Just out of curiosity, What motivates/inspires all of you to continue throwing/competing?
I keep throwing and deciding to compete, simply because it’s fun 
My motivation comes from others who enjoy and encourage me to improve and to continue throwing. When I’m not eating, sleeping, going to school, or doing my homework; I’m yoyoing ;D
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My motivation is trick making/ construction because I really love how much you can do with such a simple toy. Also the people too. Love the community
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you can feel yourself improving, sometimes with every throw. and more specifically, the longer you stick with it, what you understand to be “good” yo-yoing seems to come in and out of focus. you start to question what you once assumed was essential, and your “hands” start to understand things while your mind learns to get out of the way. when you hang a lot on it, it can be torture, but those moments where you realize what a simple, pure, and honest thing it really is make it very hard not to keep coming back. it’s weird to feel like i’m the best version of myself while playing with a yo-yo, but i think a lot of people who are drawn to “serious playing” have an experience like that.
“Before I began my study of Zen, I saw mountains as mountains, and waters as waters… When I arrived at a more intimate knowledge, I saw that mountains are not mountains, and waters are not waters… But now that I have got its very substance, I am at rest, and I can see mountains once again as mountains, and waters once again as waters.”
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It is fun, it relaxes me, and the great talent we have in the yoyo community.
It’s not a struggle for me. I just start tossing it around when I have a spare moment, and I get value out of just throwing that yoyo in that moment. I don’t have any plans to innovate or prove myself to anyone. I don’t compete. As long as I’m not showing an audience some tricks, I can literally do the same trick over and over and over again.
I have this one trick in particular that I do pretty much a few dozen times a day. It’s my “idle” trick. It contains a wrist mount, a Superman-like string flip thing, and ends in a GT.
As I do this trick, if I’m mindful of it (sometimes I’m not and I’m just on auto-pilot) I think to myself, “Can I seamlessly and beautifully get into that wrist mount? What is the best way into a wrist mount for this trick to look great? Instant wrist mount? One-handed? Cheese Whip?” and I still haven’t arrived at a conclusion and don’t specifically intend to. But I think about it. And I mostly think things like, “Which of these is proving to be fun today? Sure is fun trying that one-handed wrist mount… maybe I’ll just practice that part for a while…”
When I do the string flippy-thing, sometimes (just like with Superman) it doesn’t really unwind in that flippy dramatic Superman-like way. And I think, “What can I do next time to maximize the appearance of that flip? That flip just looks so cool, I always want it to look that cool! Why is it that when it looks the coolest it also feels the best coming out of the formation?”
Then the yoyo is in the air and it’s going to land in the GT. If the throw was a bit wild and I have to move out of the “normal” zone to catch it, I get a feeling of “Haha, saved that one! Awesome!” If it goes up and comes down perfectly and then the triangle itself is what I consider the optimal GT, it’s like, “BOOM!” (and I don’t care if anyone else is bored of GTs because I love that landing!). Then I try to be mindful of what I did in particular (if anything) to hit such a satisfying GT.
Then I do the trick again. And again. And probably again some more. 
So what keeps me going? Tiny satisfactions and joys, and the feeling that I don’t even have anything to prove to myself. I just get to improve and modify for its own sake. It’s both entirely personal but also without “self”. I suspect it might be a tiny glimpse into Zen.
In short, it’s intrinsic motivation. I have zero external factors guiding my play, so I get to just enjoy it for what it is. A moment of distraction and fun.
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What keeps me going is a number of things:
Relaxation - Work can be stressful and frustrating. I always throw on my break, even if I’m just messing around with tricks I already know. It’s a way of keeping my mind off of things for that brief 15 minutes.
Creativity - I’m no trick innovator by anymeans but I like to try to come up with things I can call “my own” and feel proud of…which leads me into the next section…
Problem Solving - Yoyoing causes me to think and figure things out. Somewhat like solving a puzzle. You may be trying to figure out how to get into a certain mount and then it clicks…then you try to figure out where to go from there.
Of course watching others even if its simple #TrickCircle stuff on Instagram, that’s enough to spark my brain into trying even just a small element out. And lastly but also very important: the community. While I may be a lone thrower here, the community online is what makes me feel less alone in our small corner of the world. I’ve met some friends in person through this site as well as made friends with several I still have yet to actually meet in person but still regularly talk to.
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I throw because it’s a fantastic hobby, but I’d say it’s the really innovative freestyles that keep me “inspired”.
I throw because it just feels good. If I’m bored, it’ll satisfy me for a little while, if I’m learning a new trick, I’ll do it for hours. It’s just so accessible to me. And the feeling of satisfaction when you accidentally make a new trick? It’s awesome. As for what inspires me? Looking up “Abstract” on Giphy should explain it.
I yoyo because unlike juggling, I do not have to stop and pick up multiple things with every fail. Its low impact (usually), and goes well with my aging body. I tried disc golf. but it hurt my arm and fingers, Poi got too popular for me to want to continue.
Its something I cannot lose at, and something that is a constant show of progression. Kinda like chain maille, without the arthritis and carpel tunnel.
I yoyo because it’s fun. I always try to make tricks that i think look cool.
i get insperation from seeing how everyone else is improving.
its easy to get caught up with trying to make new tricks and getting better or getting sponsored, but,
just remember why you started, and yu will have a much more fun and it will be easier to think of new tricks and get insperation.
This is a very hard question to amswer for me. I have been in the game for a year, and every day i live it even more. Its the little thinga, every time you notic the way the string loops, every soumd that bearin makes when your like “cleaning time” what about the look little kids get when yhey ask to try and laugh so hard when they can just pull it behind them. Throwers make an impact, i think thats why i yoyo to make an impact, get more peoplebin the game so theu can find the same peace i can!