Practicing method?

I’ll have to agree on the frustration. So I’ve recently started doing the same. But I have also gotten better at breaking it into smaller steps while learning.

Responsive.
When I am trying to learn something new I practice it pretty much exclusively until I get it, unless it goes into day after day of frustration. The amount of time I practice without stopping is not as big a factor for me as just sticking with it until I get it. If it goes to a point I get too frustrated I will stop a day or two then revisit it. Eventually I either pick it up or decide it just isn’t the trick for me…I’m looking at you, Pump House!

For me, I keep trying until I get it. It gets worse and worse sometimes, so I had to find out which part is wrong then try to fix it. After a few days or weeks or months or even years, it suddenly clicks.

Time, basically. I have gone back to tricks I didn’t get, and learned them easily, but I also have taken weeks to learn stuff such as hook and brent stole. Record for shortest learn time? About three minutes for the Tessa Piccillo whip “the brent”

I try a trick until I get frustrated, typically an hour or less. Leaving it alone for my subconscious to work on overnight helps. Asking friends to help with tricks or just straight up learning from others is the fastest way for me to acquire a new trick.

I work at it for days on end. My OCD won’t let me stop. I have hurt my arm before working on a trick so hard. I can also be highly saddened by it if I cannot get it. I have had to alter the tricks that I learn due to these problems.

DY7

Best advice I’ve ever received as far as practicing was: “Only practice what is right, don’t practice wrong.”

Which is basically breaking everything down, and only practice doing it right. If you miss one part, stop the trick and start over, go slow until you get it. Then work up to the speed that you want it to be at.

This was from a guitar teacher I had once, but I think the same principals apply to a yoyo trick.

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I think this is most like how I practice – I break down a trick into pieces, and once I get each piece, I add the next. For example, with Kamikaze, first I got the mount, then the pop into the top string…etc

The quote I try to live by is “practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect”, which seems a variation of AaronW’s quote

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Practice definitely doesn’t make perfect. I yoyo all the time and if anyone has seen me yoyo, they will know it isn’t pretty and definitely not perfect :stuck_out_tongue:

I tend to have different types of sessions based on my available time. IF i have an hour or so to commit i will “practice” or work on a specific trick/combo i found on youtube or the forum. If I have like 10 minutes(more often the case) I tend to just throw, and whatever happens, happens. Both types of sessions still make me a better thrower and are tons of fun. I can say, after about an hour of working on one trick, i reach the point of diminishing returns and will call it quits on that trick. When i have my short sessions, i tend to work elements from the new stuff in, and then it becomes more “normal” moves. When i return to the difficult trick, the smaller elements are part of my normal stuff so i tend to pick up the total trick at that point. If this makes any sense, hope it helps!

I have been practice Rancid milk for a couple weeks now. It took me about 5 hours before I could complete the sequence, now im just smoothing, refining, adding flair, and learning the performing side of it over the technical aspects. Its just such a fun trick its become my default!

Pretty much if you feel burnt out, back off, try something else for a while and I bet when you come back youll be better, closer, and more confident.

Really want to practice it, grab a FHZ and learn it :wink:

I can Rancid Milk on a 5A setup. Ive got a FG Tundra setup for 5A and while the shorter string makes it different, and I have yet to add CW elements, ive been working on 5A quietly now for a minute. :slight_smile:

I dont really own any plastics to try my luck with. They just feel so “toy”-ish. I dunno…

Need a Freehand 1 or FHZ in your collection, everyone needs at least one :wink:

I just bought my last 3 freehands…I mean it this time ;D

I hate when yoyo’s feel like toys! ;D Yoyos are serious business.
(Just messin with ya. I understand what you’re saying)

[quote=“Rosenberg,post:1,topic:82277”]
I touched on this in the “What are you working on thread?” talking about working on the 1a trick ladder. You do have to be careful not to actually ingrain the mistake. I think it’s important to make sure you consciously change one aspect of how you’re attempting the trick before getting too many reps in. If it’s a popular trick, I’ve found it helps to look at as many different tutorials as possible. Sometimes a certain perspective or accumulation of perspectives can get it to click.

I think working on something to the point of frustration and beyond is highly beneficial, but then as others have said, taking a break and returning later can often be key.

I agree with everything here except the start over part. Yes stop, but if possible stop to work on the element/section you’re missing. Starting from the beginning of the trick (or musical piece) is not an efficient use of time. Isolate the weak parts to bring them up to the level of the rest of the trick (piece), and then practice in larger sections, or as a whole.

Smoothness has always been huge for me. So, I learn the trick first on a dead unresponsive yoyo to get the movements and sequence down. Then I swap to a responsive and thinner yoyo to “refine” it. Youll find the spots you dont know well very quickly when you pause to think or jitter around looking for the right position when you get smacked in the hands. Ive been throwing since 1997 (I was 7!) so I had 5-6 years under my belt before unresponsive was a “thing”

If only the kids I teach applied this in their writing, there would be more quality results.

I tend to switch tricks when my frustration level surpasses my fun level.

As mentioned above, I also break tricks down into sub-steps to learn them.

What has also been successful for me…

I organize my tricks into groups. When I’m practicing to make progress I rotate between the 3-4 tricks I’m trying to learn at that time. If I start to burn out a little I’ll throw 3-4 tricks I’ve recently learned (but still need to polish) then I’ll go back to the 3-4 I’m trying to learn at that time. For me it feels like an effective way to make progress without growing frustrated.

Also if you can pair up a difficult trick with a bind or quick-wind technique it helps.

Thanks to horizontal spins taking me several months to learn, I’m great at snap-starting a yoyo :slight_smile: