Hey guys, remember me? Took a pretty long break from this forum.
Well, i hit a wall. I don’t know how to push through it. Easiest way to explain is that there’s a long track ahead, but the train already stopped.
A few months ago, I was convinced that i had found a style of yoyoing unique to my self. Somewhere along the way, after very few successful tricks made, i started to focus on competitive yoyoing as well. Somehow, It fell apart soon after.
I lost motivation, didn’t yoyo for awhile and now i do have the motivation but i have no idea how to find the same style, or a new style of yoyoing that won’t make me feel like i’m settling for less. This feels like an essay now.
Anyway, Is there anyone here who can give me advice on what i can do to get through this?
Sorry if this sounds sad or something, i do not intend it to be written that way.
Ha, that reminds me of my issue with juggling. Let me tell my story, maybe you can relate and have some ideas for you.
I used to be a pretty good juggler, stopped for a few years (wife, kids, house…), then I couldn’t “feel it” anymore. I can still technically do the tricks, but… it’s not the same.
My workaround was to explore different styles, learn some new kinds of juggling, or juggling-related stuff. Hence my interest in yoyo
Also, do you practice as much as before ?
I used to do around 30h of juggling a week, and I can’t get the same pace anymore now. So that’s normal I can’t get up to the same level.
If I’m understanding you correctly, you want to be yoyoing again, but nothing is grabbing you as it has in the past. If this is an accurate description of where you are at, I have been there. I pushed through it by going back to the last spot I had real enthusiasm for learning something new. Then I start adding on. For example, I felt I needed to start focusing on competition, as I had wanted to compete at Nationals this year, as it was set to be here in my home state this year. Obviously that was before the corona pandemic hit. I was really having a hard time getting motivated some days, and it was simply because it became more of a chore or obligation as opposed to something I got dopamine from. So I began to mix it up a bit, still focusing on competitive, but also allowing time for fun, because it’s always easier to motivate myself when dopamine is in the payoff. I hit a plateau before this too, so I got a Kendama and did do some of that as well. It didn’t last horribly long, I just needed something different for awhile. Now I keep things interesting by mixing in playing various musical instruments and doing various art projects, like airbrushing a yoyo. It’s rare that I am away from yoyoing for any length of time, unless for physical reasons, and even then, I try to push myself to get back into it daily.
i want to practice as much as i used to, but i have difficulty doing so. Maybe it’s not as fun, as i also cycle around the same elements- unable to find new ones.
It is kind of hard to put in to words, but Shuuyun Tang was someone i looked up to then- the idea of making my own tricks, being original in some way. I’ll try to put into words what i wanted to show in every trick i made, which is kind of hard. My style was mostly based around doing parts of basic tricks and adding some things such as putting my finger between the strings, doing modified arm-trick movements, creating slack in some part of the mount to mess around with, etc. It was the idea of not using meta, being good at tech and using tricks i personally made in competitions.
I’ve been in these ruts, they are not fun. I don’t compete as I don’t have the time to and I don’t do well under pressure in front of a live audience. Sometimes, a break was needed during these “plateau moments.”
This particularly happened when I was dedicated to sharing tricks on Instagram - I felt pressured to share tricks all the time and each one had to be something new as to keep viewers from getting bored.
Things have changed for me over the past couple years - enter the fall of social media and algorithms. Since I’ve been getting less views and I’ve been seeing less myself from others that I follow, I’ve felt less pressured to have to keep up and share stuff, and have just found enjoyment in tricks that I already know and just connecting them.
I will still find new tricks to learn but will pick things that interest me rather than trying to slog through a trick that otherwise not be of any use later. This happened with trying to learn Rancid Milk - felt like I was forcing myself to learn the trick just because.
I’d recommend trying to learn a few tricks that have elements that you don’t know yet. There have been some great advanced trick tutorials made recently, or you could slow down a trick vid from a player you like. Learning even a couple of new elements increases your trick diversity a lot and can keep you motivated to continue making your own tricks.
I’d say maybe try diving into a new division, that way you create some separation and mix it up a little! You know…they say variety is the spice of life! Maybe juggling two different yoyo styles will help influence the other
No doubt you want to practice a lot.
I see everybody says the same: it looks like you’re setting the bar too high, putting pressure, and it becomes a chore.
Let’s add some diversity, maybe relax on your goals, and the fun would come back?
When I’m learning something new, if I can’t master it in @15 minutes, I’m going to lose motivation fast. Something a bit Home Simpsonish about it I know, but that’s where I got to with the hobby
Edit: Master is the wrong word. What I mean is get the basic moves down to smooth it out. I’m at the point where I can watch something on youtube and know almost immediately it’s just never going to happen for me.
There are so many “doable” tricks I find, I just don’t want any frustration. Jeremy of Rain City Skills, has tons of them to try when you’re bored or frustrated.
I used to yoyo semi-competitively, that was actually the worst time period for me creativity wise. Trick making becomes “how can I fudge more points out of the clicker”. Tricks that may be clever or elegant are discarded because they didn’t score high enough.
After this period has passed, I think my style has progressed for the better. I’m far more proud of the tricks I’ve maded after rejecting the competition mentality, because my tricks now focus on elements I like personally.
As for discovering trick elements, I think pro player videos are pretty inspirational (it’s their job after all). I tend to watch a video and try to recreate something in spirit of their trick, then incorporate it into something that’s already in my repertoire.
Here is my advice, but first a little backstory I had the same problem as you I quit in December of 2016 after yoyoing for a year and I never really had any interest in yoyoing after that until mid-way march 2020 right before quarantine I got lucky and became interested in yoyoing again. So I had the same problem as you, and I didn’t know where to start again so here’s what I did: I went to yo-yo expert and went to the learn part of yye and I started scrolling down and whichever trick I didn’t know by name I clicked on it and learned/practiced it until I could get it down each time I tried (this took about a week practicing 3-4 hours a day) then I just practiced and learned new tricks. I watched videos of myself yoyoing before I quit and I also watched my idle (gentry stein) yoyo as well since he heavily influenced my style. And like learning how to ride a bike it came back to me. So in a nutshell practice all the tricks on yo-yo expert (and/or yotricks), watch videos of yourself (and your idle) yoyoing before you took a break, and just practice a lot and the style of your play should come back to you, and if it doesn’t its ok a new style could look/feel just as good if not better. And just remember the whole point of yoyoing is to have fun
