Sometimes I start doing things when maintaining my yoyo or learning tricks that people don’t talk about in tutorial videos. I will start this thread off with a few examples:
When tying a double knot in my string for the loop, there is some extra string at the end. What I do with the extra is that instead of snipping it off or using a lighter, I tie my own overhand knot close to where it should be cut. That way, I don’t get as much fraying of the string on the end AND I don’t have to breathe in plastic fumes.
I’ve seen people mention that they stretch out their strings before cutting it. Some strings are bouncier than others, and stretching your string can make it so the length of the string doesn’t go up as you play with it.
Clean your bearing seats! Crud can get in the bearing from your bearing seat and often the guts of your yoyo will be a bit messy when you first get a yoyo. This is very important for metal yoyos. If your yoyo starts to have a hard time screwing back in, you may just need to clean the guts of the yoyo. I gave a yoyo vibe because there were metal shavings where the axle was and I forced the yoyo when tightening it. I had to get someone with a special bearing tool to take it out because it was so tight in there. I use alcohol wipes but you can use something else so that it doesn’t leave dust.
Does anyone else here have anything they wish they knew when starting out?
i wish i knew what unresponsive play/binding was in 2005 otherwise i wouldnt have stopped then
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fradiger
(the world is a beautiful cat and i must meow meow meow)
5
i believe the way to truly a try a yoyo is to give it the same setup you’re used to in other yoyos (pads, string, and bearing), i’ve found some yoyos only clicked once I put in the pads I’m used to or swapped out the CTX for a concave bearing (though this is for like, one 19mm unresponsive yoyo to another 19mm pad unresponsive yoyo)
There are certainly a lot of things I have LEARNED, but I’m not sorry I didn’t KNOW them when I started (if that makes sense). The journey has been rich.
I guess if anything, I would like to have known that I should have hugged certain people a little tighter before saying bye, taking for granted that “I’ll see them at the next contest or whatever”.
For me I don’t have any regrets or things I wish I knew when I first started. Resources were minimal anyway in 1996 so for a lot of us it was quite an adventure going into the unknown.
While I wish I didn’t miss the birth of unresponsive (took a break for several years,just after the boom fizzled and high school took over, and picked back up in 2010) it was quite the surprise to see what all happened while I was gone. Yoyos were still evolving when I jumped back in, and Andre’s “expert village” tutorials existed allowing me to catch up.
I already knew the hobby was going to be a rabbit hole because I was buying up various color butterfly and imperials as well as trying to find what other specialty models were out there at my local toy shop (rip). As an adult I have found zero change aside from lack of physical stores and summer bike ride adventures to find a fireball or a proyo.
