Your experience with the YYE learning ladder

General Yo-Yo
1

Here are a few questions for anyone who has made (or is making) their way though YYE’s learning ladder of tricks:

  1. What particular yoyos have you used for each stage of the ladder?
  2. Have you gone through the tricks in order? Have you skipped any tricks?
  3. At what degree of proficiency have you been checking tricks off?
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Here are my answers to these questions:

  1. So far I have only just begun the Intermediate stage, and I have been using a YYF Sage the entire time.
  2. I did not do the Beginner tricks in order, mostly because I remembered how to do some of them from when I was a kid. So far I have skipped the “picture tricks”, the Creeper, and Flying Saucer (although I can kinda do Flying Saucer to eliminate string tension when I need to).
  3. I have only been checking tricks off when I can do them with a 99% success rate.
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Honestly, I just skipped this step all together. I went straight to unresponsive, learn how to bind and how to do some basic mounts and then started learning intermediate tricks from there. I pretty much just learn anything that suits my personal taste from the tutorials on this website and tutorials all over YouTube. Like cabin tutorials, mrmatio, eos44, g2alphuh, A-RT Learning experiences and so on.

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Never skip the beginner tricks. They are absolutely foundational to being a well-rounded yoyo player.

Also, don’t look at a trick like ‘Hop the Fence’ and say 'Oh I know that one from when I was a kid." You will be surprised at how difficult some of these are to pull off consistently and smoothly.

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Too late :confused:

At a year and a half in, I guess I’m not a well rounded player.

6

Get yourself a responsive yoyo and go through them slowly.

7

I skipped some at first (looping & picture tricks) but I went back to learn all the beginner & intermediate ones. For most tricks I’m usually satisfied to be able to remember the trick later (and perform it if not competently, at least without dropping the yoyo) but the longer unresponsive tricks I spend a lot more time on, since I play a lot of 1A.

I used a responsive yoyo for all of the beginner tricks, some of the intermediate tricks (stop and go especially) and unresponsive for pretty much everything else. Since I first learned a bunch of these in middle school, picking up the simpler tricks didn’t take too long.

Later I went back to do some of the tougher tricks on a responsive yoyo! That was a lot of fun. I still have a lot of advanced/expert tricks to learn, though.

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(I think you meant to say get yourself a responsive yoyo?)

How did you restrain yourself from recommending a wooden fixed axle in that moment? :rofl: color me impressed!

That said, I definitely agree – having a nice responsive in your kit is a highly recommendable idea.

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I skipped the Creeper because I figure I will practice that as soon as an advanced trick comes along that requires I let the yoyo drag/grind on the ground (I can already do Walk the Dog).

I skipped the string picture tricks mostly because I’m not too interested in them, but I figure I will go back to them if I find a more advanced trick that demands picture skills.

All the other beginner tricks I practiced enough to confirm that I can still do them without fail even though it has been 40 years since I last played with yoyos. I just didn’t practice them in any particular order.

Right now I am focused on mastering side and front mounts. I use Man on the Trapese to reinforce the side mount, and I will use Brain Twister to reinforce the front mount.

10

I think there’s something wrong in believing a trick only has value as long as it supports a more advanced trick.

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Perhaps, but I have to allocate my limited practice time according to some kind of priority. The picture tricks are simply tricks I’m not interested enough in to prioritize them. Since they don’t (yet) figure into advanced tricks that I’m interested in, I think it is perfectly reasonable to skip them (for now). What other value is there in the Beginner tricks that aren’t foundational to something more advanced?

12

Explain to a small child who wants to see you form a star that you don’t bother with those tricks because they don’t support your more advanced tricks.

You’ll make their day.

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13

Picture tricks are just different. No, they don’t directly feed into rancid milk or and whut, but they help when it comes to understanding and being comfortable with more complex string manipulations

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14

I figured as much.

So when I get to “more complex string manipulations,” I will go back and work through the simpler tricks first. But I may never get that far, or bother with tricks with complex string manipulations, so I’m not going to prioritize Jamaican Flag or Eiffel Tower right now.

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Yeah I’m glad you mentioned this Glen because to me, this is how to help keep the industry alive. The “collecting for the sake of helping manufacturers” is fine if that’s what you wanna do, but being able to spread the joy of yo-yos is the real deal.

16

You know, this is painfully obvious. Not sure how I missed it. I think I might go through the trick ladder now, just to have that foundation. I’d like to host a local yoyo class/club in the future, and this may be beneficial to more than just myself.

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My priorities may not be the same as someone else’s priorities. I’m a little taken aback that anyone has a problem with that.

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18

To be fair, you were the one who asked about the trick ladder and then said the trick ladder wasn’t important to you. You didn’t do it as blatantly as I stated it, but you did.

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19

Also some of these basic tricks that are being spoken of, aren’t sport ladder tricks.

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Correct, I just kinda rolled with it since that was the phrase being used :grin: