Contest Rules
Virginia State Yo-Yo Contest brought to you by Goodles · September 19, 2026 · Sterling, VA
Contest Ruleset
- Freestyles follow the National Yo-Yo League (NYYL) freestyle rules, the ruleset for U.S. contests. The IYYF sets the rules for the World Yo-Yo Contest
- 1A, X Division: 2-minute freestyle with music
- Sport / Beginner / Junior (single combined division): 90-second format, no negative clicks, no major deductions, low-pressure division
- NYYL lets organizers pick routine lengths and rounds to fit the field and the day. Its own defaults are 1 minute for Sport and a 3-minute 1A final
- Music must be appropriate for all audiences. No profanity, slurs, or explicit themes. Inappropriate music means disqualification
- Competitors must use division-legal yo-yos for their registered division
- String and accessories are competitor's responsibility
- Inspections may occur before competition at judge's discretion
- Music files were due by Thursday, September 17
- File format: MP3, named DIVISION_Last_First.mp3
- No live music. Pre-recorded tracks only
- Competitors must be ready when called. Missing your slot forfeits your spot
- Judging follows NYYL scoring criteria. See how scoring worked below
- Judge decisions are final. NYYL rules make the head judge and contest organizer the final word
- Respectful conduct required. Unsportsmanlike behavior may result in disqualification
- Couch judging welcome. Use the YoYo Pro Clicker app → (built by Joseph, @jo.vo.007) to track deductions along with our official judges
- All competitors and attendees are expected to follow the DMV Throwers Code of Conduct →
- Venue rules apply to all competitors, spectators, and staff
- Organizers reserve the right to adjust format based on registration numbers
★ These are the rules VSYC-26 ran under on September 19, 2026. Rules for the next contest will be posted here before registration opens. Questions? Email vastateyoyocontest@gmail.com
Sources: NYYL: Freestyle Rules for NYYL Events · IYYF: Contest Rules
How Scoring Worked
Every routine got two scores: Technical Execution from clickers, and a Routine Evaluation in four categories. Major deductions came off the top. Here is how each piece worked at VSYC-26.
- 1A and X Division: Technical Execution 60 + Routine Evaluation 40 (four categories, 10 each) = 100
- Sport / Beginner / Junior: Technical Execution 20 + Routine Evaluation 80 (four categories, 20 each) = 100. Sport is weighted toward presentation, not trick count
- Your final score is the average of your scores across the judging panel
- Each judge holds two hand tally counters: one for landed elements, one for misses
- One click for a hard but low-risk element, like an Eli hop, laceration, or iron whip in 1A. Riskier variants, like a multi-hook, earn more
- Repeats score less or nothing. Six Eli hops in a row score once
- No clicks for moves that don’t show yo-yo skill, like picture tricks
- Sport / Beginner / Junior uses no negative clicks
- Normalization: each judge’s top raw score becomes the full 60 (20 in Sport / Beginner / Junior), and everyone else scales against it. That keeps one generous judge from swinging the result
- Trick Presentation: mastery of your tricks and the style you show them in. Not your miss count or trick variety
- Performance Quality: professionalism, stage use, and how you play to the audience
- Musicality: hitting music cues and pacing tricks to the song
- Routine Construction: trick selection and order, and how tricks, music, and performance fit together
- Stop, −1: the yo-yo stops with the string fully unwound
- Discard, −3: you swap out a yo-yo, or can’t bring it back to your hand fully wound when the routine ends
- Detach, −5: the yo-yo comes off the string (except 4A), the string breaks, or the yo-yo comes apart
- With two yo-yos, deductions count per yo-yo
- A yo-yo that flies into the audience behind the judges’ table can mean disqualification
- Sport / Beginner / Junior has no major deductions
★ X Division: VSYC-26 follows NYYL rules, so X Division clicker scores are multiplied by style before normalization. Some styles tend to score higher, and the multiplier levels the field: 2A ×1.40, 3A ×1.50, 4A ×1.30, 5A ×1.60. NYYL rules are the source of truth for anything this page doesn’t cover. The raw judge scoring sheets show every VSYC-26 score as it was tallied. See it in action on the results page, or read the full explainer on How to Yo-Yo.
Sources: NYYL: Freestyle Rules for NYYL Events (clicker scoring, normalization, routine scoring, major deductions, X Division, Sport) · NYYL results archive: 2026 Virginia State Yo-Yo Contest
Lining Up With NYYL
VSYC is an annual contest, and future contests will follow the NYYL freestyle rules more closely. When this page and the NYYL rules disagree, NYYL wins. Here is how VSYC-26 compared, so you know what may change.
- Clicker scoring with per-judge normalization
- Four evaluation categories: Trick Presentation, Performance Quality, Musicality, Routine Construction
- Major deductions: stop −1, discard −3, detach −5, counted per yo-yo
- X Division style multipliers on clicker scores
- Sport scoring: 20 Technical Execution + 80 evaluation, no negative clicks, no deductions
- Music appropriate for all audiences
- VSYC-26: one 2-minute freestyle for everyone in 1A and X. No prelims
- NYYL 1A Championship: 1-minute prelim and 3-minute final at regionals. Nationals adds a 1.5-minute semifinal. Organizers can skip the prelim with fewer than 10 players
- NYYL X Division: prelim, then final
- VSYC-26: one combined Sport / Beginner / Junior division, 90 seconds. Some routines were cut off at 60 seconds by mistake on the day
- NYYL Sport Freestyle: 1 minute, split into age divisions, with Sport 1A and Sport X held separately
- NYYL Youth Advanced 1A: for 1A players 17 and under, one 90-second round scored like a 1A prelim (70 + 30)
- NYYL describes Over 40, Women’s, and International divisions, held mostly at the U.S. Nationals
- Over 40 players can pick any style, 1A to 5A. You can enter Women’s and a championship division
- VSYC-26 didn’t offer these. Several of you asked for Over 40 and Duo divisions in the survey
★ Rules for the next contest will be posted here before registration opens. Want a say? See what competitors told us, or take the survey.
Sources: NYYL: Freestyle Rules for NYYL Events (division and round comparison, Sport, Youth Advanced, X Division, non-championship divisions) · VSYC-26 post-event survey (25 responses as of Sept. 30, 2026)
Stella Duellum · Prismatic Stars
Stella Duellum, hosted by Anneurismz for Prismatic Stars, ran separately at 12:00 PM, with its own sign-up and its own ruleset. It was not part of the contest divisions above.