Archive for January, 2004

Another name for “Around the Corner”

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Start with a Split Bottom Mount.  Then take your non-yo-yo hand (the left hand for right-handed players) and move it forward and down in a circle that goes under the yo-yo, continues the circle over, and then goes back under the yo-yo again.  Stop your hand underneath the yo-yo.  Now rotate both hands around the yo-yo so that it stays in the same spot.  You are doing Mach 5.

To get out, stop your rotation with your yo-yo hand nearest to your chest.  Bring both hands together, and drop the string off your yo-yo hand (the right hand for right-handed players).  Bring your non-yo-yo hand down and let the yo-yo dismount off the string toward you.

Tips:
- use an unresponsive yo-yo
- throw hard, you will need a lot of spin time for this one.

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Start by learning the Breakaway.  Then learn to do Around the World where the yo-yo stays in front of your body the whole time (the plane of the trick is parallel to your chest).  Now, instead of letting the yo-yo go all the way around, stick your finger out to catch the string and make the yo-yo land back on the string between your hands.

Tips:
-    Try to get your finger as close to the yo-yo as possible when you catch the string.  The more space between the yo-yo and your finger, the harder it will be to catch the yo-yo on the string.
-    This will be easier to learn with an unresponsive, Butterfly-shaped yo-yo, but is possible with just about any yo-yo.

Hold the yo-yo in your hand with your palm up. Make sure that the string goes from your finger to the TOP of the yo-yo. [picture] If the string goes underneath the yo-yo the throw won’t work as well.

On the left: upside-down —— On the right: correct position

Curl your arm up like you’re making a muscle, and then throw the yo-yo straight down, letting it roll off the ends of your fingers.  Your hand should still be palm up. Only after the yo-yo is on its way down toward the ground should you turn your hand palm down so that you can catch the yo-yo when it comes back up.
Tip:
- If the yo-yo stays at the bottom, just give the string a little tug and the yo-yo will come back up. If you’re still having trouble, check out our FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page.

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by Chris Mulhall (aka “Sideshow”)

The start is the same as Double or Nothing, but instead of catching the yo-yo on the string the second time around, you want to sneak it in between the thumb and first finger of your free hand just before you would normally do a double or nothing catch.

Tips:
- Be careful to land the string as far out on your thumb and first finger as possible to make room for the yo-yo.
- At first, it is much easier to do this trick if you rotate your hands so that your free hand is above your dominant hand for the catch.  Besides, that’s the way many real archers pull back their bows anyway.

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Watch the video a bunch of times, then follow the tips.

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Tips:
- Keep your thumb pointing straight out at a 90-degree angle, and pulling back to keep tension on the string.
- Try to hit the string as far out toward the tip of your first finger on your dominant hand as possible. These first two tips together will ensure maximum spread of the strings for the second landing on the string.
- When flipping the yo-yo over your dominant hand it is important that it not go any higher than the tip of your thumb. If the yo-yo goes too high, the string won’t pop off like it’s supposed to.

Start by doing a forward pass upward at about a 45-degree angle with your hand up in the air above shoulder height.  As the yo-yo comes back toward your hand, flick your wrist to push the yo-yo upward and almost vertical (about a 15 degree angle) behind you.  When the yo-yo comes back to your hand again, push it forward into another 45-degree angle forward pass.

Tips:

- Make sure your first throw is up at an angle, not straight out or down
- The first push (when you push the yo-yo up) takes more force than the second push (when the yo-yo is going out).
- Some people find it easiest to keep their wrist locked, and only move their arm back slightly for the first (upward) push, and flick their wrist only for the second (outward) push.
- Unlike with continuous Loops the yo-yo should not flip over when you do Shoot the Moon.  If you use a yo-yo with different color sides the colors should always stay on the same side while you do the trick.

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Same trick as Shoot the Moon, but done with your arm nearly down at your side so that the yo-yo travels at about waist height.

Throw a fast sleeper.  While the yo-yo is spinning down at the end of the string, take the string off your finger and give a good tug.  The yo-yo will start coming back up toward your hand.  Let go of the string just before the yo-yo smacks you in the knuckles, and it will shoot up into the air.  The height that it flies depends on how fast the yo-yo is spinning, and how good your timing is on the release.  This trick will not work with unresponsive yo-yos.

The same beginning as the Throw-down, with three changes:
1) Bring your elbow up above your nose before you throw so you can get maximum power.
2) Keep your wrist really loose
3) Instead of throwing the yo-yo straight down, throw it almost straight out in front of you so that when it reaches the end of the string it swings out behind you. If the yo-yo goes straight down it is more likely to bounce when it hits the end of the string, and that makes it harder to get it to sleep.

Tips:
- You will need to pay attention to String Adjustment, especially if you are using a fixed axle yo-yo. It’s less important with a transaxle yo-yo, but still matters.
- It is much easier to get a transaxle yo-yo to sleep than a fixed axle yo-yo, and they sleep longer too. If you want to get good at tricks that involve long sleepers, you should get a transaxle yo-yo.

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Another name for the Flying Saucer/UFO.

The same trick as regular Stop and Go, but you turn your hands so the yo-yo is on its side before starting it spinning again.  When you pull your hands apart you have an instant Flying Saucer.

This trick looks deceivingly simple. It’s not.  Start with a Trapeze. Then swing the yo-yo sideways toward your dominant hand, let go of the loop of string on your free hand, allow the loop and the yo-yo to swing over your dominant hand, then stick the first finger of your free hand back into the trapeze loop when it swings back around.

Tips:
- First of all you need a very unresponsive yo-yo.  If you try to use a responsive one it will catch and wind back up when you do this trick.
- Be certain that your string is adjusted to be completely neutral.  This trick is nearly impossible if the trapeze loop gets all twisted up on the way around your dominant hand.
- Make sure you have good lighting.  For real.  It’s surprising how much of a difference this makes.  If you can’t see the loop of string well, it will be much harder to catch it on your finger.  Light coming from behind you works well.
- When you swing the yo-yo around your hand, release it so that it flies almost straight up, in a slow, gentle arc.  Follow the yo-yo a little bit with your dominant hand so that you maintain the shape of the loop while it’s in the air, and you aren’t accidentally pulling it closed in transit.
- When first learning, stick all five fingers on your free hand out to improve your chances of catching the string on one of them.  You only have to use your first finger for contests and coolness.
- This is a trick that will benefit from serious repetition, and lots of practice.

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