Classic Yoyo Tricks

Beginner Yoyo Tricks

How to Throw a Lindy Loop Yoyo Trick

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A lindy loop is like a double trapeze. In fact, it’s not like it, that’s exactly what it is.

When you throw a lindy loop, you’re going to start with a trapeze and then follow it with another trapeze.

This yoyo trick is not to be confused with a double or nothing. There’s no multiple wrap around motion like the one you’ll see in a double or nothing. When you throw a lindy loop, you throw a trapeze, and then flip the yoyo over again so that it’s another trapeze, then double it off the string and back to the palm of your hand.

This video will show in you in real time and then in slow motion. If you’ve got a trapeze down, throw a lindy loop, and add a little flare to your yoyoing.

Yoyo Trick: How to Throw a Pinwheel

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A pinwheel is kind of like a hybrid between a breakaway and a trapeze. To throw a pinwheel, you want to start off by throwing a breakaway.

After you’ve done this, stick your finger out as if you were throwing a trapeze. However, instead of catching the yoyo on the string, you are going to let the yoyo swing around the string 3 times in a circular fashion by using your index finger and the string.

After the yoyo has completed its rotations, simply bring it back to the palm of your hand.

This video shows you how to do just that and gets up close on the finger movement so there’s no confusion.

You can do a pinwheel in front of you instead of a sideways one like we demonstrate here, but be careful…it’s an easy way to whack yourself in the head. The sideways pinwheel will eliminate this risk.

How to Rock the Baby

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Rock the baby is a traditional yoyo trick, and a really fun one to do once you’ve mastered the sleeper. It’s a popular trick, so it’s inevitable that whenever you are around people, someone will ask you to do this trick. You could do a difficult trick like The Matrix, and someone still would say “cool man, can you rock the baby?” So, it’s definitely a crowd pleaser.

Here’s how you do it: First, throw a sleeper. Then grab the string with your free hand. Next, use your yoyo fingering hand and grab the string about five inches above the yoyo. This will make an upside down triangle shape.

Flip that triangle right side up, and use your free hand to push the triangle out, creating the base. Swing the yoyo back and forth between the triangle a few times. Then when you’re done, release back into a sleeper and wake the yoyo up.

If you need practice, the nice thing about this trick is that you can practice making the triangle shape with a dead yoyo. You can do that first and then once you get used to the motion, practice it with a sleeping yoyo.

This is a great trick to learn. We’ll show you how to make the triangle step by step in this video as well.

How to Throw a Breakaway Yoyo Trick

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The breakaway is a foundation trick. It’s going to lead to lots of other tricks, so you definitely want to learn it.

This trick is basically part of an around the world, except you throw a semi-circle in front of you. So throw the yoyo out to the side, let it sleep, sweep it around in a semi-circle and then let it come back to your hand.

This foundation trick will lead to learning tricks like a trapeze or a double or nothing, so make sure to practice this well.

Yoyo Trick: How to Throw Around The Corner

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Start by sleeping the yoyo. Then place the string behind your elbow. When you do this, the yoyo should hang behind your arm. Use your free hand to pluck the string. This will wake the yoyo up, and it will swing back around over your elbow, and you will catch it.

That’s all there is to it. We’ll demonstrate in this video and show you the trick in slow motion, too.

How to Throw the Around the World Yoyo Trick

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The around the world is a great trick to learn.

To throw an around the world, you want to throw a forward pass, but when the yoyo gets to the end, it’s going to stay asleep. From there, you want to swing the yoyo all the way around in a big circle while the yoyo sleeps the whole way around.

When you’ve made a full rotation, jerk on the string and return the yoyo back to your hand.

It’s got to sleep the entire way to be an around the world, so make sure the yoyo is sleeping. It’s that easy.

How to Throw a Forward Pass Yoyo Trick

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The forward pass is a great beginner trick to learn, because the basic motion of a forward pass leads to many other looping style tricks, such as an around the world.

A good way to think of a forward pass is a variation on the gravity pull, only you are throwing the yoyo out in front of you and using your wrist as well.

To throw a forward pass, you are basically throwing the yoyo out and letting it come back to you. Throw it out in front of you with your palm facing the ground. As the yoyo extends, flip your hand over to where the palm is facing upward and tug on the string to have the yoyo come back to you.

The basic motion is: out, over, and back.

And that’s how you throw the forward pass! It’s a relatively simple trick, which we take you step by step through in this video. This will help you later on with some other looping style tricks.

How to Do The Sleeper Yoyo Trick

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The sleeper is the next trick you want to attempt after you’ve learned how to do the gravity pull. The sleeper is the basis for many yoyo tricks. It’s basically where you throw the yoyo down, and as the string is fully extended, the yoyo stays in place and spins.

Throwing a sleeper is easy. First, throw the yoyo down like you normally would. Right before the yoyo hits the maximum length of the string, you want to sort of pull your hand and pad the landing. That way the yoyo won’t land in a violent fashion and it will “sleep” while it spins.

When you’re ready to have the yoyo return to your hand, just give the string a tug and “wake it back up.”

If your string is too tight, a sleeper might be hard to attempt. Let your string go to neutral and then re-wind it around the axis of the yoyo and give it another shot. This should correct the problem.

Once you’ve got the sleeper down, mess around with it. See how long you can make it sleep. You’ll find later on that many yoyo tricks build off of throwing a basic sleeper, so this trick is ideal to learn.

How to do the Gravity Pull Yoyo Trick

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The most basic trick of a yoyo is the gravity pull. This is the trick you think of when you think of a yo-yo. You throw the yoyo down, and then it pops right back up into your hand. This video demonstrates how to throw it, and we’ll also take you step by step through it here.

Throwing the gravity pull is a simple yoyo trick. First, make sure the slip knot is put securely around your middle finger. You want the yoyo to sit in the middle of your hand.

Next, throw the yoyo so it rolls right off of your hand.

Once the yoyo has reached the end of the string, flip your hand over and give a little pull on the string upward.

This will return the yoyo back to your hand.

Once you’ve completed this, you’ve mastered your first yoyo trick, the gravity pull. Now it’s on to more and more tricks from here!