Gear & Maintenance

Find It or Make It

Use this table to find each part, buy the dedicated product, or make a low-cost version yourself. Each row links to the full section below.

No 3D printer? Many public libraries now have 3D printers you can use, often for free.^[79] See where to print in DC and NoVA.

Beginner Gear Basics

Responsive vs. unresponsive

A responsive yo-yo comes back with a tug. An unresponsive yo-yo has a wider gap and low-friction pads, so it only comes back when you bind, wrapping extra string into the gap.^[7] Many starter yo-yos can be set up either way and grow with you. The YoYo Wiki’s beginner guide recommends starting with 1A (one-handed string tricks), buying a 10-pack of string, and keeping a spare set of response pads.^[14] Brand new? Start with our How to Yo-Yo guide.

Shapes

• Imperial (classic): narrow with a thin gap. Old-school tricks and looping.^[17][15]
• Modified: narrow and rounded; the most popular shape for two-handed looping (2A).^[15]
• Butterfly: a very wide gap for string tricks; usually loops poorly.^[15]
• Wing: evenly distributed weight for speed and stability.^[17]
• H-shape: weight pushed to the rims for stability and spin.^[17][15]
• Wall details like straight or stepped walls keep the string from rubbing and slowing the yo-yo.^[18] See our Yo-Yo Science page for the physics.

String length and the slipknot

A good starting length reaches from the floor to your belly button.^[19] Tie a slipknot at the end and wear it between the first and second knuckle of your middle finger. Always wear the slipknot before you throw.^[1]

Materials

Plastic is cheap and tough; aluminum is denser and smoother; bimetal yo-yos add steel or brass rims for more spin.^[16]

Styles of Play and Their Gear

Players group tricks into styles. A true style needs different equipment that makes new tricks possible, which is why each style has its own gear.^[59] The World Yo-Yo Contest awards titles in five styles, 1A through 5A, plus Artistic Performance.^[72] Many smaller contests combine every style except 1A into one open division.^[60]

How each style is judged at contests, including what scores points and how X Division combines styles, is on the How to Yo-Yo page.

How the styles came to be

• Classic “0A” casually meant one-handed looping tricks, where beginners started before 1A, 2A, and beyond.
• Late 1950s Photos show demonstrators doing basic two-yo-yo tricks, like a sleeper in one hand and a trapeze in the other.
• Late 1990s Contests had only A and AA divisions. “3A” began as a joke extending the naming, and it stuck.
• 1997–98 The Henrys Viper’s rubber shells help popularize offstring. Team Hyper Viper tours Japan with the Hyper Viper.
• 1998 Mark McBride debuts Velvet Rolls at the U.S. Nationals, starting modern 3A.
• 1999 Steve Brown debuts freehand (5A) at the Bay Area Classic, using a counterweight.
• 2000–02 Worlds holds an “X” division for tricks outside 1A and 2A.
• 2003 Worlds splits X into separate 3A, 4A, and 5A divisions.
• 2012 Ed Haponik throws one wooden fixed-axle yo-yo for the entire year.
• 2019 Haponik and others reclaim “0A” for modern responsive and fixed-axle play.

Sources: Classic and 2019, Haponik’s blog^[75]; late 1950s and 1990s, the YoYo Wiki^[59]; offstring^[68][69]; 3A^[66]; 5A^[73]; Worlds divisions^[72]; 2012^[62][76].

Where each style came from

• 0A: once a casual name for one-handed looping.^[75] Modern responsive grew from Ed Haponik’s fixed-axle play, his “Fixed Friday” video column with Drew Tetz on YoYoNews, and the 2018 bandalores project with Doctor Popular and Kyle Nations. Spencer Berry designed the Walter and Theodore for his own responsive style.^[61][62]
• 1A: the classic sleeper and string tricks. Ball bearings (Tom Kuhn’s SB-2, 1990), then wider gaps and silicone, made unresponsive play and the bind standard.^[2][71][110] Hiroyuki Suzuki was the first to win back-to-back 1A World titles (2005). Canada’s Jensen Kimmitt was the first 1A World Champion from outside Japan or the U.S. (2010). Korea’s Mir Kim set the highest-scoring 1A freestyle, 99.7, in 2023.^[72]
• 2A: looping is old. Loop the Loop was once a contest tie-breaker, won by whoever threw the most loops.^[108] In the late 1990s, A and AA were the only divisions.^[59] Shinji Saito has won the 2A World title a record eight times.^[72]
• 3A: Mark McBride created Velvet Rolls in 1998 to win a yearly bet with Steve Brown: who would first invent a string trick with two spinning yo-yos. He used stock Yomega Wing Force yo-yos and debuted it at the U.S. Nationals in Chico, California.^[66] Kentaro Kimura’s 2009 routine is called the greatest 3A routine of all time, and Hajime Miura won 3A and 4A in the same year (2018).^[72]
• 4A: Henrys, a German juggling maker, built the rubber-shelled Viper around 1997–98. Dave Schulte and Jon Gates toured Japan as Team Hyper Viper, and the CoroCoro Comic manga magazine spread their tricks. That inspired Hironori Mii to found Team Off-String.^{[68][69][126]} Schulte wrote an early offstring article in 1999.^[67] Rei Iwakura threw a flawless 4A routine at the 2014 Worlds.^[72]
• 5A: Steve Brown, 1999.^[73] Brazil’s Rafael Matsunaga won the 2003 5A title, the first World title for a player from outside Japan or the U.S.^[72] Takeshi Matsuura has won seven 5A World titles.^[109] Chris Neff created “free throwing,” a 5A variation that uses the environment.^[59]
• AP: an open performance division where teams can compete.^[60] In 2012 Switzerland’s inmot!on became the first team from outside Japan or the U.S. to win AP, the first World title for European competitors.^[72]

0A: a style and a mindset

Ed Haponik spent 2012 throwing only a single wooden fixed-axle yo-yo, the SPYY “eH,” a year that inspired many players to reconsider fixed axle.^[62][76] In 2019 he posted a short “manifesto-esque” text, first written for Doc Pop’s Stringburn zine, that begins “ups & downs, throws & catches, stops & go’s, sleepers & stalls.” In it he describes modern responsive and fixed-axle play taking back 0A “not as a contest designation, but as a counterpoint or counterbalance.”^[75] Bryan Figueroa and Haponik made a 0A logo, and the YoYoExpert forum keeps a dedicated 0A thread.^[77][75] Haponik has called it “a yoyo style and a mindset.”^[78]

