Editing Yo-yo (section)

== Styles ==

=== Unresponsive (1A) ===
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Eventually, wider string gaps and silicone response systems led to the innovation of unresponsive yoyoing, otherwise known as 1A. Traditional yoyos (responsive) would return to the hand when one would tug on the string, but unresponsive yoyos behave a little differently. Instead of returning to the hand when one tugs on the string, one has to perform a trick called a "bind" where the string is doubled over inside the string gap to increase friction on the response system. This has brought about innovation of many different kinds of tricks involving leaving slack in the string, as this would have caused a responsive yoyo to return to the hand. This style of yoyoing is the most popular and the most common, and the most yoyo tricks are done with 1A yoyos.

=== Looping (2A) ===
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Looping is a yo-yo technique which emphasizes keeping the body of two yo-yos, one on each hand, in constant motion, with or without sleeping.<ref>[http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20040417/bob9.asp Science News, Week of April 17, 2004; Vol. 165, No. 16, p. 250] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420082752/http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20040417/bob9.asp |date=April 20, 2008 }}</ref>

Yo-yos optimized for looping have weight concentrated in their centers so they may easily rotate about the string's axis without their mass contributing to resistance due to a gyroscopic effect.

In yo-yo competitions, looping both to the inside and outside of the hand with the yo-yo plays a strong role in the 2A division. Sometimes the yoyos would wrap around arms, legs, or necks.

Also known as two hands looping freestyle.

=== Two-handed string tricks (3A) ===
Two-handed or 3A style play involves doing string tricks with two flared bearing yo-yos. Popularized and pioneered by Mark McBride, the first modern Triple A trick appeared in Fiend Magazine and was called the Velvet Rolls. The different mounts in this style are referred to as houses (e.g. "Kink House").

Photos from as early as the late 1950s show early yo-yo demonstrators performing very basic 3A tricks, such as a sleeper with one hand, and a trapeze with the other. While 3A as a concept has existed for many years, it was not until the debut of velvet rolls, coupled with the rise of unresponsive yoyo play, that development began on what is currently considered Triple A. This is the most complex style and is the most likely to obtain knots, dings, and clangs.

In competition, two handed string tricks have the 3A division.

=== Off-string (4A) ===
In the "off-string" technique, the yo-yo's string is not tied directly to the yo-yo's axle, and the yo-yo is usually launched into the air by performing a "forward pass" to be caught again on the string. However, some players can 'throw down' off-string yo-yos and catch it on the string just as it leaves the end of the string by pivoting the string around a finger as it unwinds, so that the yo-yo is caught on the string. This is exactly the opposite of a "forward pass", but with the same result.

Yo-yos optimized for off-string tricks have flared designs, like the butterfly shape, which makes it easier to land on the string, and often have soft rubber rings on the edges, so minimum damage is inflicted on the yo-yo, the player, or anyone who happens to be standing nearby, should a trick go wrong. There are also tricks which involve the use of two off-string yoyos at the same time, thrown with the same hand, this is known as "soloham".

Yo-yo competitions have the 4A division for off-string tricks.

=== Freehand (5A) ===
In freehand tricks, the yo-yo's string is not tied to the player's hand, instead ending in a counterweight. The counterweight is then thrown from hand to hand and used as an additional element in the trick.

Developed in 1999 by [[Steve Brown (yo-yo player)|Steve Brown]], as of 2008 freehand is considered to be the fastest-growing style of yo-yo play. Steve Brown was awarded a patent on his freehand yo-yo system, which was assigned to Flambeau Products ([[Duncan Toys Company|Duncan's]] parent company). Duncan patented the counterweight, and no one was able to design a unique weight.<ref>{{US patent|6371824}} Filed March 28, 2000</ref> However, since March 28, 2020, the patent has expired.

In yo-yo competitions, counterweight yo-yos are emphasized in the 5A division.

=== Modern responsive (0A) ===
Modern responsive yo-yo can be thought of as 2A with a single yoyo, but differs from 2A in the fact that it, like 1A, has access to tricks involving the use of the free hand. Unlike 1A, modern responsive deliberately abstains from tricks that involve sleeping, frequently replacing mounts with stalls.