interesting you bring that up. as i was going to mention how the impacts of covid, and therefore the lack of contests, are shining a light on the less ‘mainstream’ aspects of ‘meta’ yoyo in the discussions of the ‘worst player’ thread.
for instance, the less competition-based year has provided an opportunity for not only other folks to get noticed, put content up in other places… and maybe not realize they aren’t as bad as they think they are (happens to me), and there are more people like ‘us’ (see: worst player in the world thread) that have a real vested interest in yoyoing, the community, and want to take a more active role in making it successful, and bringing it to the forefront - even beyond a ‘niche age 12 - 24 y/o’ hobby. because obviously, there are a boatload more than that (i grabbed that out of the air) range…
so, i was thinking of contest ideas yesterday, and i have some stuff starting to brew… we have resources, people, friends… you can play by their rules, and try to win in their game… or start a new game, and see where it goes… check the rules as you go along. doesn’t have to be a popularity contest, there are plenty of those, right?
we can even take away points for foot stomps , two points if you’re sponsored
I’d rather watch a fun yoyo performance than a person standing there making the yoyo go left then right then left then right as it hops from string to string. After 20 seconds it looks like the same thing over and over again. Hey, ANOTHER green triangle! When is intermission?
I’d argue that the presence of a lot of meta in competitions isn’t a sign that the competitive system is bad, but moreso just that people aren’t as willing to take risks. I think any kind of trickset can do well competitively, you just having to be willing to take the effort and step outside the box, which is very hard to do because you don’t know what to expect when the results are back. Yes, the competitive system isn’t perfect, but there are so many players with unique tricksets that do so well (Ahmad, Zach, Hiroki, Ayumu, Shuyun, Colin, Bird, Harrison Lee, Nick De Valpine, Tsukasa Namba, Arata, etc.) that I believe it’s unfair to say competitions are limiting.
I think Hajime Miura’s 4A performance in the 2019 World’s finals is held up as a prime example of how creativity and innovation appear to be in opposition to the current meta. In that case, the point scoring meta for 4A was indeed limiting, at least in the sense that it had a limited view of what should score points.
I think Hajime’s routine moreso showed that soloham could be it’s own division rather than a subset of 4a.
If you pulled out 3a in a 1a routine you’re not going to be able to do enough tricks to compete with 1a players, because 3a mechanics aren’t suited for 1a competition. You have to get in and out of harder mounts and deal with more than 1 yoyo. Same thing applies to 4a.
Shu was an inspiration when I first started. I wanted to do what that guy could do I had such high hopes early on.
Moving forward to competition, maybe have a dance/freestyle division to see what the true performance based exhibitionists can produce, points for flair, flips and wearing meme glasses
Some top players’ stuff tends to have enough uniqueness to stand out, but yeah there’s 20 prelims that all look exactly the same.
And even some high tier players don’t have that unique element, they just execute and choreograph so well that it places high and looks good anyway.
My thoughts on this evolve constantly because while I’m not personally a fan of the competition meta’s consumption of yoyoing as a whole, I do love watching and attending contests, I’m genuinely impressed by the skill involved, and I do think there needs to be a competition avenue for those who want to prove themselves.
But whatever system is developed will be flawed in some way. I think one of the biggest issues is the current system seems designed to remove as much subjectivity as possible. On the surface that seems like a great idea, as you can argue everyone knows how the system works and need to develop a freestyle with that in mind. But defining the boundaries more concretely just means everyone knows exactly how to put a winning freestyle together and the meta becomes more defined and limited. The contest is usually determined not by best freestyle but by whoever hits their combination of meta elements the cleanest with the best performance elements.
Sponsorships can reward non-contest play but when all the new younger yoyoers want to yo-yo like the meta then that doesn’t really matter.
but if there are not a clear set of expectations, at least to some extent, then you are handicapping the competitors who are unaware of what the judge’s particular tastes, or even distastes are. and, if the judges are from the same teams, circles, groups, etc., it makes it extremely difficult for unfamiliar faces, newcomers, up-and-comers, etc. to break into the cipher.
by the same token, it ingrains a culture of redundant ‘meta’ for the newcomers… because that’s all they get to see, and learn. their results are “ah, it’s what happened at the ballot, better luck next time… just keep trying harder.” so a more diverse group judging and clear set of expectations could help
Competition yoyoing is judged much in the same way that gymnastics is judged. Subjectivity nearly destroyed Olympic boxing, and has caused its share of problems in gymnastics where subjective “standards” have differed between nations, sometimes dramatically. It is difficult to deliver a fair competition when there is too much subjectivity allowed into the scoring system.
Could you clarify what you mean here, I’m not sure what statement of mine this is referring to.
I don’t think this has ever been an issue at yoyo contests though.
I don’t think this is the case at all, local contests are less likely to have more meta because the stage is more casual. Not to mention the meta also changes every year, it isn’t that redundant. The meta 4 years ago is different from the meta today.
Thinking about coming up with an “old guy friendly” alternative to the foot stomp…sliding across the stage on my knees like Springsteen is out, my knees wouldn’t let me back up, a flip like Shu is out, no one needs to see the results of that fail…
Maybe at a point of emphasis I just need to yell “You kids, get off my lawn!”
imo if local contests are less likely to contain meta, then that would likely be the best places to scout and recruit, and look for the innovators…
but, again, if it’s taking a ‘cycle’ or a period of
time for this ‘meta’ to change, or people to change with it, it seems to
just be stifling creativity and growth as a group.
it should be a constant evolution, not a
few people, and a group
always waiting to catch up…
, two points if you’re sponsored
I had such high hopes early on.