For short responsive tutorials, the YoYo Wiki points to the bandalores project, with Drew Tetz, Ed Haponik, Doctor Popular, and Kyle Nations.^[61]

Why the styles have numbers

In a 2019 forum post, YoYoExpert founder André Boulay traced the names after asking around: early contests had just A and B divisions, meaning championship and beginner. As string tricks got good, 1A and 2A split one yo-yo from two. Mark McBride and others joked that two-yo-yo string tricks should be 3A, since 1 plus 2 is 3. Hironori Mii picked 4A for offstring partly because “four” can be read “yo” in Japanese, making it the “yo division.”^[176] Ed Haponik added that Alan Nagao of Team High Performance first came up with the A and AA designations, and that 0A was never a contest division, just a way to describe the basics.^[176]

Sub-styles worth knowing

• Slippery Eel: freehand without a counterweight. Its limits led Steve Brown to invent 5A.^[59]
• Doubles: two yo-yos on one hand, invented by Steve Brown in 1999 and popularized by Tommy Gun.^[59]
• Soloham: two offstring yo-yos in one hand, first shown by Takahiko Hasegawa in 1998 and scored within 4A. Atsushi Sakata played the first full Soloham freestyle at the 2004 Worlds; Hajime Miura did it again in 2019, helped by an easier bind technique from Rei Iwakura.^[59]
• Möbius: tricks inside the opened slipknot on two fingers, created by Doctor Popular in 2000.^[59]
• Washing Machine, Go West, and Sumo: popping the yo-yo in and out of an untwisted string loop.^[59]
• Astro, Sliding Counterweight, and Double Dice: 5A with a second weight, or one that slides along the string.^[59]
• Doc-Pop style: 4A with a paper clip on the string as a light counterweight, a free way to try it.^[59]
• Tourniquet: the slipknot around the upper arm and a very long string, from Jensen Kimmitt in 2010.^[59]
• 1/2A: slightly unscrew the yo-yo, grab one half while it sleeps, and the other half keeps spinning on the string. Created by Joshua Yee in 1999.^[59]
• 1.5A (Dualstring): a second string tied to your non-throw hand, with no yo-yo, for fake-3A effects. Daisuke Shimada, Kai Kitayama, and Zammy are known innovators.^[59]
• Hydra, Cherry, and Asquared: two yo-yos on one string. Japan’s “Cherry” joins them with a counterweight; Asquared uses hubstack yo-yos like the G5.^[59]
• Loaf style: John “John-Bot” Russeth’s one-handed tricks inside a split-bottom mount; the Boingy Boingy is its best-known trick.^[59]
• Möbius offshoots: Dualbius (2A), Triobius (3A), Offbius (4A), and Astrobius (5A); full-loop play ties a short string into a single loop.^[59]
• The big numbers: 7A puts counterweights on looping yo-yos (it never caught on); 9A is freehand offstring, with a counterweight on the string and the yo-yo loose (Ryan Lai); 13A (sometimes 10A) is double freehand from Steve Brown, played by Rafael Matsunaga; some call one offstring yo-yo per hand 11A.^[59][177]
• 1AD and Apparatus: a sliding die on a finger-tied string, and tricks that use parallel bars as part of the play.^[59]
• Double Dragon: one yo-yo with two strings, one per hand, shown by Ky Zizan at the 2013 Worlds. Rei Iwakura’s 2008 Worlds AP routine used a counterweighted version, sometimes called Rei-Dragon.^[59]

Connections to Other Skill Toys

Yo-yo belongs to a larger family of skill toys. “Juggling” can mean more than tossing balls: it also covers props like the diabolo, devil sticks, and poi.^[138] Many players pick up several, and they’re all welcome at our meetups. For lessons, see the kendama, spin top, poi and flow arts, and juggling links on our Resources page.

Yo-yo and juggling grew up together

• Juggling shops sold yo-yos. Infinite Illusions sold juggling equipment from 1986, added yo-yos in 1989, and hosted the World Yo-Yo Contest in Orlando from 2000 to 2013.^[129]
• Juggling makers built yo-yos. Henrys, a German maker of diabolos and juggling clubs, designed the Viper to look a little like its diabolos.^[126] Duncan shipped trick CDs with its line of yo-yos, tops, juggling equipment, and footbags.^[133]
• Clubs mix it up. The College for the Easily Amused, started by Doctor Popular, is a skill toy club.^[131] The Kansas City Juggling Festival brings yo-yo players and jugglers together each year.^[144] The Congress of Jugglers hosted a yo-yo workshop in 2025.^[145]

Diabolo and 4A

The diabolo grew out of the Chinese yo-yo, first recorded in China’s late Ming dynasty (1572–1620). The Western yo-yo has an independent origin, but both keep spinning through conservation of angular momentum.^[135] Diabolo tricks resemble offstring, and advanced diabolo borrows freehand ideas.^[125] Diabolo on a loop of string opens up yo-yo-style slack tricks.^[135] 4A’s Soloham, two offstring yo-yos in one hand, looks and feels like running two diabolos.^[59] Stu Branoff developed a Diabolo Sports Ladder and has run it at the U.S. Nationals.^[128]

Poi and 2A

2A teachers borrow poi’s rhythm terms. YoYoTricks.com teaches two-handed looping in same time, split time, and quarter time, practicing each like a poi player.^[139] The Eskimo yo-yo, despite its name, plays more like poi.^[132]

Kendama and 0A

Kendama may descend from the French cup-and-ball game bilboquet and took its modern form in Japan.^[136] Kendama USA, the first U.S. kendama company, was founded in 2006.^[136] Players see kendama influence in 0A’s back-of-the-hand balance moves, and 1A string ideas showing up in kendama.^[140] Players have posted kendama-inspired “dead whips” on fixed-axle yo-yos^[141] and advise “kendama squats,” bending the knees, to buy time on 0A stalls.^[142] Experts use the same knee bend in kendama.^[136] Some contests, like the United YoYo & Kendama Contest, run both.^[146]

Astrojax, begleri, and 5A

The Astro sub-style of 5A takes its name from Astrojax.^[59] Astrojax, invented in 1986 by Cornell physics graduate student Larry Shaw, plays like a cross between juggling, yo-yo, and a lasso.^[137] Its maker, Active People, also made the [YO]² yo-yo line.^[130] Swiss player Jan Schmutz, a 2A competitor who also plays Astrojax and diabolo, won the 2012 World AP title with inmot!on.^[127] A 5A counterweight weighs about 10g, similar to some begleri beads, so players have strung counterweights together to try begleri.^[147]

