The Proper Way to Hold a Yo-Yo

Today's blog is focused on the beginner yo-yoer who wants to learn how to correctly hold a yo-yo so that when it is thrown they can achieve their maximum spin time potential. This particular article is taken from a project I've been working on for the past few months in association with the yo-yoing class I teach at my shop in Emmett, Idaho. This is an excerpt from the soon to be published, first installment in a series of books called "Learn to Throw: A Course in Yo-yoing from Beginner to Master". Tentative publishing date is to be the 25th of March 2009. More info on the book series will be published in later blogs, I hope you enjoy this first piece.

"The way you hold and attach your yo-yo to your hand is very important. If you don't attached the slip knot between the first and second knuckle of the middle finger on your throw hand you will lose a lot of your control over it. Putting the slip knot too close to your palm (between the second and third knuckle) will make it more difficult to throw the yo-yo and do the intricate tricks you will be learning later on.

The way the yo-yo is set in your hand is also very important. If the yo-yo is upside down in the palm of your hand, you will not get a lot of control of out it when you throw the yo-yo. The way to know if the yo-yo is right side up in your hand is to look at the string. If the string attached to your finger rolls up along the top of the yo-yo then you are holding it correctly. This way, when you throw the yo-yo, it will roll easily out of your hand down the string, and when it returns it will automatically be facing the correct way if you catch the yo-yo correctly as it winds up. If the string is going across the bottom of the yo-yo (the wrong way to hold it) when you throw it, the yo-yo is likely to flip over, causing it to descend at an angle making it difficult or impossible to return to your hand. The reason for this is simple physics; the yo-yo will try to flip over, wasting much of the energy you have put into the throw. When it flips over, the yo-yo is likely to be spinning at an angle, causing the string to rub against the sides of the hubs of the yo-yo. This will cause it to slow and tilt further, usually resulting in the yo-yo spinning out of control."

I hope you enjoyed the article, if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions regarding today's post please use the comment feature conveniently located beneath this post. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions not relative to this article please email them to me at info@twinepitched.com. I'll do my best to respond to questions by the next blog post. Until next time; keep on throwing!