Category Archives: 1A

1/11/11

I created this trick this morning. It took two or three minutes to lock it in. It looks terrible when you try to add any kind of over/under component to the boingys…trust me, I already tried.

This is very much how I used to create tricks…and I’ve got to admit, it’s super exciting to have my creativity just kick back into gear like it used to. One idea, one throw, two more tries to smooth it out and done.

Feels damn good. Happy Tuesday, y’all.

Today’s trick is brought to you by YoYo Factory and the DieNasty, my plastic throw of choice.

Song is “Devil’s Serenade” by Scouts Honor. They appear courtesy of No Idea Records and their own bad selves.

http://www.365yoyotricks.com
http://www.yoyofactory.com
http://www.noidearecords.com

1/10/11

I spent a few months doing almost nothing but suicides. Seriously. This is one of my favorites from that time period…not because it’s the hardest, but because it’s the one that even non-players can dig.

Plus, it’s pretty damn hard.

Today’s trick is brought to you by YoYo Factory and the DieNasty, my plastic throw of choice.

http://www.yoyofactory.com

1/9/11

I gotta be completely honest: I don’t remember a damn thing about creating this trick. I remember being really stoked about all the possibilities of the Water Mount (which is the initial mount for the trick…it’s like a split bottom with an extra segment) and working out a few things with it, but moving along to other stuff and never really exploring it as much as I should have.

But Water Bomb and Chinese Water Torture are two of my all-time most requested tricks…so here’s the one that started it.

Today’s trick is brought to you by YoYo Factory and the DieNasty, my plastic throw of choice.

http://www.yoyofactory.com

1/7/11

The laceration to pinwheel at the beginning I stole from Andre Boulay (http://www.yoyoexpert.com). I honestly can’t remember if it’s a direct pinch, or if it’s just really similar to something of his but I know that’s where it came from….because I made it a point to show this combo to Andre first because of it.

The grind is…well, a grind.

The pop to a thumb hold is mine, something I’ve been doing for years and years.

And the throw over to a suicide is so old that I have no idea where it come from…could have been me, could have been any of a dozen other people.

But the combo is mine, and it’s really irritating to hit consistently in a contest or performing environment. It’s a lot of tricks that aren’t *super hard*, but they’re the kind of tricks that sometimes just don’t want to land.

I showed this to Andre at Nationals after coming up with it the day before, and he got way more excited than anyone else. Thanks, Andre. 🙂

Today’s trick is brought to you by YoYo Factory and the DieNasty, my plastic throw of choice.

http://www.yoyofactory.com

Song is “Fever” by The Hot Rails – http://www.thehotrails.com/

365 Yo-Yo Tricks

1/6/11

Confession: I’m really lousy at learning tricks by watching videos. I’m an “in person” learner. So when Spencer Berry dropped “Breath” on all of us, I was crushed…I wasn’t going to see the kid for a while and it was such a beautiful trick. So I set about trying to figure it out from the video, and ended up with this. I knew it wasn’t all of it, but I thought I at least had the beginning.

Caught up with Spencer at the next BAC and said “Hey, I’m stuck on the first part of Breath, can you help?” Showed him this and he said “Whoa! What the hell was that?”

“The first part of Breath?”

“HA HA HA HA HA HA HA no.”

“Damn.”

I never did learn Breath. But I still love this trick.

Yoyo used is the DieNasty by YoYoFactory.

Song is “0:38” by Discount

http://www.365yoyotricks.com

1/5/11

Many, many moons ago I was wandering around New York City with Doctor Popular. As two people such as us are wont to do, we were throwing yo-yos all around us and using bits of scaffolding from a construction area to do some oddball “apparatus” tricks. After I got home I realized I would probably never be prepared / motivated enough to build and maintain an apparatus, let alone ever remember to bring it with me. So it started trying to figure out how to use my catching hand as a “dead stick” and re-create some of the stuff we were fiddling with in NYC. This is the only trick that survived. Doc may have some, but he lives on the wrong coast and I never see the dude. Pffft. California, indeed.

Yoyo used is the DieNasty by YoYoFactory.

http://www.365yoyotricks.com

1/4/11

For a few months, way back when, I got really excited about the trick possibilities of suicides. And, as most yo-yo players do, I immediately set about figuring out the hardest possible ways to throw a loop and catch it.

A Double Fisted Mantis Suicide is the mount for Legend of the 7-Fisted Mantis, one of the hardest tricks I’ve created. The invert version of this is a massive pain in the butt because it requires you to throw the loop, push the string with the finger that threw the loop, and then move your right hand around the back of the loop while in motion, coming around to stab it from behind. The regular version is actually easier because the movement your catching hand makes is actually more natural.

Yoyo used is the DieNasty by YoYoFactory.

http://www.yoyofactory.com

1/3/11

Another trick that won’t win any contests but it sure feels nice to do. It’s also a slightly tricky little catch, but you’ll get the swing of it.

Yoyo used is the DieNasty by YoYoFactory.

http://www.yoyofactory.com

1/2/11

It’s weird that I came up with this, since I really don’t like Green Triangles. But even I have to admit that it’s a fun trick and it feels really nice to perform. – Steve