Back into yoing after a looong absence, and some of the terms I’ve seen I think I’m clear on, but not 100% sure.
One of them is “stable”. To me, partly based on how I’ve always seen the word, and partly how I’ve seen it used here, it seems to refer to a yoyo that is better at not tilting or leaning when doing tricks. For example, I’m learning Boingy-Boingy, and my just-received PHENOMizm clearly maintains its position better than some of my other throws, and on a series of string tricks it stays straight and steady very well.
Is this correct? Or, partly correct (it could have another meaning, as well)? Incorrect?
Also, do throws that are stable generally have more weight in the center than throws that are not as stable, or are there other factors involved?
I would say you have the first part right- the part about the yoyo tilting.
The second part I think you’re getting a little confused on. I believe the more stable yoyos have more rim weight, not center weight. Yoyos that have more center weight tend to be a little more unstable, like the 888x for example. They aren’t necessarily bad yoyos, some of them can be quite awesome actually. When you have more center weight in the yoyo, you get a floatier feel. When you have more rim weight, it’s more stable. That’s why so many manufacturer’s are trying to dial in the perfect amount of stability topped off with the perfect amount of floatiness. A good combination of these two can make the yoyo freaking awesome… Some people like to call it a “sweet spot.” I believe alot of the more recently General Yos have this “sweet spot.” Especially the ‘Prestige’… that yoyo is an absolute masterpiece.
I hope I answered your question. If you have any more or want anything cleared up just ask.
To me, as long as a yoyo stays spinning on its axis(even being off from parallel to the ground) and maintains this axis, I can call the yoyo stable.
Some yoyos will hold off-axis spinning very well, some don’t. Some want to hit that parallel position and will sort of correct themselves a bit.
If the yoyo is designed properly, it should be stable. This includes center-heavy yoyos and rim-heavy yoyos. If the yoyo is thrown properly, that will also contribute to the stability, as something has to start the yoyo into play and/or motion. A poor throw of a stable yoyo presents an unstable situation.
Yoyos that can be easily knocked not only off the parallel plane, but then tend to start to vibe and/or wobble tend to be yoyos most people will consider not as stable. I find this to be mostly a user issue. A bad hit is going to knock things out a bit. I don’t play the cleanest in the world so if the string hits more inner-rim, well, it can knock things out of alignment a bit. Smaller yoyos and yoyos that are more center-weighted, as well as light-weight yoyos tend to have these issues crop up more. It’s not a design flaw, it’s just how they will naturally respond to not so ideal play.
That’s my take on it. For me, I can correct tilted yoyos in play. I need a yoyo that can take a couple of bad landings or two before it starts to get super hard to play before it starts to get unstable due to slow speeds or excessively bad string hits. Being able to have the opportunity to correct the tilt gives me more play time per throw.
I gather that a slight amount of it is also down to the amount of weight used.
For example, my 7075 Supernova (68g or so) is slightly (but discernably) more stable than my Supernova Lite (63g), despite the fact that they have the exact same design. The DreadnaughtG (79g) was an absolute stability monster…
Ever chuck around a Superwide? I won’t claim to know the physics, but my experience is that wider yoyos are indeed more stable than narrower yoyos of a similar diameter. I can only suspect that if I look up everything to do with gyroscopic effect, the width will factor in.
Other than enabling a large catch zone, why else are yoyos getting progressively wider? There’s only “So” big a catch zone needs to be; I suspect the width creep is due to the demand for stability.
It still applies, just not as much. In the widths we’re generally talking about, diameter is generally the biggest factor (With noted exceptions of course).
I don’t have a SuperWide, but I do have the Aoda Miracle, and a few other yoyos in the super-wide category.
What I will say is that at first, the super-wide stuff tends to be more unstable. This is due to the user having to compensate their throw to accommodate a wider yoyo. Once this is over-come, I don’t find these yoyos to be any more or less stable to me than a regular width counter-part. I’m not de-bunking what you’re saying, I’m just reporting my experiences. Maybe my play is just too darn sloppy, and I would not exclude that as a real possibility.
I think the super-wide design was a short term solution to finding a more stable horizontal playing platform. Now, we’ve discovered how to weight and shape the yoyo to make it more compatible with horizontal play. Even so, I think the super-wide stuff should stick around as I think they are not only great learning yoyos to give you a wider target area, but can also be killer performers.
It’s way harder to get a smooth throw on the superwides. The way you need to throw ends up in a wobbly mess until you get the knack of it.
But if we’re talking experience, my experience with the Superwide was that it was absolutely insane in terms of stability. I can’t remember if I ever tried a gyro flop with it, but for hopping around, it was almost preternatural. I’m surprised you didn’t have the same experience, but on the other hand you have lots of high-end yoyos that probably pack as much (or more) stability into a narrower package. At the time I owned the Superwide, it was easily the most stable yoyo in my box.
But in any event, a lot of that is still comparing apples to oranges. The only real way to know for sure is to come up with the physics (I don’t know how to begin researching it and I have to admit, I’m not inclined to!) or to compare a normal and “superwide” version of the same yoyo (same weight distributions, diameter, etc; but different widths).
I won’t claim to know the physics, but my experience is that wider yoyos are indeed more stable than narrower yoyos of a similar diameter. I can only suspect that if I look up everything to do with gyroscopic effect, the width will factor in.