I have tried them all! None of them work for me!! Some of them looked so simple. I thought there was no way I can screw that up. There were 2 I thought were foolproof, but still didn’t work. 
Why? 
- What yoyo? Responsive or unresponsive?
- What techniques did you try?
- What happened when you tried each technique? (video for bonus points)
1 Like
I have tried it with the Whip.
Responsive.
The thumb snap. No spin. Just shot wildly out of my hand.
The stomp. No spin. Same result. Shot wildly across the floor.
Tossed it method. No spin.
Then there was one where you let it roll across the floor. I thought that would work, because it would be spinning. Nope!
Gentry Stein suggested one using your 2 fingers. Looked easy. Same problem. 
1 Like
I’m a big fan of snap starts in general, but they take some practice and are a little tricky with responsive. I hold the string somewhat taught with my NTH and snap with my TH trying to get it to pop straight up in the air while I release the string in my NTH.
I’m not a fan of the stomp or tossing it, but if you’ve got a responsive you can try the one where you raise your TH over your head and hold the yoyo directly in front of you with your NHT and let it pop off of your thumb to give it spin. This is in the yotricks video below.
There is also something like the engineer’s windup (kind of like the first in this video).
It sounds like, whatever method you’re going to choose, you need to work on getting it spinning. The engineer’s windup is pretty straightforward since it uses the string to wind itself.
If you want to learn snap starts, I recommend practicing while doing something else, like watching TV, by holding the string about 6 inches above the yoyo with your NTH and just practice snapping to get it to spin with your TH. This way you can just practice the motion over and over until you can get enough spin consistently to try to bind it.
1 Like
That short video isn’t a bad preview of some techniques, but you really have to follow through by finding the actual tutorials that explain the details. In any case, getting the dead yoyo to start spinning is crucial and will probably take some practice regardless of which technique you’re trying to use.
1 Like
I can get it to spin. The problem is it spins horizontally.
The snap start is just hard to get right. I would say try to spin it slowly at first. Like twist it just with your wrist and then when it will spin almost straight, try adding a little thumb motion. Definitely took me a lot of tries to figure it out. And I’ve been snapping for at least 35 years.
1 Like
When I first started I was using a Whip as well and I ended up really liking the Gentry Stein 2 finger you mentioned (in fact I still use it as an unresponsive start). The trick is to find the right balance of tension on the string and to make sure your 2 hands are perfectly lined up. Also make sure both your pointer and middle finger are rolling off the yo-yo at the exact same time. Then, just like any trick, practice practice practice. Hope this helps
2 Likes
The stomping restart I would not recommend, since this gives stress to the yoyo body and can crack the plastic.
I would recommend that you practice this one : https://youtu.be/3lVLTQf0y18
This is the easiest for responsive yoyos and mostly used by 2A players.
Snap starting really takes some time to get down, but you should definitely not lose patience as these techniques are really going to take some time to get down.
Also an important tip for snap starting is to try finding the grip and how to properly position your fingers where you’re comfortable and able to put some power.
2 Likes
I recommend this video by Brandon Vu. Also, do be patient, these tricks aren’t as easy as they look, it will take time for you to learn how to do them.
2 Likes
I had never thought of making that… wait. let me start over. First: I didn’t know that had a name. Second: it makes so much sense (and I had never thought of) to throw the yoyo after only a half a wind. You don’t need a full wind to get the spin strong enough to wind up completely.
3 Likes
bro stick with the finger snap wind.
at first i was like there’s no friggin way i can do this…
but after about a week of just doing that it got easier and easier. now i can snap start a yoyo hard enough to do a combo and bind!
you gotta refuse to wind the yoyo up like a noob and only do snap starts
4 Likes
I’ve never been able to do snap starts. This is what I do.
2 Likes
Ah, Ha!!! Did you see at the start of the video, his yoyo twirled horizontally, then popped him in the face? That’s what mine was doing. I didn’t get hit in the face though.
1 Like
Well, thank you everyone for your support and insight. Last night I was thinking maybe this is God’s way of telling me that I am not yoyo material, and that it’s time to move on.
Glad to know it wasn’t just me, some of these tricks are actually difficult.
All the videos are great, but I have to go with the Brandon Vu video. The others look a little advanced, and after seeing Brandon’s video I see I was doing it wrong. This time I got a small spin out of it. 
1 Like
Oh, that is good to know! I thought I had to generate a full powered spin.
Really glad that you’re getting a small spin and getting better 
This is just the beginning and you’ll be getting better and better 
Don’t give up ! I had the same struggles at the beginning but sticking to it will show crazy results and you just don’t know how that happened 
2 Likes
Hmmm, after some brief playing around, I found I can get half way there with the Engineer Wind Up. 
Gentry’s method comes in second. I got a spin but he wobbled, and didn’t come back up. He will take some practice.
The snap one is going to take a lot of practice.
3 Likes