I haven’t thrown my One Drop Fat Tire in awhile. I picked it up tonight and was throwing it for awhile and was surprised that I could manage it with so much ease. The fat flat rims and narrower-than-the-usual catch zone always made it kinda tricky for me. Yay, for me! My plane keeping has indeed been improving!
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I know I’m getting better in certain tricks when I can do them smoothly with my plastic throws.
The fat tire looks great!
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I know my skills are growing when I can undo a knot before I run out of spin
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I am less sloppy when using my Phidias.
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When you are no longer concerned with getting better…
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you haven’t dinged your yoyo as often
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Ehh?
I don’t know, I’ve found being concerned about getting better to be my main motivator.
I mean, I can understand just how chilling and not worrying about how good you are can be a good thing to do (especially if you don’t compete), but looking back at old videos of mine to see progress, looking at people who are better than me and using them as motivation, these are a few things that help me improve a LOT.
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Getting better or improving…whatever someone wants to call it… I do not concern myself with getting better to the point of stressing myself out but through practice I see myself getting smoother and that makes me happy.
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I think it depends on your perspective (and certainly, your motivations).
Better compared to… what? when? whom?
I’m a firm believer that my “best” experience of yo-yoing comes when I am giving myself over to the moment. So when I say I prefer not to be “concerned with getting better”, I mean detaching myself from an evaluative or acquisitive mindset. For sure I chase tricks or ideas, and for sure I try to develop new skills. But above all, my intention is to PLAY - and I’m not able to do that and be “concerned” with the state of my progress at the same time.
Getting “better” for me is getting out of my own way, in the sense that the objective yardsticks, trick lists, perceived opinions, and self-imposed mile markers vanish. That feeling - and not some comparison with others OR between my skill yesterday, today, and tomorrow - is what has kept me coming back to the well every day for so many years. Learning to be motivated and fulfilled by one’s experience of the present moment IS, itself a skill which can be developed - a “trick” one can “hit”, so to speak.
But I assure you, I’ve never insisted or expected that what I value in yo-yoing appeal or apply to anyone else.
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you don’t get hit in the face while trying to be shu takada
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limitations feel like creative possibilities.
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I had no idea that declaring I noticed an improvement in my throwing would result in such a thoroughly inaccurate assessment of my approach to playing with yoyos as well as an insinuation that my mindset regarding playing with yoyos is incorrect.
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I wasn’t referring to anything regarding your post. Just trying to clarify what I meant. I think it’s great what you posted and literally none of what I was trying to say about how I feel about the idea of “better” is in reference to what you said makes you happy.
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Ooookay. Sorry. I don’t think anyone here puts that kind of pressure on themself but one day a person that does will read your post and chill out. I haven’t looked at a trick list / ladder since 2018 because those lists feel like school work and too much pressure to me. I just try to do things that I think look cool and feel fun to do.
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That is cool. I remember when I had picked up my old OG PopStar after not playing it for quite some time. I was amazed at how much better that yoyo had gotten from sitting in the case 
For me, i find it most rewarding when one of two things happen - I catch myself just zoning out and “exploring” as I’m playing or, when I pick up that PopStar or Zeeray slimline and just feel smooth hitting whatever tricks I feel like throwing.
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I can relate to that! I feel I do my best exploring outside when I walk with the cat near the woods. I think the fresh air clears my mind and I am better able to experiment and think outside the box. Yes, I too find my yoyos improve after sitting for awhile. Magic! I love the moments where my improvements become obvious and I am able to do an element smoothly that a year ago seemed flat out impossible. Now I know no element is impossible, it will just take a while to click and I’m fine with that. I think all of us know that patience pays off.
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When I don’t hurt myself in the process. \o/
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I’m happy when I get to the point I can do a trick with my mouth closed.
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the only time you hit yourself on the head is to head grind on purpose
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Kurt Russell stops saying, “Again”
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