Three comments, which you can take or ignore as you please:
Yes, a centering bearing in a One Drop transforms it utterly if you are a beginner. This has become such a common experience that deniers have a very hard job convincing me otherwise.
Yes, you will want to get a centering bearing for every One Drop you buy. It’s what I do and it doesn’t bother me in the least. The results are worth it.
I regard lubing as completely optional. In fact, I run my bearings dry as a general rule. Except for responsive yoyos where thick lube is necessary for keeping them responsive.
I think, and again this is totally baseless personal opinion (man all these PC comments lol).
I think that as an uber noob like myself, or a normal noob like @twitch77, or a graduate intermediate player like yourself @zslane who hasn’t quite got string efficiency, plane management ingrained into muscle memory yet, the difference takes much more of a noticeable effect as it negates some of your mistakes for you.
I am sure it’s not helpful in the long run, but that is why I bought the Neo to help me practice on a responsive flat & slim bearing.
The nay-sayers, probably more experienced as well naturally do the job the centering bearing does automatically by themselves so the benefits or effects they provide ceases to exist much and then I can see where the negligible difference comes from.
Regardless, for me I tried both just over 2 hours in the 10 ball config and about an hour in the DS bearing config and then a little going back and forth and it makes a huge difference for me personally.
I think the 10 ball is going to live in a nice ziplock bag home for a while until I “git gud” or I sell the VTWO.
Regardless, I don’t see me using the 10 ball bearing again for a long time, but it’s always good to have spare bearings anyway.
I see that @AndreBoulay posted that he is getting more stock of DS platinums, I think I will grab a couple to keep in my yoyo bag.
I think it depends on your goals. If your aim is to become competitive, then you’ll definitely want to switch to flats at some point to train in Hard Mode, as it were, but then back to centering again when you actually compete (virtually all competitors use centering bearings).
If your goal is just to learn new tricks and have fun doing so, without worrying all that much about how perfect your technique is, then maybe you don’t need to put Hard Mode on your to-do list.
I plan to switch to Hard Mode at some point in order to clean up my technique. However, I’m not in a huge hurry to do so and keeping the centering bearings on as “training wheels” is what I’m going to do for the foreseeable future.
As with all things, proceed at your own pace, and according to your own temperament and goals.
True, you make excellent point.
I’m sure no one that I intend to perform infront of whether it’s just to show off, or to interact or to just play in public for my own amusement, is going to come up to me, ask to see my yoyo and be like man, that’s cheating you suck. lol
I guess if changing the bearing is working for me, not need to sweat it and worry about having to change back again in the future. 10 ball bearing is going in my need to keep in case of sale baggie along with bearing shields, and boxes they came in
Oh no! lol…I bet your heart skipped a few beats!
I’m SO glad no dings or scratches came of this!
haha at this point I’ve given up.
I was super excited to get a Duncan Mayhem. Within the first 5 minutes after getting it, I smacked it into the ground.
My favorite throw…my G2 AL7 Banshee…got it’s first ding about a month ago lol. It actually didn’t bug me too badly somehow! It’s like I no longer have to ‘baby’ it so much anymore trying to keep it in mint’ish condition. I can play it harder now.
Luckily the yos I’ve dinged up all still play really well and some how none of the ground smashing I’ve done has caused any of them to vibe.
I believe that if I don’t want one of my yos to get scratched or dinged…I shouldn’t play it. Dings happen lol. (I do have a few throws in my collection I don’t throw for this reason).
Absolutely the same experience I’ve had switching out the flat bearing with centering bearings in my One Drop Legendary Terrarian and Kuntosh 5000QV.
That’s pretty awesome! It’s very nice to have a bunch of good quality strings! A couple of members on these forums have spoiled the heck out of me and have sent me some dang nice strings.
This!
This too!
You seem to be really hard on yourself @MoonageMin. But when I think about it, I’m not so sure that’s a bad thing.
I don’t push myself very hard in this hobby…so my progress is super slow. Maybe with you pushing yourself so hard and being hard on yourself…you’ll progress at a much quicker pace and become a better player.
I wish I pushed myself harder.
The fear here though is burnout. You seem a lot like me in that you seem like you jump head first into new things and invest a ton of energy and enthusiasm into them. I’d hate for you to keep beating yourself up and being so hard on yourself that it prevents you from just relaxing and having fun in the ‘moment’ with this hobby.
I read that as “You seem a lot like me in that you seem like you jump head first into new things and invest a ton of money into them.”
Thanks @twitch77 I enjoyed reading all your additional thoughts in line with my comments.
Yeah I just like getting better and get enjoyment out of it
I do tend to push myself quite a bit in most things I take on, not just yoyos.
But I am having fun!
I throw when the spirit moves me, which means I don’t play for hours and hours a day like some people do. Progress is pretty slow, but I know myself well enough to know that pushing myself to play when I’m not really in the mood won’t help.
I keep myself engaged in the hobby other ways though. Participating in this forum, for instance. And curating my growing collection. It’s all part of the hobby!
That’s probably a good thing! It helps you excel and become excellent :D. People can’t reach greatness without pushing themselves!
It’s going to be awesome seeing your progress over the months!
lol /sigh (inside joke!) I mine as well set up a tent on YYE’s forum’s back lawn for as much time as I spend here! >.<’ If I spent like 1/20th of the amount of time yoing as I spend here…I’d be a pro by now!
If it is the VTWO cutting strings then just rub the catch zone with soft denim a bit and you shouldn’t have any more problems. If it’s the string and you never want to have a string break then switch to Airetic’s or One Drop Long Cuts!
my bad 
. But when I think about it, I’m not so sure that’s a bad thing.
(inside joke!) I mine as well set up a tent on YYE’s forum’s back lawn for as much time as I spend here! >.<’ If I spent like 1/20th of the amount of time yoing as I spend here…I’d be a pro by now! 
