James Johnson, Baton Rouge, LA
I am 50 years old and my love of the sport of Yo-Yo spans over four decades. From a young child, I was fascinated with this sport and as a result, I have been featured several times in the local papers and on local television showing off my 'ability'. Through the years my continued obsession with the sport never 'Yo-Yo'd'. Some of the best and most interesting parts of my life have revolved around Yo-Yoing, from doing it for pleasure to doing it for competition and meeting new, fun people along the way. In addition to my consuming passion for this sport, I offer the following accomplishments for nomination for the Board position:
Trained by Dale Oliver, Wayne Lundberg, Barney Akers, Gus Somera and Bill deBoisblanc.
Baton Rouge city champion, 1950s
Louisiana State champion, 1950s
Placed 4th & 5th in the National Championships in Chico in the 90s.
Yo-Yo instructor for over 7 years.
Hold Yo-Yo clinics for Scouts, youth groups, church groups, company picnics, birthday parties and anywhere else groups of people want to learn.
Manufacturer of wooden Yo-Yos customized for two handed looping.
Present distributor for various Yo-Yo manufacturers.
Thank you for your consideration of this application and I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to continue my love of Yo-Yoing by service to this association in the continued advancement of this sport.
Steve Speegle, Lodi, CA
My brother, John, and I were taught to Yo-Yo by our mother. I won my 1st patch in 1953 in Chico, CA. I continued competing through the following years and won the Chico City Championship in '59, '60, and '61. In 1960, I won the regional competition and placed 4th in the state and in '61, I won 2nd in the CA state championships.
After that, I had wanted to turn pro, but Bob Allen, my only contact left the Duncan Co. in 1961. I vowed to help others learn and enjoy the pleasure of the yo-yo and move it towards Olympic status.
As a motivation and guidance specialist, I taught thousands of kids to yo-yo in order to enhance self esteem. Thanks to Tom Kuhn, I picked up the yo-yo and began to talk about them and become more interested in yo-yo manufacturing, technology and history.
I started to pickup and save a few yo-yos and today, I have a collection of yo-yos and memorabilia with over 2000 items. By Jan. 1996, I plan to have my International exhibit open to the public.
I competed in the Nationals at Chico in 1992 and placed 2nd in the advanced division and won 1st in 1993. I then retired from competition and devoted my time to promoting yo-yo play and sponsored/produced the 1993 and 1994 California State Championships at Lodi. I became a Board Member of the AYYA and have been primarily concentrating on my exhibit.
John W. Stangle Jr.
Born in 1964, I am a Navy veteran employed by the Sonoma County Dept. of Health Services and have a wide background in Business Administration skills. I started playing with a yo-yo in December of 1993 and haven't put it down since. I got really enthused about the idea of yo-yoing as a sport and started entering and conducting contests in 1994. In the advanced division, I took 1st place in the Vacaville competition, 2nd place at the California State Championships in Lodi and in 1995 placed 4th in the National Championships at Chico.
I organized, promoted sponsors for, and got ESPN to come out and televise the 1995 West Coast Regional Competition in Santa Rosa, CA.
I have scheduled two major competitions for 1996. The California State Championship May 18th and the West Coast Regional Competition July 27th, both in Santa Rosa, CA.
I am also founder and president of the Willie Birds' Flyers Yo-yo club and I own 'Yo-topia', a yo-yo sales and promotional company. At the AYYA Board Meeting in Chico, Sept. 30th 1995, I volunteered and was appointed the committee head for promotion of sponsors for the AYYA.
I would be proud and happy to serve on the Board of Directors of the American Yo-Yo Association.
Hans Van Dan Elzen
No bio received from Hans. He is a student at ASU in Tempe, AZ and has a club going there. You might have seen him doing his Yo-thing on MTV.
