Yoyo Types

April 8, 2024
danosurfar

Yoyo Types

Tips, Yoyo

Yoyo Types

Yo-yos, though seemingly simple in design, come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and styles, each offering a unique playing experience tailored to different preferences and skill levels. Whether you're a beginner looking to learn the basics or an advanced player seeking new challenges, understanding the diverse landscape of yo-yos is essential. Let's dive into different yoyo types and what sets them apart:

Yoyos by Material

There is several materials that modern yoyos are made from. However the most common yoyo types by material are plastic for beginner yoyos and aluminum for advanced yoyos.

Wood - usually used for classic fixed axle yoyos. Affordable but low performance
Plastic - mostly used for beginner/responsive yoyos but there are also high-end fully plastic yoyos with great performance.
Aluminum - most of modern performance advanced yoyos are made out of aluminum. These yoyos are CNC machined for high precision, smooth spin and high performance.
Hybrid - combination of plastic body and aluminum or steel weight rings.
Bimetal - combination of aluminum body and stainless steel or titanium rings. Bimetal yoyos usually have the best competition performance.
Titanium - used for high end and expensive yoyos. Titanium is really durable and makes sparks if you hit the spinning yoyo on the ground.

Yoyos by Level - Responsive and Unresponsive Yoyos

Yo-yos can be classified as either responsive or unresponsive based on their design and skill required to use them.

Responsive yo-yos return to the hand with a simple tug of the string, making them ideal for beginners learning basic tricks.
Unresponsive yo-yos require a specialized bind maneuver to return, enabling advanced players to perform complex string tricks with longer spin times and increased control.

Yoyos by Size

Yo-yos come in various sizes to accommodate different hand sizes, types of tricks and playing styles.

Standard size yoyos - suitable for most players, offering a comfortable grip and balanced performance.
Oversized yoyos - have greater stability and higher width which provides larger catch zone. Therefore oversized yoyos are easier to catch on a string, making them great for hop style tricks and competition freestyles.
Undersized yoyos - offer increased maneuverability and agility for complex yoyo tricks and complicated combos. Undersized yoyos are also often used as practise yoyos by competitive players as these yoyos improve precision.
Offstring yoyos - these yoyos are designed for Offstring style yoyo tricks also called as 4A tricks. For offstring yoyo is not attached to the string and can freely fly into the air. Offstring yoyos are usually larger in diameter and width to make them easy to catch on a string.

Yoyos by Style

There are 5 basic styles of yoyoing:

1A - one yoyo, string tricks
2A/Looping - two yoyos, one in each hand, looping tricks
3A - two yoyos, one in each hand, string tricks
4A/Offstring - yoyo not attached to the string
5A/Freehand - yoyo not attached to the finger, counterweight used at the end of a string instead of a finger loop.