What it is to BIND!

What defines a player who can throw responsive yo-yos from one who can play unresponsive?  

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Definition:

Responsive - A style in which the yo-yo can come up to the hand with a tug.

Unresponsive - A more advanced style where the player has to use a technique called a bind to bring the yoyo back to the hand

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Many will answer that question by stating that a player who throws unresponsive must be able to bind. Unfortunately, this answer causes new players to focus on the bind, and forget about the many building blocks that help to develop their yo-yo skills.

Firdaus demonstrating a bind

When a player first starts out, they will most likely be learning the basic level/Foundation 1 tricks(Foundation 1 tricks). While these tricks are not as cool but a ‘must learn’, most of them will help your control of a yo-yo, improving your 1A skills for unresponsive play. In this section, the tricks that will help most are the Long Sleeper and the Breakaway.  Without having nailed these, doing other tricks will be extremely difficult, practically impossible.

One of the many picture tricks.

The super level/Foundation 2 tricks(Foundation 2 tricks) include some of the most important tricks in yoyoing.  One of those tricks is Trapeze.  Many, many tricks are based off a Trapeze, and learning how to properly complete it opens a lot of doors for other tricks that you could learn.

Eli hops, one of the numerous tricks based off the Trapeze

Another big one in this section is Brain Twister. While it may not have as many tricks based off it as the Trapeze, it has elements that appear in Split the Atom, and even the Bind. Another cool thing about the Brain Twister is that it can be used in many original combos, once the player becomes more advance and comfortable with string tricks.

Firdaus executes the Brain Twister flawlessly.

The last level, the hyper level/Foundation 3(Foundation 3 tricks) includes some of the harder, yet oh-so important tricks. One of the important, slightly more advanced trick components that it has is the Split Bottom Mount. Three tricks on the list uses it, but there are tons of other tricks that incorporate the Split Bottom Mount. E.G. Ripcord and Boing Boing. Without the Split Bottom Mount, front style play will be greatly limited.

Double or Nothing is also a great trick to learn. It can be frustrating to learn at first, but is very rewarding once it has been mastered. The variations of Double or Nothing are also very cool. E.G. The Matrix or Cold Fusion.

Double or Nothing

Double or Nothing also shows up in Kwijibo.

Kwijibo - a trick that incorporates Double or Nothing.

The tricks aforementioned are very important to learn and master. It would be so frustrating to learn them using an unresponsive yoyo and having to bind. Imagine doing a Forward Pass, and then binding the yo-yo to have it return to your hand. Weird! 

Once these tricks have been mastered, then one should progress to learning the bind, and binding at the end of every advance trick. This will enable players to progress and learn more awesome tricks, like this:

A finger grind 

or this:

A slack trick

Once you have mastered the Foundation tricks, you can progress on to the Intermediate Level tricks, most of which require a bind!

Check them out here:

(Intermediate 1 tricks)

(Intermediate 2 tricks)

Remember, don’t cheat yourself! If you are not ready for unresponsive play, learn the Foundation tricks with a responsive yoyo before moving on to the harder stuff. It will save you a lot of trouble in the long run.

The Dark Magic(Unresponsive) or the Freehand Zero(Responsive) - Whats your choice?