Yo-Yo Setup of the Month: Duncan Freakhand

May has been a rather gloomy month, and what better way to round off the month than with a gloomy, freakish yo-yo, the Duncan Freakhand!

The Freakhand is a beast when it comes to 5A, or Freehand, play. Let us take a look at how we chose to set it up, and the little adjustments we made to ensure our Freakhand played to exactly how we wanted it to.

Freakhand

The Duncan Freakhand is essential a Freehand 2010, the updated version of the popular Freehand yo-yo from Duncan. The Freakhand, just like the Freehand 2010, comes with the highly requested 'Sticker Recessed' response, that allows the yo-yo to be smoother on the string, as well as slightly more unresponsive as compared to the original Freehand from back in the day. Specially built for 5A play, the Freakhand is one of the best, full plastic, 5A yo-yos on the market today.

The Freakhand may have scary graphics on its sidecaps, but do not let that scare you away from throwing it. The Freakhand comes in translucent colors that really makes the yo-yo look cool and semi-transparent. Don't you just love it when you can look through a yo-yo and check out the entire 'inner-workings' of your yo-yo? Well, we do!

Looking at the gap view of the Freakhand, we can see that the shape is the exact same as the Freehand from back in the day. With its nice, round Butterfly shaped body, the Freakhand is comfortable in hand, and plays great. For our 5A setup, we chose to go with a nice, rubber, bouncy ball instead of a dice for the nice cushioning it provides.

Now let us take a look at what is on the inside!

The Freakhand is awesome just the way it is even when it is stock. However, we chose to set it up a little differently than when it came out of the package to maximize the potential it has for tough 5A tricks.

The string we chose to use for the Freakhand is the 100% Polyester Normal Yellow Kitty Strings.

As for the Pads, we chose to stick to the stock Friction Stickers. However, we wore them in halfway, to ensure that they are nice and unresponsive, yet still have tight and reliable binds.

The Bearing we chose is the Size A (Small) Konkave bearing, to keep the string centered throughout the entire 5A tricks that we were practicing.

With all these chosen settings, the Freakhand played oh-so nice and smooth!

Here is a close up shot of our rubber bouncy ball, the Size A Konkave bearing and the Freakhand halves. For a yo-yo that is cheap and affordable, the Freakhand really gives you more bang for your buck.

Here, you can see the recessed area of the Friction Sticker, as well as the worn Friction Sticker that makes the yo-yo play so good.

Remember, the Freakhand is a great 5A yo-yo. However, do not under estimate its ability to perform 1A tricks as well. What is the difference between setting it up for 1A and 5A you may ask? Well just take a look at the image above. If you want to set it up for 5A, tie the Counterweight to the string and viola. If not, just set it up the same as all your other 1A yo-yos for a superb Single Handed tricks yo-yo.

The Freakhand is definitely no push-over. A definite worthwhile throw for both 1A and 5A. That's our yo-yo setup for the month of May! Next month shall be even better, and just to recap our yo-yo of the month, here it is.

Freakhand

1) Duncan Freakhand
2) Duncan Friction Stickers
3) 100% Polyester Normal Yellow Kitty Strings
4) Dif-e-yo Small (Size A) Konkave Bearing

And that is our Yo-Yo Setup of the Month. Stay tuned for the next installment. But wait! We are not done yet. We shall leave you with a video of the Freakhand's TWIN brother, the Freehand 2010, that was played straight out of the package to prove that this yo-yo is awesome without even needing to change anything. Enjoy!

Once again, do let us know YOUR Yo-Yo Setup of the Month. Drop us a comment below, leave us a message on our Facebook Page with the title - My Yo-Yo Setup of the Month, or tag your setup with a picture on our Instagram Page, with #spinworkx #yoyoofthemonth. 

Till next time, 

Super Squirrel Go Go Go!~

Later~

Spinworkx on your Favorite Social Media sites

Hey all,

if you don't already know, you can find us on all your favorite Social Media outlets.
Do follow us on all of them!

www.facebook.com/spinworkx.sg

www.youtube.com/user/spinworkx

www.twitter.com/Spinworkx

www.instagram.com/spinworkxsg

vine://user/948490942200053760 (You must have Vine to view this)

Keep in touch with us through any of these Social Media platforms!

Keep Spinning!~

Spinworkx First Mount #8 - Sidestyle 1.5 Mount

What is more difficult than a Trapeze, but less difficult than a Double or Nothing?

Hmm…something in between?

That is almost what the Sidestyle 1.5 Mount is. Well, 1.5 is in between 1 and 2 yes!

Many players use the Sidestyle 1.5 Mount as a starting point of their long combos. This Mount is used in advanced tricks like Buddhas Revenge, White Buddha, White Buddha 2, etc, and will be commonly seen in many 1A combos. The Sidestyle 1.5 Mount got its name from it being partway between a Trapeze and a Double or Nothing, and from the Sidestyle 1.5 Mount, players are able to transit from this to many different Mounts.

So here is how you perform the Sidestyle 1.5 Mount.

