Next In Line Please – Creative Ways To Practice

When you finally push past that awkward stage of yo-yoing, where you barely understand how to throw it and landing a trick is more painful than a root canal, you may find yourself at a point where you never want to put the yoyo down. I’ve been there and at times I still feel as though I am. If by chance my hand was bitten off by a crocodile with a clock in its stomach, I think would I opt to replace my hand with a permanent yoyo rather than a hook.

The only downside to this quaint addiction is that, at times, you may feel as though you never quite get to practice enough. The solution? Be creative!

One of my favorite places to yoyo is standing in line at a store waiting to checkout. What makes this so perfect is that you’re constrained by utter boredom. So, why not pass the time by throwing down your beloved yoyo and showing off your illustrious skills. Just keep in mind that when you hear the cashier (and other customers in line behind you) bellow out that your next, don’t keep them waiting.

I have found myself getting in little amounts of practice in a variety of places besides checkout lines: elevators, in school going from class to class, and even sitting on a bus.

Where have found yourself practicing? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Yo-yoing by the numbers

Most of the time yo-yoing is great fun, but every now and then you will come across a trick that turns your delight into fury; a trick that is so difficult for you to master that you find yourself yelling viscous threats at an inanimate objects that can neither hear your words nor respond to your wrath; yes, I am speaking of those tricks that reduce you to a seething, nearly inarticulate halfwit shouting intimidation at senseless metal and plastic that can no more feel intimidation than comprehend the pain you are threatening.

Don’t fret when those tricks come your way. Help is here. I suggest you yo-yo by the numbers.

Yo-yoing by the numbers means that you set goals for yourself: numeric goals. Today I will catch the yo-yo on the Trapeze 5 times. Numbers are nice because they give you a sense of accomplishment without demanding that you perfect the trick… and they keep you working on your more difficult skills. Today I will do 100 loops. Do those loops have to be pretty? Do they have to be sequential? No and no. If you can only do one loop at a time then do one loop 100 times. Trust me, your skills will improve.

I frequently use this technique to teach my left-hand yo-yo tricks. 60 outside loops left-handed. They may be the ugliest loops I have ever seen but that’s not the point. I’m not trying to perfect the trick, I’m just trying to reach a number. And who can get mad at a number? Just about the time my body begins to writhe in frustration I hit my goal and all is right with the world again. I put away that trick for the day and work on something  easier.

Give it a shot and let us know how it goes.

Teaching Tricks

I have found that one of the best ways to get better at your tricks is to teach them to somebody else. This process forces you you slow down and consider all the different steps in a trick. I have often found myself explaining a trick to a friend only to discover that there is a portion of the trick that I can improve upon myself. It is also not uncommon for my friend to suggest a tweak that significantly improves upon the trick.

All that to say: don’t learn in a vacuum. Be willing and patient to train others in the path of yo and you will soon find yourself improving faster than you ever thought possible.

How often do you practice?

As a yo-yoer you learn to endure certain questions from the non-yoing members of society. How long have you been doing that? What’s your hardest trick? Is that a trick yo-yo? It’s not that I am annoyed by these questions, I know these are just attempts at polite conversation, but it is nice to get away from the yo-yo illiterate and surround myself with people who appreciate a good trick and who won’t ask if I can walk the dog. I am sure that you too will find that while other yo-yoers will not be as impressed by your skill as the ignorant masses at least you have the comfort of knowing they won’t call you a show-off or jealously assert “you must have a lot of time on your hands.”

At the same time, even though I know how repetitive certain questions can be there is still one that I continue to ask most yo-yoers I meet. How often do you practice? I like this question because it helps me gauge how seriously they take the sport. If they say, “I don’t know, maybe once a week,” I know that they see yo-yoing as a nice distraction from the rest of life. If they say, “I yo-yo whenever I find myself getting bored,” I know they keep their yo-yo with them at all times. If they say, “At least two-hours every day, usually more,” I know that I need to find a casual and discreet way to break their arm because they will soon be better than me.

For my part I find myself practicing about an hour a day, usually in the evening after dinner. This helps keep my skills advancing and allows me to relax as the day winds down. How about you? How often do you practice?