The Fixed Axle Megathread of Awesomeness

I’ve gotten it once, starting with tightening then loosening. It’s hard.

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I was already subscribed to your channel, Drew. Your tricks make my mind asplode and my fingers flail.

So glad this thread is just started and already chock full of information for me to devour! I have fallen in love with fixed axle. I dream about tricks sometimes and wake up and have to do it. I currently own a TMBR Baldwin and is my main throw, but use my loop 808 for giggles too. I am just getting into fixed axle play (3 weeks?) after 3 years of just about only unresponsive, so I’m mostly just focusing on translating all of my unresponsive tricks. Tricks in the new category for me would be kick flip suicides and stalls. I have not focused much on kickflip suicides yet, and have only landed a few on my 808. I will get intensive about it, but that will come shortly. I’m a bit particular about how I approach and practice techniques. Visio to the rescue?

I’m probably annoying everybody with my 3 fixed axle videos in the last week, but I have yet to meet another yoyoer in analog life so YYE will have to suffer in the meantime.

My favorite fixed axle trick that I caught on video was Inverted cross-arm brent stole on a TMBR Baldwin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxgFwW7JmbY

Anyway I’m rooting for you at worlds fixed contest, Drew!

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What yoyo do you use in your puppy dog love video? A butterfly? Can you do suicides with a butterfly?

awesome to hear some other people out in the world playing fixed! i think there is so much opportunity for crossover between responsive/unresponsive tricks, really excited about the future of fixed axle yo-yoing.

and yes, it was just a butterfly. the trick for suicides (or any slack-y tricks on a fixed axle) is definitely watching your string tension; remember, looser tension = less response.

you’d be surprised what you can do on a butterfly with some practice… isn’t that wright, guy?

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So, to get your yoyo unresponsive you need low string tension. But, whenever I try a suicide with tension that’s anything other than neutral, it twists together. How do you keep that from happening?

I’ve put this up before, but it still eats up a lot of my time.  It’s like…zen.

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Booyakasha! Amazing Spirit Bomb and wonderfully horrid pun all at once. :smiley:

@kangaroo, it’s a tricky question, and i may have oversimplified it by saying it’s all in the tension. neutral tension is where you want it, and the rest is really just practice. i know that’s such a frustrating answer! it definitely feels worth it when you stick that first suicide. i’d highly recommend re-reading/watching ed’s “back to basics” column for further advice & inspiration.

@yooldman yeah, it is so zenlike! something about the back & forth nature of stalls, the simplicity of the machine, and not having to worry as much about spintime makes it seem so meditative to me. i often find a three move sequence i like and then just do that over and over because it feels good, haha. long live the profly!

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Well, I’ve gotten a suicide once, but it wasn’t perfect. It had a few twists in it. To do it I timed pulling on the yoyo to spread the loop open to get rid of tension, but if you do that to soon it responds, and if you take to long with the suicide in general it responds, but doing fast suicides is rather difficult… So frustrating!

(Frustrating is a very strange word)

It almost 100% probably will be not skill-based again. You’ll get a lot more notice, too. I’ma start pimpin’ it in November.

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bump to the super happy fun time fixed axle thread, or whatever it is, and Thank You to Drew for helping to keep me at least a little grounded in reality. I opened up one of the Duncan Butterfly yo-yos I had sitting around (bought it for the 3-D glasses, OMG). Anyways, I have been working on Shoot D Moon for weeks, and the Butterfly works about as well as anything else I have… and reminds me to practice more and worry less about yo-yos. Thanks Drew.

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That hurts. I will have spent a year learning tricks, when it takes editing skills to win. I’m going to keep working on tricks :wink:

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Hire one of these kids on here to edit your video :slight_smile:

Haha, I’m going to use that idea ;D

I’ll edit it for you. Won’t sabotage, I promise. <<_<<

Was using the Profly and Butterfly to work on Shoot The Moon today. Inspired by John Higby, whom I met the other day, I am determined to hit this one within two weeks! Looks promising; I got it out, then up, then out again. On the second out, I went off-axis and got fluttery and lost the plot; however, it shows that I have it in me!

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Nice :slight_smile: I look forward to seeing that.

Jaime, I think you could do a lot worse than having Greg edit your video. I just checked the official FAFVC rule book - it’s completely legal.

The lovely Audrey was in the kitchen with me Sunday while I was playing a newly purchased Butterfly (I always give them away, so I always have to buy new ones). String broke, yoyo shot across the floor, ricocheted a few times and ended up in the dining room. We both laughed pretty hard. Five minutes later I broke another string. This time, the yoyo almost hit her. She starts yelling “you’re done! You’re done! No more!”. It’s all fun and games until you almost hurt yiur girlfriend a second time.

I just might take you up on this. I’m still working on my skills though. Just wait, I’ll have music in the next video I post, for sure. :wink:

I’m working on the behind the head regen that Drew does at 45 seconds in Weirdsmobile, albeit with zero finesse and I’m really having to work hard to not flinch sometimes as I feel the yoyo or string brush past my clipper #2 length hair. I feel awesome though when I don’t flinch AND I regen out of it. oh wow…junk city :wink:

Is the butterfly yoyo that everybody is picking up an actual fixed axle or is it the XT that has a bearing and is sold here? Thanks!

Get whatever you’re most comfortable with.

They’re both pretty cheap, so I say get both.