate your comment but it’s missing the point of the discussion.
The point was about whether the judging system rewards innovative & creative yoyoing or not.
Have you ever noticed that most unique and amazing tricks come from players who do very well in competitions?
Also, innovative and difficult tech elements do well at competitions. That’s how Janos won. That’s how Zach won. That’s how Takeshi got 2nd. That’s how Ahmad won AP 3 times. A lot of the most innovative players are players who seek to use competitions as outlets for creative and difficult elements.
2 Likes
And that’s how Takeshi got 2nd(not first), that a great example.
Please don’t get start on Takeshi again… there’s already lots of fuss last year.
I’ll shut up now.
Thanks for the insight behind the whole process. Again, I’m basing my viewpoint on the outcome - what freestyles take top honors - and I don’t know what is going into coming up with a fair evaluation system.
It’s certainly good to know that the scoring system evolves with the times. And hey - if the outcome faithfully reflects the expectations of the community and it happens to not favor the yoyoing I want to see more of, then fair enough. I can also admire some good shred even if it’s not my favorite!
3 Likes
That’s exactly it.
This is why I care about competitions and why I feel frustrated when pure technique wins out over creative yoyoing. Because, to me, competitive yoyoing is at its best when it encourages creativity. I love seeing the creative players unveil new tricks on stage and execute them perfectly.
Maybe technique>creativity happens because of current trends, and not necessarily because the judging system… taking what Steve said into account.
PS apologies for the fragmented replies… responding in between finishing breakfast and taking the metro!
1 Like
You gotta understand that some people focus on different tricks. A behind the back regen is harder than any cool slack element. I think that the difficult elements of the meta represent a mastery of various styles. I think the best freestyles are the ones that combine difficult meta tricks and slower tech and slack tricks.
2 Likes
If you want to see how competition scoring has changed over the years, check out this documentary:
It is interesting to hear how being a yoyo champion used to mean being the best 2A player (because there was a time when there was no 1A division yet, since “string tricks” were not seen as a serious play style and “creativity” was discouraged in favor of pure technical prowess.)
7 Likes
Getting 2nd at the WYYC is hardly losing.
6 Likes
“Second place is the first loser.”
– Dale Earnhardt (paraphrased)
8 Likes
“2nd place is hardly losing”
-Moosa Khan (not paraphrased)
There’s always next year in yoyoing. It’s Takeshi’s personal choice to stop competing. If he came back with the intention to win, he would fully capable of doing so.
3 Likes
If you aint first, youre last
Ricky bobby
14 Likes
Fine
The point is, Takeshi is capable of winning. If the system was bad for tech players, he wouldn’t be able to win.
Forgot to mention: Hirotaka Akiba won JN this year.
3 Likes
3 Likes
So I’m not really up on yoyo competition history. Where did yoyo competitions get their start? Was it here in the U.S.? Were trophies always given out for the top three players in each division?
I ask because the notion of awarding trophies to the top three competitors (i.e., “podium winners”) is a European thing and not really an American thing. In the U.S., we only recognize the first place winner, and for the most part nobody remembers (or pays attention to or cares about) the runner-ups.
But yoyo contests have adopted the European “podium” standard. How did that come about?
1 Like
@zslane
This is pretty helpful:
Keep in mind that in yoyoing top 3 can be helpful to see who has the highest chance next year.
edit: I just added most of the 2019 winners. Missed a couple, might add em later. Editing Wikipedia is hard!
3 Likes
Not sure where to post this…don’t feel like creating a new thread.
@AndreBoulay any word on how many strings were in the pitcher?
1 Like
I’m pretty sure it was 743 strings! He announced it during the live stream right before the YYE trivia at the WYYC.
4 Likes
Cool…a lot more than I’d guessed!
Someone guessed 742 here on the forums…I wonder if anyone at the contest itself guessed the exact number.
4 Likes
Wow if it was 743 then @Phantisee86 probably won per
4 Likes
I don’t really care who won in any given division. I just wanted to say Hajime Miura is a YoYoing machine! As others have stated, “He’s changing the Game!”
6 Likes