Hello Gentry, and all who read this, I have a question, who or what inspired you to become a yoyoer, for me, My brother was a huge impact on my yoyoing career, I wanted to teach him how to use it. He is my inspiration because he makes me want to become a better person/yoyoer.
First and foremost, welcome to the forum! Good to have you here. 
Watching Jensen’s 2010 WYYC freestyle was what really inspired me to get into the sport. That freestyle sold me on it there and then, it was like a lightbulb just switched on in my head. Love at first bind. ;D
Harold Owens has always been my favorite. Ever since 2010 when I was only kinda sorta into it. (I never really picked up a yoyo til 2012) I came across his videos and freestyles on YouTube. I searched every now and then for new stuff. I’ve also always enjoyed to the narrative of going from state champ to national champ so soon. He really inspired me to throw!
He’s not as active as he used to be. It may have something to do with being a chemistry major in college.
Takeshi Matsuura inspired me to start yoyoing since it was the first pro yoyoer video I ever saw. I was intrgued because of 5A style of play. I thought it was crazy what you could do with it and it amazed me. I never thought of yoyoing like that. Even now, Takeshi’s freestyles continue to amaze me and keep me hooked and also push me to get better. But I guess it all started because of Steve Brown who indirectly inspired me. :
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My brother for bringing me along to a summer yoyo class run by harold and tyler (severance), my brother’s friend for telling my brother about the class, tyler and harold for actually running the class, and julius for teaching me a lot of the medium-advanced stuff at the club I go to every now and then.
This may sound corny or cliché, but everyone is my inspiration! Whoever or whatever their skill level is, I pull inspiration and motivation from whoever that yoyo’s. I started to get into yo-yoing back in 2013, and whenever I see someone yo-yoing, it brings me joy that I know someone else; loves this as much as I do.
As for inspiration in famous players, I’d say Janos Karancz, Hiroyuki Suzuki, Genty Stein, etc. I chose these players because I got into yo-yoing based off of their amazing freestyles; especially Janos’s worlds freestyle in 2013.
I do both 1A and 5A. When I started, my friend, Evan, got me a yoyo for my birthday party I had in 2013 and I started from there. He inspired me with the basic tricks he knew then (and he still does with his wicked combos he does now). Then after a while, I developed a more technical style. Right now, Zach Gormley is my 1A inspiration. I started 5A when I ordered a Metal Drifter and it came with a counterweight. I thought I’d try it and I learned basic tricks like 360, Reverse 360, Umbrella, and Nunchuk. Now, Takeshi is my 5A inspiration. He is an incredible player with incredible tricks. I look to him for ideas in making up tricks. Now if we are not talking about professionals, an inspirational player in 5A would also be Adam Reeder. Some of the tricks he does blow my mind.
i am not a professional yoyo player…
jake bullock, 'phark, mark montgomery, guy wright, houdini, whip, yuuki, shawn fumo, cizrek…
and of course, steve brown.
mgodinez
sunny…
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Initiallly, my friends at my after school got me into yoyoing. All of them were playing with yoyos and I decided to join the fun. After a few months, they all lost interest while I kept on going for a few more months and that was when I kind of lost interest. During 2013 words, Yoyofactory announced that they were doing a new run of the protostar which used to be my favorite yoyo before it broke. Anyways, I picked one up from yoyoexpert and then I was hooked.
Some other things/people that also inspired me:
Grant Johnson’s Stronger Yo-Yo Video- The first ever “yo-yo” video I saw. This was one of the videos that really inspired me to start Yo-Yoing.
YoyoFactory Protostar Promo video with John Ando and Paul Han- Was one of my favorite videos when I first started out. and it featured two of my favorite players John and Paul.
I was inspired by everybody that knew at least 2 tricks.
Because that was 1 more trick than I knew at the time.
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My son is my inspiration. He is 11, and a better thrower than I will ever be. But, throwing gives us the opportunity to talk and learn from each other. We are lucky living so close to Northampton and so many talented pros who share their knowledge and skill so freely.
For me it was a little bit of everything, and it actually all started watching one just doing a sleeper with a Yomega Brain.
As far as modern yoyoing, I’d have to say that after watching a couple “Expert Village” tutorials (Andre’s YYE tutorials) I decided to check out Andre’s yoyoing which gave me the nice kick of inspiration.
Well I always loved yoyos growing up. Never got good as many have gotten but always wished I could link tricks together. Then on one very nice day, my coworker brought in his yoyo and sparked my interest again. Ultimately leading me to buy a metal and practice with that after having no fun with a busted throw he had given me. He and I no longer throw together since he left in a road trip across country but I still think about him every time I throw. Now that I can’t show him new tricks(I take it more seriously than he does), I have everyone here that inspires me to be better. Constantly learning, constantly improving. Constantly moving forward.
I don’t know. I started yoyoing again without any inspiration I just thought its cool and nice.
Then when I started Patrick BORGERDING and zac rubino and shu takada.
I mean zac got me started 4a and shu 2a. And even though I don’t do 3a but still love pat.
I always loved watching Vashek and Paul kerbel do there thing. Then i Found ann Coonelly and i was beyond sold!
a lot of people have inspired me.
when i was starting in yo-yo i looked up to the grandmasters a lot (bill deblah, dale m and dale o, mcbride) for the way they could make yo-yoing look easy. tom kuhn for making yo-yo feel like it could be a way of life. also steve for what he was doing with 5a (and for marketing yo-yoing to feel more like skating) and mark for what he did with 3a. i didn’t actually care much about those styles themselves (never even progressed past the basics) but their approach to innovation was huge. i still try to look at fixed axle that way, just seeing where i can go next.
now i look up to my friends, which is how it works in yo-yoing. guys like takeshi kamisato who can make ANYTHING a skill toy and drew tetz, for whom everything is an extension of his art. guys like higby, who is the consummate performer and guys like andre and red who have ridiculous skill but stay utterly humble.
that’s a preposterously short list, but it’ll have to do. i delight in finding new inspiration every day, which is one of the best things about playing yo-yo.
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Walk the Dog?
Probably sounds like I am a stupid fanboy, but it’s Vashek Kroutil. A year ago when I started unresponsive I knew nothing about it. It led me to the YYE site, and I saw on one of the “sliding panel” things the CZM8 with Vashek Kroutil on it. Clicked on it, looked him up, watched all his videos, and was hooked. He was everything I wanted to be, and I wanted his yoyo. Few months later, dream came true, got his CZM8. A few months later after that (just now in May/April) I got to do one of the best things I have ever done, naming his new signature yoyo, the Czech Point, and getting to talk to him via email. Needless to say I am still hooked.
The first person I saw yoyoing was zach gormley and later eric koloski and eric really inspires me to get better at the sport (and slack too ) 
Guy Wright, Paul Kerbel, Steve Brown, Riccardo Fraolini, Zach Gormley, Harrison Lee, Palli, and Ky Zizan.
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