First, throw a solid, straight Breakaway and allow the yo-yo to swing around your non-throw hand index finger.

When it is coming around your index finger, do not land the yo-yo onto the string like a Trapeze, but allow the string to continue swinging around and land on the top of your throw hand index finger, just like a Double or Nothing.

Once the string lands on your throw hand index finger, allow the yo-yo to swing around your index finger and hit the very same string segment that the yo-yo is connected to and 'drop' into a Mount.

When the yo-yo has come to a stop, nestled on the string on your throw hand index finger, this Mount is called the Sidestyle 1.5 Mount.

There you have it, the popular Sidestyle 1.5 Mount!

A few pointers to take note of when learning the Sidestyle 1.5 Mount:

1) Always tuck in all the fingers of both hands that are not being used to perform the Mount. (In this case, all your fingers except both index fingers)

2) Allow the momentum of the Breakaway to carry/swing the yo-yo around your index fingers and into the string leading up to the Mount.

3) If you find that you are always landing the yo-yo onto the wrong string, remember to tuck in your fingers other than your index finger, thus separating the 2 strings from each other.

4) Remember to aim the yo-yo to hit the string you want it to go to and not to just swing the yo-yo around your index finger for the sake of swinging it.

Upon mastering the Sidestyle 1.5 Mount, we would encourage you to have a look at the trick known as Buddhas Revenge, and practice that.

That wraps up #8 of the Spinworkx First Mount Project.

If you have any questions or feedback, drop us a note here, or leave us a message on our Facebook Page.

Till the next First Mount post,

Keep Spinning!~

Asia Pacific Yo-Yo Championships 2013

AP 2013 Webpage

AP 2013 Registration

The Asia Pacific Yo-Yo Championships, the BIGGEST Spinning event in the Asia Pacific region is back and is coming very soon. Check out the webpage above, or submit your registration for AP 2013 soon. We are looking forward to seeing all our friends from all over Asia and the Pacific region here in Singapore once again for AP!

Where: Bugis+, Singapore

When: 12-14 July 2013

With: Jointly organised with the Singapore Street Festival

Are you ready for AP 2013?

If your answer to that question is no, you don't have much time left to prepare yourself.

Practice hard, be creative and have fun!

See everyone in Singapore soon and keep Spinning!~

Singapore Yo-Yo Championships 2013

SYYC 2013 Webpage

SYYC 2013 Registration

The 11th Singapore Yo-Yo Championships is around the corner, and we are gearing up towards both SYYC and AP 2013! Do check out the SYYC webpage for all the details, rules, seeds, etc for this years Championships.

Where: Bugis+, Singapore
When: 12-14 July 2013
With: Jointly organised with the Singapore Street Festival

Do register early for SYYC 2013 to make use of the early bird discount!

Practice hard for the event, and always keep spinning!
See y'all soon!

Spinworkx Around the World: Korea

Have you ever been to Korea?

If your answer to that question is NO, then it is time to do so.
Korea has been a really unique and interesting experience for us. We visited many of the famous tourist locales such as the Namdaemun Market, N Seoul Tower, the famous Namsam Locks of Love Park, Seoul Station / Seoul Square and more.

Here are some of the places we journeyed to and we hope you enjoy the pictures of the sights we took in. Moreover, there is a little 'Spot where we are' in 2 of the images below. Can you see us?

Thanks Korea for the lovely sights, sounds and tastes (gotta love Kimchi!), and see you again soon!

Spotlight Player: Ian Loh

Ian is definitely one of the up-and-coming 1A Spinners here in Singapore. Not only are his tricks improving daily, his friendly, cheerful and infectiously-smiley attitude will be sure to win you over in no time. Ian, at the moment still in the Spinner Division, practices hard on perfecting his own style and tricks, and without a doubt, Ian will be moving on up to the Professional Division in no time, to compete with the big boys! When you see Ian competing with the top 1A players here in Singapore in the near future, don't say we didn't call it first.

Name: Ian Loh

D.O.B.: 17 September 1999

Country: Singapore

Handed: Right

Style of play: 1A

Number of years Spinning: 2 years

Sponsor: N/A

Favorite yo-yo: Yoyofactory Genesis, Yoyorecreation Sleipnir

Other Hobbies: Watching videos on YouTube

Favorite color: Black

Favorite Spinners: Yuuki Spencer, Wong Kin Kwan, Malcolm Chiu

Why yo-yos?

"I get to make new friends and meet foreign players from all around the world!"

Here is one of Ian's favorite tricks:

Spinworkx Store at Orchard Central: From Start to Finish

Just a few days ago (30 April 2013), we officially opened the Spinworkx Store (our new home) at Orchard Central, Singapore. It has been a good 5 years at Suntec City and now, we found a new place we call home.

From the end of February to the middle of March and all the way to April, our new home had to undergo renovations, touch-ups and all. Here, we document the entire process, the journey of how it got to what you see now at Orchard Central.

We hope that someday, all Spinners around the world will get to come and visit us here in Orchard Central, Singapore, and learn (or teach) us a trick or 2!