Yo-Yo Tip #1

 The drawing to the right shows a single looped string. This is used for sleeping fixed axle yo-yos, for most ball-bearing models and for non-responsive (bind) yo-yos.  However, beginning players  benefit greatly by using a non-spinning yo-yo while they are learning  the initial throws and handling of the yo-yo. To make a fixed axle yo-yo into a non-spinning beginner yo-yo, the string should be attached with a  double, rather than a single, loop around the axle. To do this, follow  the instructions above for installing a yo-yo string, except that after  the yo-yo is placed on the string, cross the 2 strings, and wrap the  string around the axle a second time. This, in effect, acts like a knot  in the bottom of the string, causing the yo-yo to bounce back up or  return more easily to the beginner player. Once throwing proficiency has  been gained, the second loop came be removed from the axle, returning  the yo-yo into a "spinning" yo-yo.  If using a ball-bearing yo-yo, you  will need to quad-loop (4 times) the string around the axle. 

NOTE: Non-Responsive yo-yo CANNOT be adjusted for beginner's play.

 String Adjustment  for beginning spinners. Every time a Yo-Yo is thrown, every time a Yo-Yo  is wound by hand, the twist of the string is changed. A beginner needs  to adjust the string for about every three or four times the Yo-Yo is  wound up. If you are having trouble making the Yo-Yo sleep, drop it. If  it won't sleep when dropped, it definitely won't sleep when thrown. The  fastest, easiest and most accurate way for a beginner to adjust the  string (advanced players use string adjustment tricks like the Flying  Saucer) is to remove the string from the finger, hang on to the Yo-Yo  and let go of the string. The string will quickly adjust itself to  neutral. Then wind the string back into the Yo-Yo BEFORE putting it back  on the finger. If it still won't sleep when dropped, there is a knot in  the bottom of the string around the axle. If it sleeps when dropped but  not when thrown, there is a problem with the throw, not the Yo-Yo.  Usually the hand is moving as the Yo-Yo reaches the end of the string.  The hand must be stopped and relaxed for the Yo-Yo to sleep when it  reaches the end of the string.  

#s indicate the number of threads used in the finished string. The bigger the number, the thicker the string.

#8,  100% cotton. This is the most common string. For all fixed axle yo-yos  this, or a #9 string, is a must. Cotton has a high resistance to wear  with friction against the fixed axle.

#6, 50% cotton/50%  polyester. Used for ball bearing yo-yos. Good mix of wearability and tensile strength.

#6, 100% poly. Popular for ball bearing yo-yos, particularly ‘Bind’ yo-yos.

#8, 50/50. Good string for looping with ball bearing and fixed axle yo-yos.

#9, 100% cotton. Beginners string. Good for fixed axle and auto return yo-yos for maximum wearability.

General difference between string:
50/50% cotton/polyester is best for Ball bearing, responsive yo-yos. Good balance between smoothness and strength.
Polyester is stronger than cotton but it frays easily on wood so 100% cotton is best for wood axle yo-yos.
100% polyester is best for bind yo-yos. Minimum response and maximum strength.