Spin tops

Chris Neff took first place in spin top at the 2016 World Yo-Yo Contest.^[143] Doctor Popular designed the P213, a yo-yo and spin top hybrid.^[134] Neff also wrote one of the most-read beginner guides on the YoYoExpert Forums. He warns that almost everything about learning tops feels backwards at first. Here are the highlights.^[194]

Getting started with spin tops

• Bearing tip or fixed tip: bearing-tip tops give beginners more time to set up tricks. Fixed-tip tops are easier to maintain, open up different tricks, and stand themselves up straight as they spin, but they spin for less time until you learn to regenerate.^[194]
• Size and weight: a top 2 to 2.5 inches across is easiest to learn on. Heavier tops can be easier, as long as the weight sits low and at the widest part; weight in the center cuts spin time. Lighter tops are kinder to your TV.^[194]
• Tips: metal tips add bottom weight and stay pointy longer, but they’re harder on floors and toes. Wear shoes while learning tricks like the Drum Beat.^[194][195]
• Tape two-piece tops: wrap electrical tape twice around the seam where the crown meets the body, going with the direction of the spin, so it doesn’t crack.^[194]
• String length: it depends on the top, not your height. Neff’s starting points were about 60 inches of regular string for tops like the Duncan Imperial, and about 64 inches for the Duncan Bearing King and Rip Cord.^[194]
• Check your string: throw with a steady release. If the tip lands pointing the same way as your toes, the string is too short; if it points back at you, it’s too long.^[194]
• The throw: hold the top with the tip pointing straight up and the button lower than the wind. Pivot at your shoulder, with no elbow or wrist, and throw slowly. Neff’s rhyme: “slow, no elbow, and not too low.”^[194]
• Balancing a top on your hand: it’s the opposite of balancing a bat. Move your hand in the direction the tip is pointing, not the way the top leans.^[194]
• A wobbly plastic top: press a pea-sized blob of poster putty inside the cap and move it around the rim until the top spins smooth.^[194]
• String care: unbleached, tightly twisted cotton works best. Wash a dirty string with your laundry, skip the fabric softener and the dryer, and let it air dry.^[194]

Axles and Response Systems

The axle holds the two halves together. Originally the yo-yo spun right on the axle inside the string loop. Transaxle sleeves and ball bearings came later to cut friction and add spin time.^[111]

Adjustable response systems

• Henrys Viper (1997–98): the “Quicktrick” system. Twist the halves in or out to narrow or widen the gap on the fly.^[68]
• YoYoFactory F.A.S.T. 201 (2003): “Fully Active Starburst Technology,” invented by Hans Van Dan Elzen. Spokes form starbursts, and twisting the halves changes the gap: narrower is more responsive, wider sleeps longer. It needed almost no maintenance but was famously noisy, so players often pulled the spokes and filled the holes with silicone.^[122]
• F.A.S.T. 400 series (401k, 2005): knobs on the hubs move plastic “shuttles” flush or recessed. It had 180 settings, each .001 inch apart, about a human hair. It was the first truly adjustable response, and you could mix shuttles with pads.^[123] The 401 SD (2008) was one of the last in the series.^[124]
• Came-Yo Mondial: a port in the hub lets you add thick lube with a syringe without taking it apart.^[7]
• Mod spacers and shims: see Mods.

Maintenance by system

• Transaxle: transaxles often have very little response. A double loop of string around the sleeve helps; so does thick lube, at the cost of spin time.^[148][7]
• Clutch: the clutch grips the O-ring on the sleeve. Remove the O-ring and it sleeps like a Fireball, but you’ll have to return it yourself.^[113]
• Starburst: soft plastic starbursts can wear away and can’t be replaced.^[7]
• Old-school DIY: before silicone, players cut homemade pads from brake pads.^[7]

Wood and Fixed-Axle Care

A well-made wooden yo-yo takes as much abuse as a lot of plastics. Ed Haponik has never seen one wear out from regular play except for the axle.^[152]

String

• Use cotton on a wooden axle. Polyester heats up and can melt on the axle.^[149] Thick type 10 cotton is a favorite.^[149][150]
• Fixed axles wear through string fast, so change it often.^[149]
• Some players rub a tiny bit of wax lip balm on the string for grip; a little goes a long way, and more makes it grabby.^[149][154]

Response and play

• Warm up. Response is friction, and friction is heat, so temperature and humidity matter. A few loops and hops warm up the string and axle.^[150]
• The “thud”: a small thud at the end of the string is normal on many fixed axles. Adjust string tension, or try a thicker string.^[150]
• Break-in: a rough-feeling gap may be the response. Play loops and hops to break it in, or saw the string back and forth in the gap.^[148]

Take-apart wooden yo-yos

• Don’t overtighten. Cranking down can warp a wooden axle sleeve.^[151]
• If it keeps unscrewing, wrap the threads with Teflon tape, or swap the O-ring for a solid shim cut from card stock or clear plastic packaging.^[151]
• Replacement axles are the main wear part; makers like TMBR sell spares.^[152]

Fixing wood

• If edges get rough, a few minutes with 320-grit sandpaper smooths them. Bent wood can sometimes be bent back into shape.^[152]
• Some players lightly sand a rough gap with medium-grit paper on a putty knife.^[148]

DIY: turn your own

One forum maker turned a playable fixed-axle yo-yo on a small hobby lathe in 30 minutes, using a hardwood body and a 5/16″ dowel axle in a tight friction fit so it could come apart. A denser white oak body with an osage orange axle played far better. A later take-apart version used a headless 8-32 screw in brass threaded inserts with a walnut axle sleeve.^[153] Lathe work needs adult supervision and proper training. See Yo-Yo Science & DIY for more on making your own.

Bearings

A ball bearing has an outer race, an inner race, and balls between them, usually eight, held in place by a cage. Thin shields and C-clips keep out dirt; many players remove the shields for easier cleaning.^[4][2]

History

• 1959 Jack Sauer puts a ball bearing in a “yo-yo doll,” the first known ball-bearing axle.
• 1965 Milton Isaacson puts a ball bearing in a typical yo-yo.
• 1984 SKF makes novelty ball-bearing yo-yos.
• 1990 Tom Kuhn releases the SB-2, the first all-metal ball-bearing yo-yo.
• 1991 Yomega releases the Raider.
• 1992 Tom Kuhn’s Roller Woody and Sleep Machine are the first modern wooden yo-yos with ball bearings.
• 1997 Playmaxx’s ProYo Turbo Bumble Bee is the first bearing yo-yo with a replaceable response system.
• 1999 Duncan’s first ball-bearing yo-yos, the Hardcore series.
• 2002 Frank Difeo’s limited Daizzy-Fly uses a grooved bearing that centers the string for low-response tricks.
• 2003 Dif-e-Yo introduces the KonKave centering bearing.
• 2005 YoYoFactory’s G5 ships with bearing-based hubstacks.

