I was just at a local Yo-Yo contest and the organizer had a Trick Ladder format before the final players did a Freestyle. One of the Compulsories was a Wrist Mount which only one of the kids could do after being demonstrated the the trick.
However, even though they didn’t know how to do Spirit Bomb or Wrist Mount even, a few of them were rather proficient at Hooks and even consistent with Neck Stoles.
This leads me to a question on the current META, how or what is the current Learning Curve for todays next generation of Yo-Yo player?
By the way they could all DNA, but one of the kids got upset when asked to do some Responsive style tricks like Walk The Dog , though another kid in the group was kind enough to pass around a reponsive (1/2 Spec) set up YYF Arrow for them to use.
I mean trick ladder is kind of super dead for good reason and Im happy to see sport participation blowing up as a way to bring in newer players vs a trick ladder. Not knowing wrist mount is wild tho but w/e if the kids are having fun doing neck stole or whatever that is cool and I’m just happy to see kids playing yoyo.
Oh I agree, these kids were all having a good time and I could sense their camaraderie. I’m more curious about the Learning Curve and the tricks they are focusing on. They were doing things more advanced than any mid aughts trick ladder, even after doing Double or Nothing they all had fancy dismounts to some type of stylist Bind.
I feel like the learning curve is just different now. I think lacerations and stuff are kind of their own independent trick direction than in-mount transitional elements.
So I don’t know if it’s really worth thinking about one side of the spectrum being harder or easier, they’re just kinda split in two different directions. If you start learning yoyo and want to focus on in-mount transitions with classic tricks such as skin the gerbil/kamikaze/etc. then you’re gonna find wrist mount very simple to learn, meanwhile if you want to learn how to gt laceration combo you’re basically going to be starting from scratch.
For the kids who picked up yoyo and had their first tricks be a DNA laceration bind, gt lacerations, hook, etc, these tricks all build off each other, but then doing a wrist mount will be very foreign.
I think the majority of people who aren’t kids getting into yoyo via social media are in the in-mount classical category.
At least with the progression of in-mount tricks, they aren’t as binary in terms of success vs failure. With learning these more classic in-mount yoyo tricks, you can miss strings but still easily remount the yoyo and recover. The difficulty can come from trying to hone in execution, not just landing the trick period. With laceration focused tricks you either land them or you don’t.
I think kids are much more okay with bashing their heads against this proverbial wall until they land the trick. But adults going this route aren’t as comfortable or interested in purely failing until a trick succeeds. So going the former route of in-mount based trick progression offers less friction in terms of progression, it’s also the more established and classical route for people who already had experience with yoyoing and want to do the tricks they saw 10-20 years ago.
I like this “In-Mount” vs “Laceration Style” directional concept. I have to admit there is a rush when you land these Intensity Whips. Even when I do Plastic Whip in front of Non-YoYoers they are usually baffled and ask “how did you do that?”.
These kids were also all in on the YYF camp, Edge 4s, Gen Pops, DNA Kings, New Horizon and Wangles with strings up to the sternum.
I have noticed that over time, yo-yo tricks are focusing far more on the. manipulation of yo-yo string rather than the yo-yo itself. Watching a modern yo-yo routine is more about watching how the string is manipulated around the yo-yo from trick to trick without producing knots. Old-style tricks are all about watching the yo-yo move around the person and their hands. Unlike newer tricks, these ladder tricks are single-tricks that do not necessarily easiliy lead into other tricks; which is why I think they are fading away in contests.
Easier? Harder? I am with @GTDropKnot; as long as people are having fun it has to be good.
I have found this to be very accurate. I started a yoyo club last year, and at first i was getting 2 kinda of kids, some that knew nothing and some that could DNA and brent stole but couldn’t land a trapeze! My frustration came in trying to teach the kids that knew nothing and only wanted to learn DNA etc… which I’m not proficient at. Once they wind up a yoyo they just want to attempt DNA again. So i thought them all how to wind up and a snap start to practice. At least most of them can wind up thier yoyo fast and practice more efficiently.
As time passed now i have a few groups that show up and the younger throwers are all into DNA, god speed and laceration. The adults love the slow flow combos. One kid keeps grabbing my 4A and 5A yoyos but he refuses to try and learn Double or nothing. No one yet seems interested in 0A or responsive.
As mentioned above im happy to have people to throw with so I’ve improved my DNA and lacerations attempting to help them, but i honestly don’t enjoy practicing these tricks.
I’m honestly glad the club is growing and people are throwing yoyos. I see genuine improvement on every person that attends regularly.
As for the learning curve i just think the younger you are the faster you will learn.
The leaning curve is… Interesting to me. Ive been throwing for 3 or more years and in the begining i thought godspeed was cool (i don’t as much anymore, but speed is cool) thought the DNA was overused so I never (and still haven’t) learned it. I love more tech and slack stuff more then anything, I also am starting to love 5a as much as my 1a. It’s interesting to see others start and want to do the popular stuff, some of it is cool though
You must be onto something, because you described me perfectly! Been at this for 10+ years and I still can’t brent stole. Tried learning a few times and always gave up pretty quickly because it wasn’t fun, and I don’t think the end result is even cool enough to put in the work. Meanwhile some of my other tricks have taken a lot of work over months or even years to develop into something flowy and interesting (to me).
