Just an observation..........

I have noticed here and elsewhere that many people who are especially adept at yoyoing also play musical instruments...

On the other hand, I am no good at music at all, despite real efforts to try to learn. I just lack that skill to be any good. Also, I am ok at yoyoing, but it takes awhile for me learn a new trick. While some guys seem to just nail stuff right off the bat...

I wonder what sort of connection there is between the two?

Erik

Makes total sense that the same type of hand/eye/brain coordination that allows one to play an instrument with any type of skill would also allow them to use a Yo-Yo well. I am thinking that particularly, the type of coordination used with string instruments (the amount of finesse needed to make them play well) is the real key here. Ever notice the correlation with Math as well? Seems many of us also have huge music collections and that kind of mental cataloging and recall is related to mathematics...then there is Dang with the Rubik's- I bet his mental arithmetic ability is off the charts- also related to the ability to play music.
Here's another one worthy of some thought. Brain research is saying that there are a few patterns typical of the male brain that seem to be compatible with Yo-yo (and often the playing of instruments as well) as well ( that is not to say that females do not in many cases exhibit these patterns, but I think we all have noted that at least Yo-Yo and probably music as well, males tend to be represented in far greater numbers ). The patterns I mention are the extreme ability of the male brain to focus on one thing (and perhaps the inability to focus on many) at a time, and also the ability of the male brain to "block" anything outside of that point of focus. For the extreme example, studies are now showing that Autism (and sevantism) are extreme cases of male typical brain development...it seems these two unique patterns are directly related to brain growth rate.
In any event- my study group is a bunch of pre-teens, and while there are girls throwing...they are just like the girls at the skate spots when I was a kid. Very few of them really have any desire to learn something new...when in fact I can take a room full of 40 boys, give them yo-yo's and experience the most bizarre quiet (except for singing bearings) I have ever heard. Very zen, and find myself falling into that spot where I become irritated by interruption very easily (as do they). It is fortunate we have a few girls (quite good) that have that ability to stop and cut strings for the little buggers as many of us do not.
Perhaps a thesis is in order...probably be the first on Yo-Yo's
Wow- I am sorry for over thinking it a bit, but definitely an interesting idea.

I play piano, trumpet, i do rubiks puzzle, and i love yoyoing
I like to fidget, and all of these keep my fingers busy
Like my record for a rubiks cube 3x3x3 is 45.45 seconds, the 2x2x2 is like 18 seconds and i guess like 10 minutes for the 4x4x4

TCK -- Interesting observations... Regarding focusing ability, I can vouch for the focusing ability....although I can't play a note or solve a rubic's cube, I can focus myself on stuff to the point where I see or hear nothing else. I used to be a national-level high jumper and focus was key. Now, when I'm yoyoing, I am able to apply that same focus.

Certainly females could learn the same focus skill, but do many of them really want to?

Erik

I play bass, but its a constant battle for me..

Yoyo feels more natural to me

i play piano, drums, clarinet, and saxophone

I know a kid that plays those exact instruments but im in GA

i play guitar

Just like I do not want my most immediate thought upon waking up in the morning "what am I going to have for dinner tonight"

Interesting stuff you wrote there, TCK. I feel like I should probably describe myself. I'm female. I've played the piano for about 10 years and the electric guitar for 5 years. I can even solve a rubik's cube, albeit really slowly (I average about 1 min and 10 secs using the beginners method, I could average sub 1 if I actually bothered to memorize all those algorithms but I got bored yoyoing is so much more fun). Obviously, I like to yoyo. I've been at it for about 5 months. I'm also currently a college student working on my BA in Psychology. So needless to say, I find the stuff you wrote interesting.
I feel like your theory is slightly pushing it... ok, maybe not slightly, more like bigtime pushing it. Quite frankly, I've never really heard anything about the ability focus to be that different between males and females. Or at least not to the point where the reason for 99% of yoyoers to be male and 1% to be female (im totally pulling these numbers out of my behind but i doubt the actual numbers are far from that). The only thing I can think of right now about attention is that ADD is a lot more common in males than in females and that really doesn't support what you were saying lol. In all honesty, cultural/social constructs probably play a much more significant role for why you won't see that many female yoyoers or skateboarders. Because if the reason really is focusing ability, then it would also apply to almost every case of learning. Basically, males would be better at everything that doesn't come naturally, which they aren't. People have a tendency to blame genetics when many times it is just ourselves who make these boundaries. Remember, correlation does NOT prove causation. There's way too many confounding variables in many of the points you bring up.