The 'Sweet Side' Every Yo-Yo player that has gotten into string tricks (Brain Twisters, Trapezes, Atom Smashers) knows what happens when you put the Yo-Yo on the string 'backwards'. It has a tendency to 'bite' i.e., catch the string and try to wind up. Some Yo-Yos will tolerate this if you are careful, other Yo-Yos will immediately 'bite' and freeze up. What does "on the string backwards" mean? The string is wound around itself (about 7 to 9 times per inch at neutral, depending on the type of string). That wind is directional (like a one way street). If you have a sensitive touch, you can feel that the string slides more easily through your fingers from top to bottom than from bottom to top. The Yo-Yo spinning at thousands of R.P.M. greatly multiplies that difference. When the Yo-Yo rides on the 'Sweet Side' of the string, i.e., with the direction of the string wind, it is smooth sailing. But when it is put on the string with the spin going against the grain of the string wind, you have a potential disaster. This function is actually used in the trick 'Thread the Needle' and 'The Shotgun'. Many yoers who were trying to learn Brain Twister' from written directions were continually frustrated by unwittingly putting the Yo-Yo on the string 'backwards'. What most players don't know is that the same scenario holds true for the single strand of string that goes around the axle. This 'single' string is actually 6, 7 or 8 individual threads twisted together to form the string. It is this unidirectional twist that causes the string to wind around itself those 7 to 9 times per inch. This unidirectional twist also creates the some type of 'grain' or 'sweet side' experienced with the doubled string. The Yo-Yo will actually spin easier and longer in one direction than the other. I have seen this phenomenon cause problems in every contest that I have ever witnessed. A contestant will 'test throw' their Yo-Yo until it sleeps and then try the trick only to have the Yo-Yo return to the hand without sleeping. They will take another test throw and the Yo-Yo sleeps easily. Back to try the trick again and once more the Yo-Yo doesn't sleep. The trick is to throw a sleeper on the test throw, then take another test throw to put the Yo-Yo back on the 'sweet side' of the string for the attempt that counts. When you are on the 'sweet side', the Yo-Yo not only sleeps easier and longer, but string tricks run smoother also. I actually use a bi-colored Yo-Yo and set it up so that I know which color needs to be on the right for the 'sweet side'. Remember, it's the string not the Yo-Yo so if you use this bi-color method, when you change a string and test it, you may have to remove the string and put it back on the other way to match the color you want to use as a key. It's best to always use the same color as the key so you don't have to stop and remember each time which is the 'sweet side'.
A member asks; "What's the deal with the new Washington address and a California phone number?". The AYYA is registered in the state of Washington as a non-profit association. The bank account and the AYYA treasurer, Mark Brataas, are in Washington. The address is that of the treasurer. He receives the checks and deposits them in the bank account and then forwards the applications and other correspondence to me, Dale Oliver, in California. The phone number is mine. All this helps keeps costs down. We have a special non-profit bank account that only costs $2 a month and there were no legal fees to set the association up in Washington.
Have you heard about the boat coming from China loaded with 100,000 Yo-Yos? It got caught in one of those tropical storms and sank 42 times.
The mission goes on to say that its purpose is also to render assistance to fellow Yo-Yo players. We are our greatest advertisers. Word of mouth is the only way people can learn about the AYYA. All of us know other Yo-Yo players. Maybe we were even the ones who taught them to Yo-Yo initially. Are these people AYYA members? Most of us enjoy the days when we open our mailbox to find the Yo-Yo Times or the AYYA Newsletter. Can we think of others who might also enjoy it? Many Yo-Yo players may not know that the AYYA even exists - and who is going to tell them? WE ARE! There are currently approximately 150 AYYA members. If each of us were to add one new member to the AYYA during the coming year, that number would double. Add 2 and it would triple! Need I go on? Introduce the AYYA Newsletter or the Yo-Yo Times to fellow Yo-Yo lovers in the coming months, whether they are young or old, beginners or experienced. Encourage and invite them into membership. With the holidays quickly approaching and birthdays occurring constantly, is there someone who you have yet to find that perfect gift? How about giving them an AYYA membership this year? Attached to this newsletter is a membership application. Use it! Share it! Let's each do our part to add at least one new member to the American Yo-Yo Association this year.
They will love YO for it.
1996 World Championships. July 18th at 12 noon at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in Rapid City, South Dakota. This is held in conjunction with the Annual convention of the International Jugglers Association and during the entire week (July 16th through the 20th) there will be Yo-Yo and Spinning Top workshops and activities as well as juggling. 415-871-4197 for info.
California State Championships. May 18th at 11 A.M. in downtown Santa Rosa. Yo-Yoers can march in the Rose Parade prior to the contest. For info call John Stangle, 707-542-1417
West Coast Regional Competition, July 27th. Santa Rosa, CA. For info call John Stangle, 707-542-1417.
