about yo yo

Yo-yo History

The earliest surviving yo-yo dates to 500 BC and was made using terra cotta Greek records from the period describe toys made out of wood, metal, or painted terra cotta (clay). The terra cotta disks were used to ceremonially offer the toys of youth to certain gods when a child came of age—discs of other materials were used for actual play. Philippine historical records indicate that 16th century hunters hiding in trees used a rock tied to a cord up to 20 feet in length to throw at wild animals beneath them—the cord enabling retrieval of the rock after missed attempts. skin disks. A Greek vase from this period shows a boy playing yo-yo.

The 1970s and the rise of the ball bearing

Modern yo-yos.

The 1970s saw a number of innovations in yo-yo technology, primarily dealing with the connection between the string and the axle. In 1978, dentist and yo-yo celebrity Tom Kuhn patented the “No Jive 3-in-1” yo-yo, creating the world's first "take-apart" yo-yo, which enabled yo-yo players to change the axle.

Soon afterward in 1980, Michael Caffrey patented what would later become the Yomega Brain, a yo-yo with a centrifugal clutch transaxle. Designed with a free-spinning plastic sleeve linkage, "The Brain" could spin much longer than previous fixed-axle designs. In addition, the axle was "clutched" with spring-loaded weights which would pull away from the axle at higher speeds and grab again at lower speeds. The result is an automatic return of the yo-yo when speed drops below a given threshold.

Swedish bearing company SKF briefly manufactured novelty yo-yos with ball bearings in the 1970s.

In all transaxle yo-yos, ball bearings significantly reduce friction when the yo-yo is spinning, enabling longer and more complex tricks. Subsequent yo-yoers used this ability to their advantage, creating new tricks that had not been possible with fixed-axle designs.

Yo-yo contests

John Ando, a 2A (double looping) division finalist at the 2004 US nationals in Chico, California.

A yo-yo competition normally consists of two parts, a set of compulsory tricksfreestyle, where points are scored for each and the winner is the yo-yoer who scores the most points. Compulsory tricks (also known as a trick ladder) are a set of tricks that have been chosen before the contest, and the competitor must successfully complete each trick on their first or second attempt to score points. The freestyle is when the yo-ist performs a routine to their choice of music in front of a panel of judges, and is judged based on difficulty of the tricks, synchronization with the music and artistic performance. and a

The World Yo-Yo Contest is held every year in Orlando, Florida, USA, and is hosted by YoYoGuy.com during early August or late July. This contest takes the winners from national yo-yo contests around the world and pits them against each other. Japanese players in particular have risen to the top of the yo-yo world. The eleven-time, double-handed world champion Shinji Saito—considered the best in the world—is Japanese. Countries such as the United States, Brazil, Japan and the UK hold competitions at the national and regional levels. In addition, national yo-yo contests, without regionals, are held every year by Mexico, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, France, Germany, Switzerland, The Czech Republic, Hungary, and Australia.

Axle/bearing differentiation

The basic innovation since the 1990s is the transaxle, a system where the string is not directly connected to the axle that connects the two halves of the yo-yo.

• Fixed axle yo-yos are represented by the original yo-yo design popularized in the first half of the 20th century, where the axle is directly connected to the string and halves of the yo-yo body. In order to enable the throwing of a "sleeper", the player must ensure the string is not wound too tightly around the axle, because it must freely spin in order to accomplish this move. Yo-yos designed for "looping" tricks tend to be fixed-axle yo-yos.
  • Some more exotic fixed-axle yo-yos have axles made from low-friction materials such as ceramic alloys—this allows for easier "sleeping," which is essential for string tricks.
• The majority of trick yo-yos sold are Bearing transaxle yo-yos. In these transaxle yo-yos the string is not connected to the axle directly, but rather it is wrapped about a ballrace bearing. The bearing, in turn, surrounds the true axle of the yo-yo. In this way, the body of the yo-yo may spin freely about the string's point of contact.
  • There are transaxle systems which do not use a ball bearing, such as the Duncan ProFire and Yomega Fireball. These use a low-friction metal or plastic collar around the axle.
• The clutch transaxle, innovated by Yomega with the Yomega X-Brain, is a transaxle that can be engaged or disengaged.
  • the Yomega Brain is a centrifugal clutch transaxle-- when spinning at a sufficiently high speed, counterweights inside the yo-yo body disengage the axle, automatically allowing the yo-yo to "sleep." Conversely, when the speed slows below the threshold, the yo-yo will return automatically.
  • Other clutch transaxles feature a manual switch which can engage or disengage the axle.
  
  

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