Timeline from the YoYo Wiki.^[2]

Sizes

Retailer Infinite Illusions gave bearing sizes letters so players could order the right part. C and A are what you’ll meet today; the rest are older, brand-specific, or rare. Measurements are inner diameter × outer diameter × width.^[2]

MR85: the newest small size

When MK1 Yoyos and Spinworthy turned the wooden Bloodcell into the metal RBC in 2021, they skipped the usual A bearing for an MR85, because its 8 mm outer diameter matches the wooden original’s axle.^[163] The similar DocPop Weekender takes a standard A bearing instead.^[164] Spinworthy’s Flying Lemon later used a 4 mm wide MR85 for unresponsive play.^[166]

• Keeping it responsive: the races are so small that thick lube tends to smear onto the string. Players apply it with a toothpick, run it dry, or buy greased, rubber-shielded MR85s.^[168]
• Make it a fixie: fixed-axle fans fill MR85s with steel epoxy to make “bearing blanks,” turning an RBC into a fixed-axle yo-yo.^[167]
• Buying one: search “MR85” and check the width. Flat ceramic MR85s exist; concave ceramic versions are hard to find.^[165]

Shapes and types

• Flat: the basic stainless steel 8-ball bearing.^[48]
• Centering (concave): the KonKave (2003) has a curved outer race that keeps the string centered and away from the response. Others followed: YoYoFactory’s Center Trac (flat with flared edges), V-shaped designs, YoYoRecreation’s DS, grooved bearings, and the stepped CLYW × iYoYo Pixel.^[2][46]
• 10-ball: ten balls instead of eight for a smoother, quieter spin, with a break-in period. One Drop ships them standard.^[2][47]
• Ceramic: silicon nitride balls in a steel race; pricier and more sensitive to shock.^[2]
• Sealed and lubed: One Drop’s Greasebucket is silicone-sealed and packed with lube for a consistently responsive, no-maintenance feel.^[49]

Specialty bearings: non-standard but interesting

• More centering shapes: Henrys’ V-shaped Trapeze (D size only), B.I.S.T.’s V-Cave, Twisted Stringz’ 10-ball Trifecta (KonKave curve plus a groove), and Born Crucial’s grooved bearings.^[2]
• Treated and coated: YoYoFactory’s Dorothy was meant to run dry and never be cleaned, but some players found it prone to locking up. The Gold bearing, commissioned by Takahiko “Taka” Hasegawa, got its color from a treatment that wears off. Infinite Illusions’ Mercury bearings (no actual mercury) used a factory cleaning process for longer spins; the Mercury Fat Lip widened the inner race so shims can’t touch the shields.^[2]
• The Phi super-bearing: Kyle Weems picked the coated, run-dry C bearing in his 2005 Kyo Phi 1.618 by spin-testing candidates on a rig.^[2]
• NSK: precision Japanese bearings with a curved, string-centering race that need little maintenance, though their tight tolerances can lock up.^[2]
• Ruby: Wolf Yoyo Works built experimental bearings with real ruby balls. They were never sold.^[2]

Makers who built their own: Tom Kuhn, Custom, and Dif-e-Yo

Tom Kuhn. A San Francisco dentist and 1955 neighborhood Duncan champion, Dr. Tom Kuhn made the No Jive 3-in-1, the all-metal Silver Bullet, and in 1990 the Silver Bullet 2 (SB-2), the first metal ball-bearing yo-yo.^[158][159] The SB-2 used Kuhn’s own small I-size bearing and a patented adjustable gap: screw the bearing cups in or out with a small tool.^[159][2] With no response system, players double-looped the string around the axle to get it to return. In 1999 Kuhn added his patented cloth Turbo Discs.^{[5][159][158]} An SB-2 flew aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis in 1992, and Kuhn joined the National Yo-Yo Hall of Fame in 2006.^[158][159]

Custom Products. This Arizona maker used its own tiny G-size bearing until switching to A in 2008.^[2] Eric Wolff converted a fixed-axle Custom Reactor to a bearing and added response strips cut from a Rubbermaid no-slip bathtub tread. That idea became Custom’s “Performance Rings,” and it drew a Brake Pad patent lawsuit from Playmaxx. After a judge ruled against Custom, the two settled and Custom redesigned the rings.^[160][8]

Dif-e-Yo and Frank Difeo. Frank P. Difeo (1952–2024) trained at Haverhill Trade School in Massachusetts and spent 18 years as a tool maker at Lucent Technologies before retiring into aluminum yo-yos around 2001.^[156][155] He machined on a mill instead of the usual lathe, which let him cut unusual hub shapes.^[155] His 2002 Daizzy-Fly, a 55-piece serial-numbered collector run, used a grooved bearing to center the string; in 2003 he refined it into the KonKave, which comes in A, C, D, and L sizes (plus a ceramic C). Upgrading another yo-yo with his conversion kits became known as “KonKaving.”^[157][2] He also made Dif Pads (2003) and Dif-Binders (2015); see Response Pads.^[8][156] Frank Difeo passed away on March 3, 2024.^[156]

ABEC ratings describe manufacturing tolerances, but most players find they make no difference in yo-yo play.^[2] New bearings usually need breaking in with a few long sleepers.^[2] Bearing removal tools make swapping easier without scratching the bearing.^[58]

Cleaning a Bearing

Clean a bearing when it gets noisy, gritty, or too responsive. New bearings are often lubricated to prevent rust, which can make them responsive until cleaned.^[3]

1. Remove the bearing, then pop off the shields with a pin at the C-clip. Many players leave shields off afterward.^[3]
2. Soak it in solvent in a glass jar, swirling or turning it with a toothpick.^[3]
3. Blow it dry with compressed air, or spin it on a pencil as it dries, so no residue stays behind.^[3]
4. Add a drop of lube if you want it quieter or more responsive (see below).^[3]

Which solvent?

