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?