Actually I think the Best way to teach somebody to yoyo is a very simple but effective method>>
Sit them down first. Pace around the room for about 15 minutes. Do not make any attempt to smile or make any kind of eye contact.
Then; approach them directly; staring at them intensely from a distance of about 4 inches from their eyeballs.
Then; tell them this; in a very loud and forceful voice> Learning to Yoyo is a Mandatory skill in life. If you don’t or cant learn to yoyo; you will Never amount to anything. You will never get a good job. You will never own a nice car. You will never be able to negotiate a good deal on a home loan. You will never have more than two friends. And the only reason they will befriend you is because they feel sorry for you for being such a skill-less person.
Once the word gets out; Talent Shows with find out your mailing address and send you Last Place Trophies for not even showing up
You will regret every passing day of your life and then on your 120th Birthday; you will DIE screaming.
But nobody will hear you.
Nobody…
The End.
… on a more serious note; I think one of the best ways to get a person to learn to yoyo is to hand them any yoyo in good working condition and start them off with simple tricks within the scope of the yoyos’ potential functionality.
If you give them a fixed axle; make sure you have tuned it properly and put a fresh string cut to the proper length for the person learning.
Many times it is better to just hand them(as already mentioned) a responsive bearing yoyo. Responsive meaning; a bearing yoyo that does not require a bind but spins much longer than a fixed axle. I fully understand that some folks can crank out some sweet spin times with ‘fixed’. But in the hands of a person not possessing a darn good straight controlled throwdown; spin times are not very good. And some folks just lose their enthusiasm trying to get spin out of a fixed axle while learning a trick. A bearing yoyo many times allows the student to maneuver the yoyo and feel they have some control over the situation.
No spin throwdown frustration is not part of a productive learning experience.
Since most people ‘have’ internet access; its a simple matter to suggest they get the ‘mental ball rolling’ by visiting the Trick Learning option on the Yoyoexpert main page. Tell them to start with the Basics section and just casually watch tricks being done. For some folks; its a lot easier to wrap their brain around something; if they can see what it looks like when done correctly. The hands on combined with the ‘Visual’ has a good Synergistic effect. <> Its Called the, ‘Monkey see, Monkey do’ method.
I used to teach people how to paint cars… for over 20 years. I would give two hour lectures on every facet of Automotive preparation and painting. I would literally draw pictures in peoples’ minds…
Then I would have them literally come into the Spray booth with me. I would have test panels set up along the sides of the booth. I would start to paint the vehicle. Then… after a few panels; I would hand somebody the spray gun(to their surprise) and ask them to emulate my movements on one of the test panels. I never challenged anybody to paint ‘the Test car’. People learn at different speeds and intentially pressurizing somebody seldom yields good results. But putting them directly ‘inside’ the painting equation; is much more immersive than lecturing.
When I was learning to lecture; one thing was made very clear to me. Never speak ‘over’ your audience. No matter how skillful you are at the subject of the day. You may impress yourself with what you know. But you will lose your audience because they aren’t really there to hear your Resume. They are listening to learn what you may be able to teach them.
Throwing yoyos is no different. You just put a good yoyo in their hand and try to get them to learn even the easiest tricks to help them build some confidence. <> As I already mentioned; one of the most important things besides a good functional yoyo is a fresh string; cut to the ‘proper length’ for the kid that is learning.
… I honestly wish I had a dollar for every time Ive seen somebody attempting to learn yoyo tricks on strings waaaaaaaaay too long. And with people actually watching them and saying nothing.
Realize something that is a reality. Being a good yoyo player does not necessarily mean you can ‘teach people’ to yoyo. I know some pretty darn good yoyo players that have no effective method of getting somebody head wrapped around their suggestions.
No ‘one’ method is the best.
Yoyo clubs, yoyo meets, yoyo contests, etc.; sometimes a good fundamental way to expose folks to learning tricks without putting pressure on them. And the folks that cant attend those functions; can simply check out any of the many internet sites with very easy to understand videos.
Something like that…