• Mineral spirits (paint thinner) and lighter fluid are common choices; many players use lighter fluid, which is gentler on plastics than acetone.^[3][25]
• Acetone is a strong solvent, but it can damage plastics and paint, and the YoYo Wiki warns it can promote rust.^[3][25]
• Avoid rubbing alcohol and water, which can rust a bearing.^[3][27]
• Lower-fume option: some players use citrus (orange) degreasers, as skateboarders do, though others worry about residue.^[24]

Step-by-step guides with photos: YoYoExpert and How To Yo-yo.^[22][23]

Lube

Lube does not clean a bearing. It keeps it quiet and protected, and it is optional.^[14] A dry bearing is the least responsive but noisier, wears faster, and can rust.^[3]

• Thick lube makes a yo-yo more responsive, good for beginners and looping.^[51][52]
• Thin lube maintains an unresponsive bearing and extends its life. Use one drop.^[50][52]

History

Players once used 3-in-1 oil for a responsive yo-yo and trumpet valve oil for an unresponsive one. Dedicated yo-yo lubes followed from brands like YoYoJam.^[3]

Dedicated products

YoYoJam Thick and Thin Lube^[51], One Drop V4M (thin)^[50], and YoYoFactory Performance Oil (Long Spin or Loop/Response).^[52]

Low-cost DIY options

• Sewing machine oil works as a thin lube; players report it performs as well as yo-yo lube.^[26][27]
• Skateboard bearing lube has a similar thickness to thin yo-yo lube and costs less per ounce.^[27]
• Trumpet valve oil comes in many thicknesses, but it can damage plastic.^[27][3]
• In a pinch, for more response: our guide suggests a thin smear of lip balm without water in the ingredients, or one tiny drop of light cooking oil. Use sparingly.^[1]

Response Pads and Silicone

The response system grabs the string so the yo-yo can wind back up. When pads wear out or fall out, the yo-yo slips and won’t return cleanly.^[7][1]

History

• Fixed axle Friction from the axle itself winds the string.
• c. 1950 A Duncan employee proposes the raised starburst around the axle.
• Playmaxx Reverse starbursts (grooves), then rubber Brake Pads that look like cork. Brake Pads became the basis of modern replaceable pads.
• Late 1990s Friction stickers (patented in Britain in 1984) catch on with the rise of aluminum yo-yos.
• YoYoJam Rubber O-rings in a groove around the axle, often shaved flush.
• Silicone Flowable silicone and silicone pads take over for unresponsive play.

Timeline from the YoYo Wiki.^[7][8] O-rings faded because black rings left string dirty and grew less reliable as gaps widened; silicone was more consistent.^[32]

Pad sizes

• 19mm “Large Slim” silicone pads are the most common size today. Central Bearing Company makes them with YoYoFactory; other brands, including Duncan, make compatible 19mm pads.^[8][43][45]
• Standard 19mm pads are about 1–1.1mm thick; One Drop’s are thinner, about 0.7–0.8mm.^[44]
• Other sizes include small pads for A-size bearing yo-yos, 21mm “Large Broad,” and the older .555 size.^[8][33]

Pad recesses come in four standards: small, large, .555 (named for its .555-inch inner diameter), and the silicone groove. Small pads fit A-bearing yo-yos with no lip; large pads fit A or D yo-yos with a lip, or C yo-yos without one; .555 pads fit C yo-yos with a lip.^[8]

Pads through the years

• Playmaxx Brake Pads (1997): thick, cork-looking rubber with teeth arranged in a starburst, first on the ProYo Turbo Bumble Bee. Duncan took them over when it bought Playmaxx, and they became the basis for every modern pad. YoYoFactory re-released them in 2023 as Retro Response Brake Pads with the Turbo Grind Machine.^[8]
• Tom Kuhn Turbo Discs (1999): the only pads made of cloth, with patented fibers that interact with the string. The YoYo Wiki notes that 3M Durapore medical tape works the same way.^[8][158]
• Duncan Friction Stickers (2001): a thin layer of rubber over black adhesive fabric, first on the original Freehand (in white rubber at first). They grip hard when new and fade as the rubber wears away. Small-bearing only, 12 mm inner diameter. Duncan also made longer-lasting Looping Stickers, Silicone Stickers, and SG Stickers for silicone grooves. Around 2017 Duncan discontinued Friction Stickers and threw out the remaining warehouse stock.^[8]
• Dif Pads (August 2003): Frank Difeo’s rubber-like pads, standard in every Dif-e-Yo from 2003 on and a favorite swap for making other yo-yos less responsive. They come thin (.015″) and thick (.03″); thick pads stick farther into the gap, so they are more responsive. Large and .555 sizes. In 2015 Dif-e-Yo added silicone Dif-Binders with the Gladiator Slave.^[8]
• Baz Pads and Chaz Pads: Bazmonkey made Baz Pads from Plasti Dip rubber coating. Charles Schluer’s Chaz Pads updated the idea in the .555 size. They went out of production, then came back briefly in 2017 in an extra-thick version for the Core Co Alleycat.^[8]
• Core Co Response Pads: the Alleycat was designed around Duncan Friction Stickers, but they disappeared mid-production. The first runs shipped with Chaz Pads, which weren’t as grippy, so Core Co made its own replacement.^[8][161]
• Kentaro, K-Pads, and CBC pads: YoYoFactory team member Kentaro Kimura made textured rubber Kentaro (“Kimu”) Pads, then silicone K-Pads. The Central Bearing Company, YoYoFactory, and Kimura later produced CBC pads in Large Slim (19 mm), Large Broad (21 mm), Small, and Mighty Flea sizes.^[8]
• IrPads: handmade pink silicone pads by 2007 East Japan 1A champion Ryosuke Iwasawa, made in more sizes and thicknesses than any other pad.^[8]
• Ghost Pads and carbon fiber: Paul Yath made clear pads from flowable silicone, plus carbon fiber stickers that some players avoided over worries they could cut string.^[8]

Niche response tricks and mods

• Hybrid response: YoYoJam popularized one O-ring on one side and a starburst on the other.^[178]
• Cut your own reverse starburst: because it’s just radial grooves, players cut them into plastic and metal yo-yos with a sharp tool; the original Henrys Viper was a common target.^[178]
• Worn-out starbursts: a starburst molded into soft plastic can wear away and can’t be replaced; the Team Losi Cherry Bomb was known for it.^[178]
• Homemade pads: before silicone took over around 2005, players cut Brake Pads down into their own friction stickers.^[178]
• A lube port: the Came-Yo Mondial had a hole in the axle hub so you could inject thick lube with a syringe without unscrewing it.^[178]
• Recessing mods: modders lathe a pocket so pads sit flush, like Takeshi Kamisato’s recessed Freehand Zero.^[178]
• Electrodynamic bearings: a bearing that uses eddy currents from a rotor spinning in a magnet field, with no active controller, supplied by Magnetal AB.^[2]

