Yo-yo
A yo-yo (also spelled yoyo) is a toy consisting of an axle connected to two disks, and a string looped around the axle, similar to a spool. It is an ancient toy with proof of existence since 440 BC. The yo-yo was also called a bandalore in the 17th century.
This article is about the toy. For other uses, see Yo-yo (disambiguation).Availability
440 BC – present
It is played by holding the free end of the string known as the handle (by inserting one finger—usually the middle or ring finger—into a slip knot), allowing gravity (or the force of a throw and gravity) to spin the yo-yo and unwind the string (similar to how a pullstring works). The player then allows the yo-yo to wind itself back to the player's hand, exploiting its spin (and the associated rotational energy). This is often called "yo-yoing" or "playing yo-yo".
In the simplest play, the string is intended to be wound on the spool by hand; the yo-yo is thrown downward, hits the end of the string then winds up the string toward the hand, and finally the yo-yo is grabbed, ready to be thrown again. One of the most basic tricks is called the sleeper, where the yo-yo spins at the end of the string for a noticeable amount of time before returning to the hand.
Techniques[edit]
Sleeping[edit]
The sleeper is one of the most common yo-yo throws and is the basis for nearly all yo-yo throws other than looping. Keeping a yo-yo spinning while remaining at the end of its uncoiled string is known as sleeping. While the yo-yo is in the "sleeping" state at the end of the string, one can then execute tricks like "walk the dog", "the elevator", "around the world", or the slightly more complex "rock the baby".
The essence of the throw is that one throws the yo-yo with a very pronounced wrist action so that when the yo-yo reaches the end of the string it spins in place rather than rolling back up the string to the thrower's hand. Most modern yo-yos have a transaxle or ball bearing to assist this, but if it is a fixed axle yo-yo, the tension must be loose enough to allow this. The two main ways to do this are (1), allow the yo-yo to sit at the bottom of the string to unwind, or (2) perform lariat or UFO to loosen the tension. When one decides to end the "sleeping" state, one merely jerks the wrist and the yo-yo "catches" the string and rolls back up to the hand. Ball-bearing yo-yos with a "butterfly" shape, primarily used for string tricks, frequently have a low response or are completely unresponsive, requiring a "bind" for the yo-yo to return.
In competition, mastery of sleeping is the basis for the 1A division. Inexpensive fixed-axle yo-yos usually spin between 10 and 20 seconds, while the expensive ball bearing yo-yos can spin about 1–4 minutes depending on the throw.[22] As of 2010, the world record sleep times were 3:51.54 minutes for fixed-axle and 21:15.17 minutes for transaxle yo-yos.[23] In 2012, the transaxle yo-yo sleep time record was broken by the C3YoyoDesign BTH, with a time of 30:28.30 minutes.[24] A traditional sleeper throw is employed to start frontstyle combinations, whereas a sideways sleeper, or "breakaway" is used to start sidestyle combinations.
Mounts, transitions, and dismounts[edit]
Yo-yo tricks in which the yo-yo comes to be sitting a string are called mounts. Transitions are employed to move from one mount to another. Frontstyle mounts include the under and over mounts, as well as the split bottom mount. Sidestyle mounts include the man on the flying trapeze. Combinations can be produced by transitioning from one mount to another in various ways.[25]
Combinations which can repeat indefinitely are called "repeaters".[26]
Loops and Regens[edit]
Loops are yoyo tricks that consist of the yoyo looping around the throw hand.
A certain class of looping tricks, regens, are tricks that add spin to a yoyo without having to return it to the throwing hand. Because regens switch between frontstyle and sidestyle, they are frequently used to transition between frontstyle and sidestyle combinations.[27]
Yo-yo notation[edit]
Several methods of notating yo-yo tricks have been formulated, including a system described Mark Mcbride in his work about yo-yo theory, the Yonomicon.[29] This system is similar to Ross Levine's "Modern Yoyo Notation".[30] Modern yo-yo notation is designed to be ambidextrous, further eschewing terms like "clockwise" and "counterclockwise".
Styles[edit]
Unresponsive (1A)[edit]
Eventually, wider string gaps and silicone response systems led to the innovation of unresponsive yoyoing, otherwise known as 1A. Traditional yoyos (responsive) would return to the hand when one would tug on the string, but unresponsive yoyos behave a little differently. Instead of returning to the hand when one tugs on the string, one has to perform a trick called a "bind" where the string is doubled over inside the string gap to increase friction on the response system. This has brought about innovation of many different kinds of tricks involving leaving slack in the string, as this would have caused a responsive yoyo to return to the hand. This style of yoyoing is the most popular and the most common, and the most yoyo tricks are done with 1A yoyos.