 Every Yo-Yo player  that has gotten into string tricks (Brain Twisters, Trapezes, Atom  Smashers) knows what happens when you put the Yo-Yo on the string  'backwards'. It has a tendency to 'bite' i.e., catch the string and try  to wind up. Some Yo-Yos will tolerate this if you are careful, other  Yo-Yos will immediately 'bite' and freeze up. What does "on the string  backwards" mean? The string is wound around itself (about 7 to 9 times  per inch at neutral, depending on the type of string). That wind is  directional (like a one way street). If you have a sensitive touch, you  can feel that the string slides more easily through your fingers from  top to bottom than from bottom to top. The Yo-Yo spinning at thousands  of R.P.M. greatly multiplies that difference. When the Yo-Yo rides on  the 'Sweet Side' of the string, i.e., with the direction of the string  wind, it is smooth sailing. But when it is put on the string with the  spin going against the grain of the string wind, you have a potential  disaster. This function is actually used in the trick 'Thread the  Needle' and 'The Shotgun'. Many yoers who were trying to learn Brain  Twister' from written directions were continually frustrated by  unwittingly putting the Yo-Yo on the string 'backwards'. What most  players don't know is that the same scenario holds true for the single  strand of string that goes around the axle. This 'single' string is  actually 6, 7 or 8 individual threads twisted together to form the  string. It is this unidirectional twist that causes the string to wind  around itself those 7 to 9 times per inch. This unidirectional twist  also creates the some type of 'grain' or 'sweet side' experienced with  the doubled string. The Yo-Yo will actually spin easier and longer in  one direction than the other. I have seen this phenomenon cause problems  in every contest that I have ever witnessed. A contestant will 'test  throw' their Yo-Yo until it sleeps and then try the trick only to have  the Yo-Yo return to the hand without sleeping. They will take another  test throw and the Yo-Yo sleeps easily. Back to try the trick again and  once more the Yo-Yo doesn't sleep. The trick is to throw a sleeper on  the test throw, then take another test throw to put the Yo-Yo back on  the 'sweet side' of the string for the attempt that counts. When you are  on the 'sweet side', the Yo-Yo not only sleeps easier and longer, but  string tricks run smoother also. I actually use a bi-colored Yo-Yo and  set it up so that I know which color needs to be on the right for the  'sweet side'. Remember, it's the string not the Yo-Yo so if you use this  bi-color method, when you change a string and test it, you may have to  remove the string and put it back on the other way to match the color  you want to use as a key. It's best to always use the same color as the  key so you don't have to stop and remember each time which is the 'sweet  side'.

For transaxle players, the sweet side can have an effect  too, but in reverse. One of the biggest problems in using a transaxle  yo-yo is getting it up at times. The sweet side that makes a standard  yo-yo work better will make a transaxle harder to get up....so.....if  you are in a transaxle competition, better to try the trick on the sour  side (particularly on tricks like around the corner) so it will be more  responsive on the return. Also in this vein, most transaxles can be  adjusted to be more responsive by varying the number of wraps around the  axle. The more wraps, the more responsive. You'll also give up some  smoothness at the same time but for some tricks, it can be worth it.

 My nomination for  the five hardest yo-yo tricks to master. Inside loops, Outside Loops,  Hop the Fence, Reach for the Moon, and Punching Bag.  "Hey!", you say.   "Everyone can do Loops and Hop the Fence."  Mastery is the key word.   Mastery means you can do about as many as you want to every time you  pick up the yo-yo and you can do them while reciting the Gettysburg  Address and scratching your head with the other hand.

Multiple  Reach for the Moon is the only trick I can think of that I'm afraid to  try with a blindfold on.  You must follow it and make corrections.  It  doesn't follow you.  That's why it is so difficult for most players to  do more than 10 of them with two hands.  Dale Myrberg has done over 300  of them.  I can't hold both hands over my head that long.  Forget doing  Reach for the Moons that long.

OK...on with the trick. First  problem is to get the yo-yo going the right direction around your hand.   Start with this preliminary trick. Do a Hop the Fence, but when it  returns, go into a reverse or backwards Hop the Fence, then forward  again, then backwards again...hey!...you're doing Reach for the Moon  (when it's over China).  Actually, this trick is now known as Planet  Hop.  Now for this side of the world. Notice how the yo-yo passes your  hand when you do Hop the Fence.  The first pass of Reach for the Moon is  the same direction. You throw the yo-yo up at a 45 degree angle, but  when it comes back, the yo-yo must pass below your hand (try for about  6" below).  Act as though you are going to do Hop the Fence straight  up.  That is, in fact, what you do and when (if) it comes back down, you  loop it back out.  you would think that if it has to go up, you would  need to throw it hard...NOT!  A very gentle, slow touch is by far more  effective.  If correctly thrown at the beginning, the yo-yo will swing  past your hand and go up by itself without any added power (If sometimes  helps in learning the trick to push your hand straight up the way you  want the yo-yo to go as it is coming past your hand.) and then you add  just a bit of power on the outward bound pass to repeat the trick.  I  don't use my wrist at all on the upward part of the trick.  In fact, I  find it helpful to hold my cupped fingers together and brace my yo-yo  finger with my thumb just behind the string.  That freezes the yo-yo  finger and makes a solid pivot point for the yo-yo to swing around.   Once you actually FEEL the way the yo-yo acts when this tricks is done  correctly, you'll know what the term "in the groove" really means.  It  flows almost effortlessly.  But it takes A LOT of practice effort to get  there.