New England Yolympics, May 25th. Portsmouth, N.H. For info call Bill Alton, 603-427-2473.
Santa Rosa, CA - Wille Birds' Flyers meets the first Saturday of every month, 1 P.M. at the Willie Bird Restaurant, 1150 Santa Rosa Ave. Contact John Stangle, 707-542-1417.
Wash. D.C. - Yo-Yo Share, Show and Practice meets the third Wednesday of each month from 7 to 9 P.M. in the fellowship hall of Grace Presbyterian Church at Grace and Bath streets, Springfield, VA. Contact Dick Stohr for info, 703-451-3439.
Minneapolis/ St. Paul, MN - Anyone interested in forming/joining a club in this area should contact Val Krantz, 612-929-1271.
San Francisco, CA/Bay Area - There is a sizable Yo-Yo community in this area that gets together upon occasion but not on a regular basis. If you would like to hook into this network and be notified of events, contact Dale Oliver, 415-871-4197.
If you have a Yo-Yo club or would like to start one, send your information to the AYYA Club News, 439 Northwood Dr. , South San Francisco, CA 94080.
Perhaps since I grew up with the one piece wooden Duncan Tournaments (model 77), that I could hand craft to my specifications with a piece of sand paper and about an hours labor, I may be a bit prejudice.
To me, a good looper is one that loops, hops the fence, punches the bag and performs inside/outside variations of these tricks in a rather stable manner with minimal tendency to unexpectedly flip out of control for no apparent reason. A well set up Tom Kuhn 3 in 1, the old Hummingbirds (and hopefully their predecessors by What's Next Mfg.) and, of course, the Swedish made American Spinners can all meet this standard.
It is my opinion that the design parameters responsible for the long spin performance of the rim weighted plastic yo-yos are the very same ones which make them inherently unstable for looping tricks which require the yo-yo to turn over once during each loop. The even more radical weight distribution of the butterfly configuration leads to greater instability.
As you all have undoubtedly already experienced, a yo-yo will loop straight out parallel to the ground when the gap is just right for the length and weight (or ply) of the string. If the gap is too wide, the yo-yo tends to loop upward and if too narrow, it wants go downward. I have found that many wooden yo-yos, particularly the three piece ones, often come with gaps that are too wide for peak performance. Whereas, the American Spinners and their clones from Canada Games come with gaps that that are too narrow and axles that are too thick in diameter requiring considerable sanding to improve their performance. This is a better situation than the former since you can't easily make a wide gap smaller. With a little labor of love, you can create an unparalleled looper from these one piece Swedish yo-yos that will perform just right for type of string you prefer.
On the down side, these wooden yo-yos are quite heavy, ranging from 1.7 to 2.2 ounces. For many players, this is simply too heavy for their liking, especially if they like to play for long periods of time. These yo-yos also don't sleep very long or play well on the string when compared to an average plastic yo-yo with a wooden axle. However, the heavier weight does seem to make punching bag tricks easier to perform when compared with a light weight plastic yo-yo. This is most pronounced with the Russell Professionals which are excellent loopers (some players would rate them number 1), but not the best for punching bag or reach for the moon type maneuvers.
My number one problem with plastic yo-yos like the ProYos, the Terminator and also the aluminum Silver Bullet is that for seemingly no reason they will go out of control while performing inside outside looping tricks. This problem is especially annoying when doing two-handed tricks which don't allow you the luxury to concentrate totally on one yo-yo. Although a lot of practice can greatly improve your control and minimize this tendency as you develop just the right touch, the inherently unstable weight distribution which is simply not well suited for looping will get you sooner or later.
In summary, it is my humble opinion that the Tournament shape of most wooden yo-yos is considerably more stable than the rim weighted configuration of long spin plastic yo-yos and it is this shape that is responsible for their superior looping characteristics. Conversely, most high performance plastic yo-yos are clearly superior to their wooden counterparts for performing picture tricks requiring long spins and string tricks, such as man on the flying trapeze and more complicated variations. Since I am a two-handed player, and most two-handed tricks are looping maneuvers, I use wood for two-handed play and use plastic exclusively for one-hand play. Thus, truly enjoying the very best of both worlds of Yo.
