As a beginner / intermediate player, I think it would be nice to have a place here where players can post what new trick they have learned and, especially, what tricky thing they might have missed before.
Sometimes things just don’t work out and you wonder what the problem is, what am I doing wrong? And then there’s the great satisfaction when you finally crack the knot and everything flows smoothly.
Today, I finally learned “Split the Atom” and one thing that flew under my radar for way too long is that when you throw the sleeper (in general? but especially with this trick), the string should best run over the top of the index finger, not in the middle or all the way down, otherwise, you might run into trouble.
Although I’m still relatively slow with the trick and my finish could definitely be better, I’ve got the basic principle down now. Of course, anyone is free to correct me if I’ve misunderstood anything.
Some people might argue that the closer to the palm is okay and they do it like that. Those people are wrong though. The more advanced your tricks get, the more problems arise from having the slipknot so close to the palm.
Also in terms of where the string lays after the throw, it’s really trick dependent. The photo that you labeled super bad is often the best place to have the string because you can create extra space for mounts by gripping the string like this—
I started this new 3a trick yesterday, razor leaf, and did what I thought was correct. Turns out I glazed over the tutorial and haven’t been doing the trick right! so my bit of advice is to always go back and double check the tutorial to make sure you’re doing the trick correctly.
Thank you! Ah, I didn’t know that, very interesting! I’ve rarely paid attention to where my rope runs so far. Yes, it sounds plausible that it depends on the tricks.
Yes, I have occasionally also had the loop at the front, like you in the photo, it really feels like you have more control and precision. The loop further back towards the palm of the hand, however, is a habit for me, which I have to unlearn first.
You’ll get there! Picture a chopsticks move between TH thumb and middle. That position of the slipknot on the finger allows less room to catch the Yoyo. It’s better that you adjust now than waiting until you are even more comfortable with how you have it. Good luck!
The “Split the Atom” trick came much easier to me. I didn’t understand for quite some time how exactly the “Barrel Rolls” movement works. It was as if there was a block in my brain that resisted the correct movement. I can’t say exactly what I learned when it finally clicked. But it was definitely only through the video by Gentri Stein. Maybe it was the directness and simplicity that helped me understand the trick.
It was also funny, after I had just learned “Barrel Rolls”, I couldn’t perform a “Split the Atom” anymore and when I could do “Split the Atom” again, I had briefly forgotten “Barrel Rolls” again.
Recently learned Kwyjibo, and the first hop had me hung up for a bit. Turns out when you cross your hands, you have to lower your opposite hand in a sort of circular motion, so the string coming off the yoyo stays taught, and your yoyo hand index finger can hit the string coming off the yoyo. Otherwise, you end up in some weird backspin inverted trapeze that doesn’t work.
Watching the demonstration part of tutorials in 0.25x speed and analyzing their hand movements repeatedly helps a lot.
Kwyjibo looks really cool and seems doable for my level. Thanks for posting your insights; I guess it will make it easier for me and for others trying to learn that!
Today, I’m done learning Cold Fusion. I think it will take me much more practice to do it at a decent speed, but I think I have the basic movements down now.
I can’t really think of a specific insight with this trick. Maybe just keep in mind that the position where you land the yoyo at the beginning with the Double or Nothing affects the string length and yoyo position on the string in the next steps, when you hit that string while bringing the yoyo to the other side.
If your Double or Nothing is too narrow, it will hang too low.
There is a notification that this is your first post! Welcome!
(I’m new here myself, just joined a few weeks ago.)
Over the past months, I haven’t had much time for yoyoing. We’ve moved, and I ended up with back pain so bad that I couldn’t play at all for a few weeks.
This combo took me at least 2 months to learn, probably longer than it would have under normal circumstances. At times, it almost felt like work, struggling with this combo… especially when I just couldn’t nail the ending… I kept getting knots in the string every time I exited the Green Triangle…
But actually, dismounting from the GT is easier than it looks; you just have to bring the yoyo outside sideways through the triangle.
All those knots I got while learning this trick were annoying, but finally cracking it felt great.
At the beginning, the thumb undercut was such an unusual movement for my hand (and my brain) that most of the time, I already failed with it.
The takeaway here is simple: don’t give up and believe in the fact, that soon what you thought was impossible, will feel super normal and natural. Believe in yourself.
I’ll try to upload a video soon. I can do the trick now, but it still doesn’t look dynamic or smooth… but now that I’m past the mistakes leading to knots, I can work on that.
The great thing about this combo for practice is that you can start in the middle with the Man on the Flying Trapeze. So, it breaks down into two parts that are easy to practice separately.
so my bit of advice is to always go back and double check the tutorial to make sure you’re doing the trick correctly.