So thats the end of my rant. Well that was a great way to procrastinate studying for my perception test...

Good points, but perhaps some of what I said was taken out of context (and hopefully did not offend you). Please allow me to explain.
Probably ought to describe myself as well. I have played Yo-Yo for 30 years and never learned a single trick until about 3 months ago (which puts me far from the norm I am suggesting). I have a BS in Biology, an AS in Art, and a California State Teaching Credential (fifth year program). Currently I am working on a degree in sociology as I tend to get bored with the same old thing. I have taught every level of school from undergraduate College (upper division) to Kindergarten over the last 16 years, my current position (for the last 11 years) being science teacher for 200 mixed gender students a day from 4th through 8th grade. I play Melodica, Concertina and Accordion as well.
First, your right- ADD does not seem to support my idea here, but consider this. Could the prominence of ADD/ADHD in males be based on incompatibility between the male brain and our school systems? There have been many studies conducted on that idea. Males are noted in the literature as having more aggressive and antisocial behavior associated with ADHD (do I have to cite papers here on a Yo-Yo forum?) and often, girls are found to internalize those behaviors, leading to later diagnosis, better behavior in a classroom, and far fewer studies done on them. In any event, I am of the school of thought that is against prescribing psychoactive meds to anyone who is not a danger to themselves or others, and often look at the environment and expectations thereof when faced with the question "does this person have ADD/ADHD?"
Second, never once did I say that males have a greater focusing ability...simply that it is different, and often short sided. I have an extreme ability (as do many of the males on this forum) to concentrate on a single thing for long periods of time, in which I cannot concentrate on anything else. My wife is exactly the opposite- being able to concentrate (to a high degree) on many things at once...a gift in her job and a detriment in mine. This in no way is a signifier of intelligence (quite the contrary), It just means I can more easily justify HOURS of Yo-Yo more easily then she can. Michael Gurian and Kathy Stevens wrote a great book on the subject called How Boys Learn which is worth a read (anything Dr. Gurian has written is worth a read if you are around male children at all)- especially if your focus after college will be education. In any event, the literature also shows that TYPICAL males develop faster in areas of spatial relationships, mathematical connections and kinetic ability...slower in language and emotion. In any event, We are not talking about intelligence here, or general ability to focus on a task- simply the difference that sets the typical mechanistic male brain off to one side of the equation. You said yourself that memorizing the algorithms for the cube bored you...understand that for many typical males it is imperative (honestly, I could not be bothered in the early eighties- doubt I will pick it up now ).
Of course, you are correct in pointing out that there are many exceptions to the rule, but that does not negate the mean does it? Consider this statement- "Most males are taller than females". Totally true, in fact, almost an evolutionary imperative (as all species that I know of that fight for the right to mate have bigger males...and we do that). Does not change the fact that my wife is 6' tall and I am 5'6"...but the generalization still holds up (truth be told, we are enough of an oddity to get constant comments about it). Same is true of the brain- really I think it all boils down to hormonal bombardment in utero, and what levels those hormones are at.
So, I apologize for making a gross generalization for the sake of discussion, when really we are talking about a continuum upon which many males are one type of thinker and many females are another (neither being more or less intelligent or valid). That said- I think you are correct in the following assumption as well. There is no way such a disparity among male to female yo-yo players and skateboarders exists solely on genetic differences, there has to be some sort of social construct guiding that phenomena. However, denial that the difference in brain chemistry exists is not realistic, and I figured it would make for good late night conversation while I nursed my bruises from a day of throwing...which for me is often unsuccessful (and incidentally why I come here).
jeez- did I go on that long? I apologize for that as well.

ok, you psychologists, play nice....

This all brings me back to my original question... male or female aside, why does there seem to be such a correlation between musical ability (or at least interest in playing musical instruments) and yo-yoing?

I can play a mean set of spoons hahah no just joking I have no musical talent

as a Psychologist, I consider this as the main reason..
(BS Psychology and Now in Masters of Psychology)