The next best thing would be a "Snap-Top" or "Pop-Top" from Duncan. The problem with this top is that they often are not well balanced, and vibrate excessively. The following article will teach you how to fix that. It is written by Herman Lau. I have seen quite a few top spinners in my life and I have no problem saying that Herman does more tricks with a spinning top than anyone I have ever seen. He has invented more tricks than most top players can do, myself included, and he is a real pleasure to watch.
1. Find the cap position that gives the least amount of vibration. Spin the top and note how smooth or rough it is. Then take the cap off, rotate it 180 degrees and replace. Spin the top again. Is it smoother? If not, return cap to its original position. Occasionally, for some tops, that is all that's necessary to balance your top. In the vast majority of cases however, the top will still need balancing. Proceed as follows remembering to keep the cap in the same position throughout the remaining steps.
2. Get some Blue-Tac. They are also known as Stic-Tac, E-Z Tac, Fun-Tac and other names. It is a sticky clay-like substance used mainly as an adhesive. They can be obtained from discount drug stores, stationery stores and supermarkets. They are usually blue, but they do come in different colors. Break off a small piece the size of a pea. Knead it into a ball.
3. For clarity and ease of explanation, look at the inside of the spin top cap as if it was the face of a clock with the two prongs of the cap at the 12 and 6 o'clock position. Stick the ball of Fun-Tac at the 3 o'clock position on the inside rim of the cap next to the edge. Replace the cap and spin the top noting how smooth of rough it spins. Next remove the ball of Fun-Tac and stick it at the opposite side ( in this example with the blob of Fun-Tac at the 9 o'clock position). Replace the cap and spin. One side will always give a smoother spin than the other. Observe which side gives the smoother spin.
4. At this point, if the vibration has not been eliminated, it should be considerably dampened. In most cases you can still fine tune the top by moving the pellet of Fun-Tac up or down along the side you found in step 3 that gave the smoother spin. The top should now be balanced enough that you can use it for any top tricks from the simple to the most difficult. It is at this point that you've found the point on the cap perimeter where proper weight would give a perfect spin.
5. If the spin is not perfect, i.e., if there is still a slight toughness while it is spinning, then the final step is changing the size ( and therefore the weight) of the Fun-Tac by adding more or using a smaller pellet at the some point you found in step 4. Once balanced, the point of a perfectly balanced top should be absolutely still when spinning on a hard surface or on the palm of your hand. In fact, if the top is perfectly balanced, you will definitely feel a pronounced eerie lightness to it while it is spinning on your palm.
6. Additional tip: Make sure the side of the point is smooth. If not, scrape it smooth with a knife, sand it down, or replace the tip. Otherwise, even though the top may be perfectly balanced it will feel slightly rough while spinning on your palm. With practice, you should be able to balance any plastic snap cap spin top with the above method in less than 5 minutes.
There are two categories. CLAIMS and OFFICIAL RECORDS. Claims are just that. While we want to take everyone's word as to what has transpired, claims will be listed separately from official records. Official records must be witnessed by a contest judge or other unbiased persons such as elected officials or media personnel. There will be time allotted at AYYA competitions for record attempts.
Rigging of the Yo-Yo or Yo-Yo string and the type of Yo-Yo must be included in the report. That means that records (such as those reported in Guinness on looping) must include any string swivels used, type of string other than regular string and whether the loops were inside, outside or both and what kind of Yo-Yo was used.
Categories will be left open at this time.
CLAIMS
2-handed Reach for the Moons
310 - Pro-Yos by Dale Myrberg, SLC, UT
2-handed outside loops
300 - Coke Yo-Yos by Dale Myrberg
Trapeze Barrel Rolls (# of times stacked on the string and back off)
5 - Alox Yo-Yo - Bill deBoisblanc, SF, CA
OFFICIAL RECORDS
Longest spinner - to extinction
51 seconds - Pro-Yo w/.125 axle by Dale Oliver, S. San Francisco, CA
Fastest spinner
14,300 RPM-SB-2 Transaxle by Dale Oliver
11,400 RPM - Pro-Yo by Dale Oliver
Around the Worlds
26 - Pro-Yo w/.125 axle by Dale Oliver
102 - SB-2
Suggested new records to set.
Longest spinner, w/transaxle
loops, 2-handed loops, Milk the cows