Thursday, June 24, 2010

String




As yo-yoers we all use it. It plays a much larger part in yo-yoing than most of us might think. String has even made me want to quit yo-yoing more than once. In fact, I just took a week-long break, that ended yesterday, from looping. I just couldn't figure it out. No matter what I did I just couldn't loop as well as I used to be able to. I have been making my own string for over a year. When I started this project I made a new type to help with my looping. It turns out that my week-long break from practicing was caused by laziness to make string.

I finally got around to making more string yesterday. What do you know? I did my best looping of all time when I put those new strings on my Sunsets. It made me think of something I told my brother over a year ago when I was struggling with 1a. "I use a string much longer than most yo-yoers. With time that old string gets nasty and starts playing terribly. I don't want to change it, but I get to the point where I want to quit yo-yoing forever because I am so frustrated with my poor performance during practice. Then, I finally give in to changing the string. When I do, everything feels so perfect and I begin to love yo-yoing more than ever."

I have been using the same string on my yo-yos for too long. It has seriously hampered my practice and even made me want to give up. Never again will I let that happen. I have found that my strings start to lose their playability after an hour. This will be my time limit for playing with a single pair of string (instead of waiting for them to break).

Looping status:

-Inside loops are getting easy and more consistent. Fifty don't seem hard .

-I have started working more on outside loops with both hands separate.

-I just noticed that I have completed all my goals in my first post.

Reader poll:

What string do you use for yo-yoing (looping and other styles can be included) and how often do you change your string? Leave your answers in the comments section below.

3 comments:

  1. I've been using some cotton 9's with great success lately. What kind of thread are you using to make your string?

    I'm pretty lazy too, I hate changing string. I always cut down my string (especially for looping) so there's that extra step. I love how nice looping feels with fresh string though; almost feels like it loops by itself, haha.

    Just thought I'd share my preference for string length. For 1A, I stretch my right hand straight out to the side and the string and yoyo will stretch all the way across to just to the left side of my chest. For looping, the string will stretch to just past the shoulder of my throwhand.

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  2. Honestly, I haven't been using thread to make my looping string. I got desperate so I tried using yarn. I split the length of yarn in half (two strands instead of four) then I twist that, double it over, and twist it back on itself. I originally hoped to use the string for 1a. Unfortunately, it plays really slowly and whips terribly. It loops nicely as far as I can tell which is what counts here.

    As for string length, 34 inches for looping, 41 inches for 1a.

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  3. The nice thing about 2a is that even with old, worn out, about-to-break strings, you can still do all your tricks, minus things such as arm wraps, with little to no problem.

    I'm liking your progress. Starting out barely being able to do a few loops with your dominant hand at MOYO to this. Very impressive.

    As for my 2a strings, I just take one I'm using now (usually before breakage) and lay it next to the new string. I add a little bit of length for the knot and loop and cut it there. Not the most accurate way, but it works.

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