Hi, well, I thought about doing something like that and I was thinking about where to post it and I figured this would be a good place to do it. I love Onedrop, I love this place, I love you guys and when it comes to my throws, OD throws are my favorite, classy looking, great playing.

Alright so this will be my journal/diary about my grind in order to go and compete at the European YoYo Championship (EYYC) next January in Prague, Czech Republic.

For those who don't know me, I will be competing for my 2nd time then, the first time was last november at French nationals in Xdivision where I finished 2nd (out of 5). I started throwing in october 2010 (the 1st) and got into 5A as my main style late spring 2011.

So let's cut to the chase. I didn't really want to compete but I ended up signing in for french nats Xdivision. I started preparing something a few days earlier out of tricks that I was fairly sure I could do it even under pressure and stage freight. I ended up getting 2nd place, much to my surprise, for a little while I was kinda proud of it, until I took a few days off and watched the vid afterwards

let's have a look at this



So, watching this only one thing crossed my mind, one word: "horrible"

This is so far from where I want to be and very far from what I wanted to do, there was no point hiding from the truth: I'm a noob and I throw like one.

I figured I'd better get to training as soon and as much as possible, I was definitely not satisfied with what I was seeing. But this was a start.

From then on, my goal was to perform at EYYC and actually show something worth showing, I'm not intending to win it, far from it, but I for one will not be dead last in 5A div.

4 days of practice is clearly not enough so I figured the sooner I get my grind down, the better.

First off, I thought I'd definitely need a basic e-fan routine, just to get the muscle memory down for later on. But I also wanted to try and figure out a few double dice tricks, so I got to work, still having a blast as you can see on the next vid:



And here for the e-fan basic routine (yea I know it's boring)



I also definitely needed a few new tricks, I have to admit I really like where there are knots here and there, structures and whatnot, and I'm still beginning to grasp a few concepts there, of course, still having a blast

Here's some experimentation I've done with both dices, just playing, this will definitely not stay as the throw remains static for the whole thing which I don't really think is a good idea.



So I kept going and this is where I was last week



So even I can see the improvement since french nats, a month and a half ago now.

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So here we are today, I had to take it easy for the last couple of days due to some pain in my left forearm, so I went on and try to pick my FS music.
I was listening to countless hip hop or new soul tracks as these are my favorite styles, but I ended up picking an ambient track from Jon Hopkins (no, not "insides", another one) that I cut and reassembled in order to have a 15s intro, a main rhythmic part, a clean calm break and a last rhythmic/energic session right for the end of the FS. The tempo seems to perfectly fit my actual rhythm and I have enough tricks to fill the whole 3 minutes.


So today, I really got started on the actual freestyle grind and build up.

1. Got the tricks and order for the first 3 parts (intro and first 2 parts of the track)
2. started to refine and grind specific parts in order to get much closer to 100% landing
3. started to time everything and plan small pauses in between the parts (for mess up recovery or crowd teasing)

So the key for me here is to find the right tricks, the ones I know I'll be able to do easily on stage, but also ones that will look good for the crowd. I know I'm much behind the top dogs in the 5A division, not even close enough to be comparable, but I think I still got a few cool tricks to show off.

So what I planned so far for the FS (in no particular order)
- simple E-fan/Beesting routine
- wrist mount stuff with horizontal dice passes
- original and modified tricks
- one or two "tech" tricks, from Jake Bullock and/or Jon Rob repertoires
- 2 or 3 double dice tricks

I also foresee a few issues
- it'll hard to stick to the same track and listen to it over and over for a month
- the double dice setup could pose issues for one particular tech single dice 5A trick, I need to find a reliable solution to make sure it doesn't happen
- need to finish figuring out one particular trick that, every now and then, leaves me with a nasty knot for some reason



feel free to comment, give me some advice, I'll try and update this thread as much as I can, in between sessions.

I don't do it for the win, I'm still a huge noob in this game so the scoring doesn't concern me that much except if I have to go through the prelims (it's not sure whether or not we have to do prelims for 5A yet) in that case I'm pretty sure I couldn't make it. But I can at least try, in the meanwhile, the grind won't hurt so I might as well do it anyway and hope for the best.

4AM here, dec 24th

I decided to put some more work in before going to bed, couldn't get much out of the last session as my arm started to hurt some more.

what turned out from this session

- I really feel the beat, with 1 month practice I might be able to get down on it fairly well
- 2nd part -60/70%- (when the beat begins) definitely needs some more stuff in it but I'll first get the bare thing down well and get back to the "flourishes" once the whole FS idea is layed down so I can see what I'll have left then
- 3rd part -80%-, gonna have to video it, not sure how good or bad it looks, spot on with the music tho
- 4th part -40%-, first intricate/technical trick of the bunch, this will require some work to get down smoothly and consistently, there's a string rejection that happens (but not all the time) at some point in the trick, for now I figured out two ways to keep going (once if it happens, another if it doesn't) the timing's roughly the same and the exit is similar as well. Exits on a slack trick, I'm not used to those, this will take time to get down consistently
- 5th part -0%- still nothing there, probably a e fan routine, not sure yet as it's supposed to end with a very calm part of the music
- 6th part -0%- the calm part, I have no idea what to do there, maybe some double dice stuff
- 7th part -0%- the climax, I'll try and put the jake bullock "CW in the loop" kind of trick, I got the trick down pretty well already but I added a GT exit with some other stuff that needs to be timed for the FS and worked on with a clean exit and bind to end the FS



My main concern is that I work too much on the beginning as I do complete runs on the track for now, trying to be consistent and get used to the eventual mess up to be able to get back on my feet whatever happens.