Odd pads: non-standard but interesting

• YoYoFactory’s early Redline yo-yos came with three sticker materials: pencil-eraser rubber, three-ply river-raft material, and faux belt leather.^[8]
• Chu Pads were thin plastic, thinner than a thin Dif Pad, for just a hint of response.^[8]
• Shinwoo’s 2010 pads are reversible: flat on one side, starburst on the other, so you flip them to change response.^[8]
• Henrys’ Gecko Pads click into place with no adhesive but fit only Henrys yo-yos.^[8]
• Even Bandai’s motorized Hyper Infinity had replaceable rubber pads.^[8]

Replacing pads

1. Unscrew the yo-yo and find the response groove around the bearing seat.^[1]
2. Clean the groove with a cotton swab to remove debris and old adhesive.^[1]
3. Press in a new pad, sticky side down, so it sits flush.^[1]

DIY: flowable silicone

Flowable silicone is a windshield and glass sealant sold at auto parts and hardware stores. YoYoExpert sells a Permatex tube for yo-yos.^[42]

1. Fill the response groove with flowable silicone and smooth it out.^[42]
2. Wipe off the excess carefully.^[42][30]
3. Let it cure about 12–24 hours, longer when humid, before playing.^[42][31]

• Clear flowable vs. red RTV: players find clear flowable easier and less messy. Red high-temperature RTV is stickier, harder to apply, and has a strong vinegar smell.^[29][30]
• Less response: some players prefer Permatex Ultra Grey for a very unresponsive bind.^[31]
• Save the tube: push a screw into the nozzle before it dries, then pull it out next time.^[29]
• Other options: some players have used bathroom silicone caulk successfully.^[28]

String

Materials and history

• Cotton: the traditional material, still best for beginners and responsive play.^[5][54] Classic manufacturers long used cotton string.^[20]
• Slick / 50-50: cotton blended with polyester or nylon; more durable.^[5]
• 100% polyester: the choice of professionals today for smooth, unresponsive play.^[53][14]
• Nylon and rayon: soft, springy synthetics; rayon is very durable.^[5][36]

Niche materials: non-standard but interesting

• Kevlar blends: commercial Kevlar string has generally been a blend. YoYoExpert’s #82 Kevlar is 8 strands of polyester to 2 of Kevlar, and Twisted Stringz sold a blend players describe as roughly a third Kevlar. Players find it coarse and stiff but report it outlasts regular polyester by a wide margin.^{[171][172][5]}
• Silk: made by hand by a few players. It is very dense and extremely whippy when new, breaks in after about two hours of throwing, then plateaus, and stretches about 5 cm on a 140 cm string. Fans call it great for slacks; good silk thread is hard to source.^[169][170]
• Wooly nylon: a dense, elastic thread that string makers twist into slack-focused strings.^[173]
• Nylon blends: premium blends like Zipline’s Skyline III are soft, heavy for fast slacks, and long-lasting, at a higher price.^[173]
• Lab experiments: in 2006, string maker YoYoFargo tried Kevlar, monofilament nylon (“Rigid Minis,” whose first batch shrank to about three feet), and bonded nylon (dropped because it gave players a rash).^[162]
• Braided fishing line: one player’s 2019 test found it slick and great for whips and slacks, with almost no stretch but terrible binds. Twisting one pass of braid with polyester fixed the binds.^[174]
• Hemp: at least one fixed-axle player twists their own hemp string.^[175]
• Left-handed string is twisted the opposite way, and before thickness numbers existed, the only alternative to ordinary string was Tom Kuhn’s slightly thinner string.^[5]

Thickness: string is described by its strand count. Type 8 (4×2) is the common standard; types 6 (3×2) and 9 (3×3) are favored for unresponsive play.^[5] Kitty String and others also sell “fat” string.^[55]

Colors: neon yellow and white are the most popular because they are easy to see; lime green is a close second. Twisted colorways help you see string tension.^[34][35][53]

Care

• Replace string when it frays, gets dirty or stiff, or has a tight knot near the bearing.^[1][5]
• Store yo-yos with the string unwound to keep it springy.^[5]
• If the string twists up when slack, fix the tension: throw a UFO across your body to loosen or the other way to tighten.^[6]

DIY: make your own string

String makers twist thread with a drill on a simple rig. The YoYoExpert mega-thread’s basic recipe:^[36]

1. Set two anchors 12 feet apart and wrap thread between them 6–8 times. More wraps make a thicker string.
2. Hook the thread to a drill and spin it, letting it shorten about 10–15% (“reduction”) while keeping it taut.
3. Double it over a center anchor placed at half the reduced length, still taut, and let it twist together. Reverse the drill to relieve torsion.
4. Cut, knot, and tie it to length on your yo-yo.

• Spun polyester: cheap, soft, many neon colors; wears out fairly fast.^[36]
• Trilobal polyester: lasts a very long time and whips well, but feels coarse.^[36]
• Textured nylon: very soft and springy; weaker for whips and slacks.^[36]
• Even colors: pre-twist each color before spinning them together.^[37]

Counterweights (5A)

A counterweight is a small weight tied to the end of the string where your finger would go. In freehand (5A) you throw it hand to hand, bounce it off your body, and wrap it around the yo-yo as part of the trick.^[63][71]

History

• 1998 Slippery Eel, freehand with no weight, is popular with Team High Performance. Its limits push Steve Brown toward a counterweight.
• 1999 Brown debuts freehand at the Bay Area Classic, playing a Team Losi Cherry Bomb he helped design.
• 2000 Brown files a patent for a yo-yo with a fixed or sliding counterweight. It is assigned to Duncan’s parent company, Flambeau.
• 2001 The Duncan Freehand, the first yo-yo made for 5A, ships with a red casino-style die, rounded and drilled for the string.
• Later Bouncy-ball counterweights arrive with yo-yos like the Throw Monkey.
• 2011 YoYoJam licenses Takeshi Dice, with a ball bearing inside to adjust string tension instantly and a small “Astro” bead.
• 2015 Jake Elliott’s delrin UltraWeight, with an internal bearing, wins the World 5A title.
• 2020 The counterweight patent expires. Until then, other companies needed a license from Duncan.

Sources: 1998, the YoYo Wiki^[59]; 1999, Wikipedia and the YoYo Wiki^[73][65]; 2000, the patent^[74][71]; 2001, the Freehand 1^[64][63]; later years through 2015, the YoYo Wiki^[63]; 2020, Wikipedia^[71][63].

