I would like to contend that we do not all use training wheels before learning to wheelie. In fact, the new school method in learning to ride a bike doesn’t even include pedals. However, those that learned by using training wheels might remember it fondly, and having pedals made it easier to gain speed and required learning better brake control. Therefore, they would share and encourage new bike riders to use training wheels, possibly.
It’s not that those who learned to ride a bike using training wheels are elitists, it’s that those not using training wheels reject the training wheels group experience. They find that experience irrelevant and old school. They don’t understand why anyone would want that experience or why anyone would regard that experience as preferable. That’s fine. Therefore a debate arises.
Of course this works the other way as well, the training wheel group can’t understand why they would have wanted to be part of the non training wheel group, with a few exceptions.
In this world where one must completely and totally agree/identify with one group, this causes the impression that those that disagree with one’s point of view are elitists, snobs, and disrespectful. In reality, you make the choice which group you want to identify with and if you are fortunate to have an open mind you can find points of relevance in each point of view/ experience, and capitalize on both.
Put that into yoyo terms and do, believe, love, hate as you will.
Your journey is your own and that’s all it can be. That’s as it should be.
I agree, which is why I didnt say that. I quite literally said that I see the merit in playing with less forgiving yoyos. I do claim that it is possible to practice your trick to true smoothness on a high performance yoyo, though something more prone to error will more easily allow you to identify where you go wrong (and punish you for it). Useful tool, but not required to do so.
Throw whatever you want. Whatever will inspire you to throw MORE. That’s what will make you a better player. If you want to get good at throwing wood, throw wood. If you want to get good at throwing unresponsive metal, throw unresponsive metal. If you want to get good at posting about yo-yo’s on the internet, there’s a box for it RIGHT HERE!
I do believe that if you love yo-yo, you should try to appreciate more than one myopic aspect of it. I do believe you should develop a visceral understanding of where it comes from. And I certainly believe that playing fixed axle has smoothed out some rough spots and informed my unresponsive play (although then again, I’m not out there winning competitions either, so…)
The thing about yo-yoing is that you get out what you put in. You won’t get good at the hard stuff by practicing the easy stuff all day and you won’t actually learn to make things look easy by doing everything you can to make things hard. But thin snappy yo-yo’s and wide unresponsives will inform each other and give you a deeper context for the whole thing. Let yourself be inspired and try things which seem hard. Then do things which feel easy and familiar and know that it doesn’t always have to be an epic battle.
Whatever. There are a lot of ways to experience yo-yoing. Play responsive. Play unresponsive. Play wood. Play titanium. Read about it. Write about it. Go to events. Throw alone. Make choices and reduce the aspects you find less meaningful while embracing what makes you feel happy and fulfilled. Where you choose to throw your energy will preclude other experiences, but that’s ok.
Well said, everyone is different, In my opinion I am always up for taking advise, it may be beneficial it may not, do what feels comfortable for “you”. Whether it’s right wrong, good bad, hard or easy.
Mark Twain is a favorite author of mine, I’m familiar with that quote (and, I modified it to reflect the close in the rift between my father and I once I left for college). All that said, it is amazing what a little player improvement will do for a yoyo’s performance
People that tell you how to practice trick X are full of beans, everyone that knows how to do trick X is sworn to secrecy. Also, don’t believe ed when he says he is not out there winning contests, and don’t ever play horse with him unless you want to get embarrassed.