Looping (2A)[edit]
Looping is a yo-yo technique which emphasizes keeping the body of two yo-yos, one on each hand, in constant motion, with or without sleeping.[31]
Yo-yos optimized for looping have weight concentrated in their centers so they may easily rotate about the string's axis without their mass contributing to resistance due to a gyroscopic effect.
In yo-yo competitions, looping both to the inside and outside of the hand with the yo-yo plays a strong role in the 2A division. Sometimes the yoyos would wrap around arms, legs, or necks.
Also known as two hands looping freestyle.
Two handed string tricks (3A)[edit]
Two handed or 3A style play involves doing string tricks with two flared bearing yo-yos. Popularized and pioneered by Mark McBride, the first modern Triple A trick appeared in Fiend Magazine and was called the Velvet Rolls. The different mounts in this style are referred to as houses (e.g. "Kink House").
Photos from as early as the late 1950s show early yo-yo demonstrators performing very basic 3A tricks, such as a Sleeper with one hand, and a Trapeze with the other. While 3A as a concept has existed for many years, it was not until the debut of Velvet Rolls, coupled with the rise of unresponsive yoyo play, that development began on what is currently considered Triple A. This is the most complex style and is the most likely to obtain knots, dings, and clangs.
In competition, two handed string tricks have the 3A division.
Off-string (4A)[edit]
In the "off-string" technique, the yo-yo's string is not tied directly to the yo-yo's axle, and the yo-yo is usually launched into the air by performing a "forward pass" to be caught again on the string. However, some players can 'throw down' off-string yo-yos and catch it on the string just as it leaves the end of the string by pivoting the string around a finger as it unwinds, so that the yo-yo is caught on the string. This is exactly the opposite of a "forward pass", but with the same result.
Yo-yos optimized for off-string tricks have flared designs, like the butterfly shape, which makes it easier to land on the string, and often have soft rubber rings on the edges, so minimum damage is inflicted on the yo-yo, the player, or anyone who happens to be standing nearby, should a trick go wrong. There are also tricks which involve the use of two off-string yoyos at the same time, thrown with the same hand, this is known as "soloham".
Yo-yo competitions have the 4A division for off-string tricks.
Freehand (5A)[edit]
In freehand tricks, the yo-yo's string is not tied to the player's hand, instead ending in a counterweight. The counterweight is then thrown from hand to hand and used as an additional element in the trick.
Developed in 1999 by Steve Brown, as of 2008 freehand is considered to be the fastest-growing style of yo-yo play. Steve Brown was awarded a patent on his freehand yo-yo system, which was assigned to Flambeau Products (Duncan's parent company). Duncan patented the counterweight, and no one was able to design a unique weight.[32] However, since March 28, 2020, the patent has expired.
In yo-yo competitions, counterweight yo-yos are emphasized in the 5A division.
Modern Responsive (0A)[edit]
Modern responsive yo-yo can be thought of as 2A with a single yoyo, but differs from 2A in the fact that it, like 1A, has access to tricks involving the use of the free hand. Unlike 1A, modern responsive deliberately abstains from tricks that involve sleeping, frequently replacing mounts with stalls.[33][34]
Physical mechanism[edit]
When the yo-yo is first released, the gravity (and the throw) give it translational kinetic energy and necessarily, since the string must unwind, much of this energy is converted into rotational kinetic energy establishing the free movement of the yo-yo, and causing it to spin rapidly. As the yo-yo unwinds downward, it also converts potential energy from gravity to translational energy in its rotation to overcome gravity all the way back up to the hand.
Because the sense of spinning does not change during the whole move, the string winds up in the opposite direction upon the return of the yo-yo. If the shaft of the yo-yo is connected to the string with a loop, there may not be enough frictional force to overcome the weight of the yo-yo, which is necessary to begin winding up the string. In this case, the yo-yo will continue to spin in the loop at the end of the string (or sleep), just being slightly braked by the small dynamic friction, instead of returning. However, if the string is jerked slightly up, or the hand is lowered, the slack created in the string will allow it to begin winding around the shaft, thereby increasing friction and allowing it to catch as the static friction force rises above the gravitation force holding the yo-yo at the bottom of the string, making the yo-yo wind up the string returning to the hand.
Patents have been issued to create more complicated mechanisms to allow tension control and an adjustable mechanism.[35][36]
Purported use as weapons[edit]
There is no sound historical evidence that yo-yos were ever used as weapons; the notion is believed to have been a marketing gimmick disseminated by Duncan yo-yo demonstrators in the early years of the company.[37] Regardless, the notion that yo-yos can be used as weapons persists to this day in pop culture, as in the Chinese television series Blazing Teens, and in the Japanese Guilty Gear franchise by the character Bridget (whose giant yo-yo's movements were a considerable challenge to animate).[38] The popular sandbox adventure Terraria features many yo-yo weapons.