How heavy?

Most players like a counterweight about one-sixth the weight of the yo-yo, so a 60–70g yo-yo pairs with a 10–11g weight.^[59] Steve Brown has been quoted favoring a 7-to-1 ratio.^[63] Forum players put the typical range at 10–13g and 2–3cm across.^[79]

Dedicated products

• Duncan Double Dice: a small cube that slides inside a larger die shell, for regular or sliding play; 10.8g.^[92]
• Candy Dice: designed by 5A pioneer Shingo Terada. A grooved design lets you switch between 5A and 1A without removing the string, and the Pro Comet adds a bearing for string tension.^[93]
• Doc Pop Pawn: a simple machined plastic counterweight with a through-hole.^[94]

DIY: dice, balls, and erasers

1. Pick a weight. Weigh dice before you drill; cheap bulk dice can be only 3–5.5g. A small digital scale helps.^[80]
2. Drill or groove it. Drill a hole through the die, or file a groove around its middle for the slipknot. One player has used a filed-groove die for 14 years without it slipping.^[79]
3. Mark first. Trace a line with a marker so you stay centered. File the edges first, then the flats, and go shallow all the way around before deepening the groove to your string’s thickness.^[79]
4. Test it. A 20-sided game die came out about 10g after filing a groove. A d20 plus a d6 on one string reached 10–11g.^[80]

DIY: 3D-printed counterweights

• Free models are shared online, and your local library may have a 3D printer you can use for free.^[79]
• Examples on Printables include a Lattice Cube with a shock-absorbing lattice^[102] and a Bath Duck.^[103] Browse more under the yoyo tag.^[104]
• Coloring prints: all-purpose dye works on printed counterweights. Permanent marker rubs off on your hands unless sealed.^[81]

Knot Picks and Tools

Knots that jam around the bearing are part of the hobby, especially in 3A.^[71] The easy fixes are to unscrew the yo-yo, or just put on a new string.^[82]

Dedicated tools

• Duncan Yo-Tility Holster: a belt-loop holster that is also a bearing removal tool and string cutter.^[95]
• Bearing removal tools pull a bearing without scratching it.^[58] Some pocket multitools add a hex key and a pick.^[84]
• String pickers from yo-yo brands are popular, though some are too thick for narrow fixed-axle gaps.^[82]

DIY and household picks

• Wooden toothpicks: cheap and disposable.^[82][83][84]
• The plastic toothpick from a Swiss Army knife.^[83][84]
• Thin bamboo knitting needles (US 1, 2.25mm) for small gaps and fixed axles; also plastic yarn needles.^[82]
• A sewing seam ripper, thin enough for most gaps.^[82]
• Nylon zip ties, a 0.5mm mechanical pencil tip, or tweezers.^[83][82]

Go easy with metal. Sharp needles and paper clips work, but players worry they will scratch anodized finishes. One maker uses soft aluminum wire for that reason.^[84][82]

3D-printed picks and tools

• A free Yo-yo String Pick on Printables has a hook for pulling up trapped string; the designer prefers it printed at 125% scale.^[101]
• One player shared a Tinkercad design that clips a printed knot pick to a bearing removal tool’s keychain hole, for about a cent of filament.^[85]
• A printable “yo-yo string knotter” ties slipknots at the same length every time, handy for 2A and 3A pairs.^[107]

Cases and Holders

Holders and holsters

• Clip holders: a carabiner and elastic band clip a yo-yo to your bag or belt loop.^[96]
• Throw-strap: a strap with a wooden bead and metal clasp, inspired by kendama and yo-yo holsters.^[97]
• Utility holster: Duncan’s Yo-Tility adds a bearing tool and string cutter.^[95]

DIY: a paracord holder

One player built a holder from a carabiner, paracord from a sporting goods store, and a drilled 12-sided die, for under $5 in materials. The top is a cobra stitch and the pouch is a sling weave.^[86] Cobra knots take only a few minutes to learn from video tutorials.^[87] Another player paired a carabiner with a begleri.^[86]

Cases

• Soft case: Duncan’s bag (10 × 7.5 × 2.5 in) has foam channels for up to 12 yo-yos.^[98]
• Hard case: the iYoYo case holds up to six yo-yos, plus a zippered pouch for parts and string.^[99]
• Parts: the Capso box is 57mm across, sized to fit a case slot, for string, bearings, and pads.^[100]

DIY cases

• Repurpose a hard case: players use microphone cases and Pelican-style cases, cutting yo-yo pockets in the foam.^[88]
• Cut clean circles: use the rim of a clean, cut-open deodorant can or a tomato paste can as a foam cutter.^[88]
• Divided storage boxes with packing foam cut to fit also work.^[89]
• Traveling light: put each yo-yo in a clean sock, or pack a clean chip can or tennis ball tube with foam between yo-yos.^[89]
• 3D print it: one maker printed a foam-free case that holds yo-yos with stretchy cords.^[90] Thingiverse has a Yo-Yo Holder that doubles as a display, and two print together into a case.^[105] Browse more under the yoyo holder tag.^[106]
• Display: a hanging sock organizer makes a wall display.^[91]

Before you buy a big case, Ed Haponik suggests asking how many yo-yos you really need to bring.^[89]

More DIY Accessories

Players on the YoYoExpert forum have shared plenty of low-cost gear made from things around the house.^[91]

• Holsters: small bungee cords and carabiners.^[91]
• Pouches: leather or crocheted.^[91]
• Hard cases: an old lunchbox, a guitar flight case, or a modular toolbox, with hobby foam. Cut holes by slotting the foam with a knife around a yo-yo template, or press a can rim into it. One player planned to try a cookie cutter.^[91]
• Counterweights: small toy figures with a drilled hole, a squishy toy that matched a die’s weight, or soft “gummy” weights cast from recycled plastisol.^[91]
• Begleri: players make their own sets, and some string counterweights together.^[91][147]
• Stands and displays: leftover acrylic, 3D prints, or wood.^[91]
• Bearing cleaning tool: a small 3-volt motor with a 3D-printed bearing holder.^[91]
• Workbench: a mini jeweler’s vise on a slab of wood makes a portable mod and maintenance station.^[91]
• History project: one player made an 18th-century-style bandalore set with a matching bag and braided cord. See The Story of the Yo-Yo.^[91]

Drilling, heat tools, and hobby knives need an adult.

