Alternating Trapeze
Friday, March 28th, 2008Another Steve Brown original.
Another Steve Brown original.
This trick was first seen on the original How To Be A Player video from Duncan.
Similar to Double or Nothing, but this trick has a bucket.

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Inventor: Steve Brown
Video Shot at The National Yo-yo Contest in Chico CA, 2004

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It is absolutely vital that you can do a PROPER bind if you are using an unresponsive yo-yo (which is what you need for new-school tricks). If you don’t do the bind right the yo-yo won’t wind as well, leading to reduced spin time, and you will dramatically increase the chance of getting a tangle when you throw. Tangles lead to yo-yos colliding with your head very hard when you make your next throw. It hurts. Bad. We know from experience. Learn to do the bind right.
Standard: On a regular throwdown you do a reverse bottom-mount, pinch the string with your free hand, and then pull up with your dominant hand. Follow these instructions exactly and you will get a nice wind that won’t tangle.
Side-style (Poyzer Bind): On a trapeze throw you unmount the trapeze, bring the string into the gap, pinch the string with your free hand, and then pull up with your dominant hand. You can also get into the mount by doing a reverse trapeze. It’s all the same in the end, because really both types are the same thing, it’s just that you get into them a little differently.

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Start the same way you would with a trapeze throw, but go around both hands a second time before you catch the yo-yo on the outermost string.
Tips:
- Just like with the Trapeze, get your finger as close to the yo-yo as possible when you go to make the final catch.

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This is not an easy trick and will require a lot of practice, but it’s SO worth it.
Start the same as with the Breakaway, but instead of pulling the yo-yo back to your hand, stick the first finger of your free hand out to catch the string. The yo-yo will flip over your finger and land on the string.
Tips:
- Get your finger as close to the yo-yo as possible when you go to catch the string. The less string there is between your finger and the yo-yo, the less leeway there is for the yo-yo to miss landing on the string.
- A lot of Trans-axle yo-yos can be adjusted to not come back very easily. This is a good idea if you’re worried about the yo-yo hitting your finger.

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One Around The World in each hand. You can do it.
Inside Loops with one hand, and hop the fence with the other. Funniest when you bounce up and down a bit while you do the trick so that it kinds of looks like you are riding a horse.
This is an Around the World done on it’s side. Generally you do the throw over your head, swing the yo-yo around your head, and then bring it down below your waist so that the second orbit is low enough that you can either step over it, or hop over it while you yell, “Yahoo!!!” just like a cowboy.
Two-hand loops done with alternating inside and outside loops with both hands.

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Throw a good, fast Sleeper. Bring your yo-yo hand to your chest and hold your other hand straight out in front of you. Open your non-yo-yo hand so that your fingers are flat, and your fingers and thumb make an “L”. Drape the string over the back of your thumb and fingers, bring your yo-yo hand down and pinch the remaining string about halfway down. Bring your non-yo-yo hand down to be on the bottom, while bringing your yo-yo hand up to be on top. You should now have a triangle of string through which you can swing the yo-yo.
Tips:
- Practice the set up of the cradle without the yo-yo spinning. Just let it dangle down there until you are quick enough making the cradle that you can do the trick with the yo-yo spinning.
- Be sure not to swing the yo-yo around the legs of the cradle or you might get a knot.

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Start as if you are going to do a regular throwdown, but lie the yo-yo down flat in your palm. Throw the yo-yo down and at an angle (about 45 degrees) across your body. Once it gets to the end of the string, quickly move your hand so that it is above the yo-yo, and the string will start to flutter. Now pick up the middle of the string with your free hand and watch the UFO fly.
To get the yo-yo to come back to your hand, pull up on the string in your free hand so that the yo-yo pops ups into the air at about eye level. At the same time bring your yo-yo hand out to the side so that the string makes a straight line from your hand to the yo-yo. If the yo-yo is still spinning fast enough it will wind up sideways and go back to your hand.
Tips:
- You don’t have to pick up the string with your free hand, but the UFO will fly longer if you do.
- Skilled players use this trick to tighten and loosen the yo-yo strings. Just remember “Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosey.” In other words, when you throw the yo-yo to your right the string will tighten, and when you throw it to your left the string will loosen. This is true for both right and left-handed players.
- It will be very difficult, if not impossible, to do this trick with an unresponsive yo-yo.

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5) Inside Loop
The same thing as the Outside Loop, but instead of having the yo-yo go on the outside of your arm, it goes on the inside of your outstretched arm. See how many you can do in a row. Try alternating between Outside and Inside Loops (called the Whirlybird.)
Tips:
- When doing multiple loops in a row, the yo-yo will flip over one half revolution on each loop. If you use a yo-yo with different colors on each side it can help you see when you are doing good loops.
- Continuous Inside Loops with your left hand will tighten the string, and with your right hand will loosen the string. This is a good time to practice the Flying Saucer to untwist your string after working on Loops.

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Don’t forget to change your string often!
- When it’s dirty
- When it’s nasty lookin’
- When it starts to fray
A new string will keep your tricks working well, and keep you from breaking strings and destroying stuff. Compared to the cost of a new window, or the wrath of your parents, spouse, or partner, strings are pretty cheap.
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.
-Â Â Â This will be easier to learn with an unresponsive, Butterfly-shaped yo-yo, but is possible with just about any yo-yo.
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.
Another name for the Flying Saucer/UFO.
This trick is one throw, and then two Inside Loops in a row. The first throw goes up, the second loop goes out, and the third loop should go as close to straight down as possible. Usually, in a contest, the third one is counted if it stays within the trick square. So since the tendency is for the last throw to go out a bit, you should just make sure that you are standing back on the far corner of the trick square to give yourself as much room as possible.
Tips:
- The whole secret of the last loop is moving your hand REALLY quickly IN and DOWN to guide that last loop straight down.
Normal Around The World (start w/a Froward Pass motion, so that the yo-yo starts in front, and swings around behind you), when the yo-yo comes back around to the front at about chest height, tug on the string so the yo-yo comes back, then regenerate (with a Hop The Fence type motion) into an Around The World in the other direction.
Lean back and do your magic just like the name of the trick says.
See Laceration. Invented by Spencer Berry.
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.
-Â Â Â This will be easier to learn with an unresponsive, Butterfly-shaped yo-yo, but is possible with just about any yo-yo.
Start as if you are going to do a regular throwdown, but lie the yo-yo down flat in your palm. Throw the yo-yo down and at an angle (about 45 degrees) across your body. Once it gets to the end of the string, quickly move your hand so that it is above the yo-yo, and the string will start to flutter. Now pick up the middle of the string with your free hand and watch the UFO fly.
To get the yo-yo to come back to your hand, pull up on the string in your free hand so that the yo-yo pops ups into the air at about eye level. At the same time bring your yo-yo hand out to the side so that the string makes a straight line from your hand to the yo-yo. If the yo-yo is still spinning fast enough it will wind up sideways and go back to your hand.
Tips:
- You don’t have to pick up the string with your free hand, but the UFO will fly longer if you do.
- Skilled players use this trick to tighten and loosen the yo-yo strings. Just remember “Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosey.” In other words, when you throw the yo-yo to your right the string will tighten, and when you throw it to your left the string will loosen. This is true for both right and left-handed players.
- It will be very difficult, if not impossible, to do this trick with an unresponsive yo-yo.

Click Here to View the QuickTime Movie
Normal Around The World (start w/a Froward Pass motion, so that the yo-yo starts in front, and swings around behind you), when the yo-yo comes back around to the front at about chest height, tug on the string so the yo-yo comes back, then regenerate (with an Inside Loop) into another Around The World in the same direction.