Beginning Freehand
Here is a picture of my new John Higby painted Takeshi Modded Freehand2. I just got 6 shiny new John Higby painted yoyos. Three of them came
with cool bouncy ball counterweights, so I thought I would give 5A
yoyoing (Freehand) a try.
I decided to document my Freehand en devours in the hope that someone else learning freehand may find some useful information and tips here.
The first step to 5A is learning to hold the yoyo in each hand. Start out by doing alternating trapezes: throw a trapeze, then dismount and pass the counterweight to your other hand to quickly use the momentum from the dismount to do a trapeze the other way. I quickly got to where I could do this a few times each time I throw. At first I found that I could not really throw straight with my left hand, or bind the yoyo back left handed, so I tended to finish up with the yoyo back in my right hand. But over time, I have learned to throw with my left hand and can still bind pretty well to my off hand.
Throwing, Binding, and Winding
Throwing and Binding. At first it may not seem important or not, but
I have been learning to throw the yoyo left handed. (I am right
handed). I can do a reverse bind left handed okay, but not as smoothly
as I can right handed. Initially it is not much of a big deal, but when you are learning harder tricks, it is easier to practice tricks when you can bind and throw without having to switch back. If you use a responsive yoyo, it is easier to tell if you have a straight throw or not.
Winding is nice with a
freehand yoyo. Just drop the counterwieght and loop the string over
your index finger and wind with your other hand. No loosening or
tightening string. One of the joys of 5A for me is that I never have
to adjust string tension! Even after a couple hours practicing Atom
Smasher, I find that my string is only a little tighter than when I
started.
Windmill
The next trick to learn is windmill. This trick is really pretty
easy once you get the hang of it, start by doing it once. Basically
you throw a trapeze, but when the yoyo is just starting to peak, let go
of the counterweight and let the yoyo continue between your hands.
Keep your index finger out to act as a pivot between the yoyo and
counterweight. Catch the counterweight with your right hand as it
swings between your hands and kind of pull on the string to give the
yoyo enough momentum to make it around to a trapeze. Once you get good
at doing it once, let go of the counterweight a second time and a third. Once you are comfortable doing it multiple times, start with an alternating trapeze and learn to do windmill left
handed!
Counter Weight
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