Mods, Spacers, and Shims

Players have long modified stock yo-yos, and many mods became standard features later, like recessed response.^[9]

• Recessing: cutting a pocket so pads sit flush and don’t rub the string.^[9][7]
• Siliconing: filling an O-ring groove or recess with silicone.^[9]
• Bearing swaps: for example, adding a KonKave bearing.^[9]
• Shims: thin rings on each side of the bearing that widen the gap for less response. Cardboard or plastic shims are recommended because metal ones can get stuck.^[10] 3D-printed shims are fragile, so don’t overtighten.^[57]
• Spacers: pieces that seat the bearing on the axle; swapping widths changes the gap.^[11] Duncan’s Mod Spacers (2012) let players change a yo-yo’s response and body shape.^[12]
• Sanding: for a smoother “grind” surface; see below.^[9][13]

Want to go further? See 3D printing your own yo-yo.

Cleaning, Polishing, and Dings

Cleaning the body

Remove the axle and bearing, then wipe the yo-yo with a soft cloth, a drop of mild dish soap, and warm water. Rinse with a damp cloth and let it air dry.^[38] Monkeyfinger Buff brightens anodized finishes and leaves a slick surface for grinds.^[56][38]

Know the damage

A ding is a dent you can feel, from hitting something hard. Pinpricks are tiny dings, often in clusters. A scuff is surface marking that usually doesn’t break the anodizing.^[41]

Smoothing dings

• You can smooth a ding, but you can’t restore anodized color without removing the finish.^[39]
• Players knock down sharp edges with a small file, even a nail file, then smooth with fine sandpaper.^[39]
• To fully strip and polish a metal yo-yo, one guide spins it on a drill and works through sandpaper from about 80 to 250 grit, then 0000 steel wool, scratch remover, and metal polish.^[40]
• Sanding at low speed on a drill gives a satin “grind” finish; lower grits leave fine lines.^[13]
• Or keep the war scars. Plenty of players do.^[39]

Lingo, Finishes, and Collecting

The words players use in reviews and on buy/sell/trade (BST) boards, plus the finishes, grades, and records you’ll run into once you start collecting.

Vibe

Vibe is vibration you feel through the string while the yo-yo spins. It usually comes from the two halves being out of alignment. Most modern yo-yos are machined so precisely that vibe is far less common than it was 10 or 20 years ago.^[179]

• Causes: hard drops that bend the axle or bearing seat; materials like wood and plastic that can’t be machined as precisely as metal; and bimetals, whose extra parts add more places for error. Very thin walls with heavy rims can vibe by design.^[179]
• Halves matter less than you’d think: in a 2018 forum experiment, halves from two different yo-yos, with very different weights, spun smoothly together, pointing to alignment and axle fit as the bigger factors.^[179]
• A common fix: players often wrap the axle in Teflon tape, which can absorb some of the vibe from a loose axle fit.^[179]
• B-grades: yo-yos sold at a discount for anodizing flaws or vibe.^[188] Some brands mark them: YoYoFactory with a “B grade” stamp, CLYW with “Fool’s Gold” or pickaxes, SPYY with “star grade.” Players warn that unmarked B-grades sometimes get resold as new.^[187]

“Floaty” and other feel words

“Floaty” describes a yo-yo that feels light and drifts through tricks, as opposed to one that feels heavy and sluggish or light and fast. Weight distribution matters as much as total weight: some heavy yo-yos feel floaty.^[180] One physics-minded explanation: pushing mass toward the rims (a higher moment of inertia) gives a denser “presence” on the string, while a designer can make a yo-yo floatier by taking mass off the rims or spreading it out.^[181] See the Science page for moment of inertia.

Size classes

There is no official standard, and players disagree by a millimeter or two. One commonly cited forum breakdown by diameter:^[182]

Another player in the same thread drew the lines differently (full-size at 56–57.5 mm, oversized at 58 mm and up), and some small yo-yos “play big.”^[182]

Fingerspins and hubstacks

• Fingerspin dimples: a small cup in the hub lets you balance the spinning yo-yo on a fingertip. Jeffrey Pang’s MagicYoYo Skyva made it easy to “lock in” a fingerspin; he credits earlier ideas like YoYoJam’s lateral caps and the AnY Air Rider’s advertised dimple.^[183]
• Hubstacks (side cap bearings): bearings on the hubs, covered by caps, that you can grab while the yo-yo keeps spinning. Modders started it; Frank Difeo “bearingized” his Spike-Fly into the Gladiator; the AnY MiRoC was the first mass-produced version (its caps had trouble staying on); then YoYoFactory’s G5 named them “hubstacks.”^[184]
• One Drop Side Effects: swappable axle caps that change weight and look; see the Science page for why they were never patented.

Colorways and finishes

• Solid, fade, and masked: fades are dipped partway into dye; masked designs are dyed, masked, stripped with bleach in the open areas, then dyed again.^[185]
• Splash and acid wash: “acid wash” strips color from a splashed area, sometimes with acid and sometimes with bleach. It can blend two colors or put one color over raw metal.^[185][186]
• Stripping anodizing: a yo-yo maker on the forum recommends oven cleaner or a commercial stripper; sandblasting removes metal and changes the texture.^[186]
• See the Science page for rare body materials and Cleaning, Polishing, and Dings for care.

Fakes and budget brands

Counterfeit copies of popular metal yo-yos, notably YoYoRecreation models, have been sold on BST boards, and players wrote authentication guides in response.^[189] Players separate knockoffs from legitimate budget brands, and a common piece of advice is to buy inexpensive yo-yos from reputable companies that support the community.^[190]

World records and collectors

• AYYA world records come in Open, Junior (14 and under), and Masters (50 and up). The yo-yo must be commercially available and unmodified, though tuning like new string, lube, or bearings is allowed, and the string must be 32–42 inches.^[191]
• Listed records include “Fast Eddy” McDonald’s 8,437 loops in one hour (Toronto, 1990) and a 30-minute 28-second transaxle sleeper by Wang Wai Sheuk Simpson at the 2012 Worlds.^[191]
• Hans Van Dan Elzen (“Yohans”), owner of Playmaxx and YoYoFactory, set a Guinness record of 54 tricks in one minute in 2005 with a YoYoFactory FAST 201.^[192]
• Doc “Lucky” Meisenheimer holds the Guinness record for the largest yo-yo collection, wrote a collector’s guide to 20th-century yo-yos, directs the National Yo-Yo Hall of Fame, and coined “bandalorist” for a yo-yo collector.^[193]

Quick Troubleshooting

Work through it in order: pads, then bearing lube, then string. Most problems fall into one of those three.^[1] Download the full DMV Throwers Maintenance Guide.