I'll probably end up cutting the track in separate mp3s in order to work each part separately, at least until I get a general idea of what'll be going on in the whole FS


Feels good to have a month to work it out, I'll probably get it down by then and use the extra time to smooth things out and really get it consistently.

I really wanted to keep learning new tricks but I'll have to put this aside now and focus on the FS. how it looks now, it seems that I'll have to learn some new stuff for it anyways, a few moves here and there and it'll definitely help me out afterwards when I'll be working on some new stuff.

I'll be most likely using my Ni54, YWET SEs, Gstring, the Code 1 as a backup, then the YYF severe 09 as 2nd backup (unless I get some other/new OD by then), the markmont.next isn't going to cut it for this, unfortunately.

I think you should shorten you string an inch-2inches as this will improve your flow and make movements less awkward, I've said this before surely but I'll say it again I love your tricks. Just work on improving your flow/the execution/appearance of your tricks as they tend to look slightly awkward to me sometimes. I wish you the best of luck in EYYC.

I'll probably shorten it the week before the contest, but it's always a trade between control and sleep times. My combos have to fit the parts in the music so I try and plan to have some extra sleep times so I can keep going in case of a minor mess up (touch the hand etc...)

Could you please help me out and point the "awkward" moments you mention in my vids?


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dec 24th

woke up with some pain in my forearm so I took it easy today, still got an hour practice down and I'll probably get some more tonight. No noticeable improvements since yesterday, I'll probably revamp last part of section #3, see if I can replace the ryan gee trick by one of my double dice GTs, similar timing, probably less score but with the DD swag (^^)/

section #4 is starting to come together, timing wise

trying to find leads for what to do in section #5

still no ideas for section #6 and #7

right now the pain is more or less gone so I figure I'd throw some more

When I say awkward I mean that (I think this may slightly due to string length) your tricks don't seem to really flow. Do you know when an yoyoer who's been playing for a short time throws? You know how you can tell they've been throwing for a short time? Well it's kinda like a much less dramatic version of that. I guess awkward is the wrong word but some movements seem slightly jerky (I'm being slightly over critical but I really enjoy your vids and so I really want to see you get better, ya know )

no worries man, thank you for the input. I kinda know what you mean, this is basically one of the reasons why I'm happy with 1 month preparation setup, I'll be doing the same tricks and sequence everyday for one month and I think it'll help me to smooth things out and get the flow in.

this is also why it was really important that I find a good music to play on, a good tempo so I can use it to get the flow going.

But yea, I know what you mean, but this is mainly because I'm still a beginner and I honestly master none of the tricks I've been doing aside of the very basic stuff (I could do a very flowing matrix or buddha's revenge for example, but that's about it).

I hope it'll flow more if I keep at this very small selection of tricks for a month or so.

the thing is, I don't expect to be a competitive force in EYYC, I'd be happy if I made a top 20 and ecstatic I could make a top 15 (well I doubt there'll be more than 20 entries in 5A anyways) basically, I would like to finish ahead those who just go there without preparation and who are better than me as "raw" players.

I'll definitely follow your advice and experiment with a shorter string



__________________________________

back on the diary

I've been working on part #4 today, stumbling upon some concerning string rejection issues, the trick can be seein in the 4.5 vid, which is the kind of sideways tower structure thing. If I have the time to film it, I'll break it down see if you guys can help me.


I thought of keeping the track to myself but what the heck, I'll just post it here.

it's an edit (to make it shorter and focus on the rhythmic part) of "vessel" by Jon Hopkins



I cut the beginning up until when the piano starts
then I cut the second "calm" part a little bit to get the whole last part to end the FS. it's now 3'04" and it really does fit my rhythm, I feel comfortable yet still challenged for some parts. As the rhythm is, even if I mess up, I can get right back at it.

Christmas eve is behind now

been spending some time on part #4, I'm figuring it out the rejection issues and been working on the workarounds should it happen on stage. Took a break from the tune and trained watching vids, just to get the technique down and figure out an end for the #4 combo, maybe a couple new simple moves, we'll see.

Dec. 25th

took a break from the FS practice today and just played, experimented a few things, small moves and easy stuff that could be used in between tricks or combos as transitions and whatnot, I really got none of those and I need them badly.

had fun mostly, played on some new music, I'll get back on the FS tomorrow or the day after.

Did a meet last week end, and I've been working on my #4 combo all the time since then, I'll probably stay on this one a few more days but it's coming together, vid coming up soon

FYI, the part #4 is the trick at the 1 minute mark

Really nice style, I will definitely cheer for you at EYYC

thanks ! if you see me, say hi !

january 1st
been working on the #3 part, changing it a LOT
I'm taking it easy lately as I got a lot of stuff going on

be warned about the lyrics

the grind #6, the #3 combo starts to come together, it's the one that starts at 59", I'll probably try and do something with the trick at 37"

Alright, back on the FS grind. did a few sessions yesterday. the time off allowed me to come up with tricks and combos, I now have part #1 #2 #3 and #4, working on part #5 and #6 as well as training muscle memory for all the parts. part #1 might change a bit, part #2 changed as a whole for something much more technical, part #3 got completed and part #4 is about 70%

feels good, but now that the pain in my left arm is gone, I have a small pain in my right hand :'(

January 7
from yesterday, I just didn't seem to be able to do any trick at all. But from this evening, it just clicked

I decided not to go for double dice at all, I first planned to do "tour de france" as an intro and then since I don't do double dice anymore, I had to find another intro. found a perfect one while wallpaper shopping, it's timed perfectly for the intro and I found a new bind in the process.

I also found out that part #4 was a tad bit too short, which actually makes things better for me as, due to that extra free time in between parts #4 and #5, the point where I start part #4 is not especially relevant anymore. So I can use that extra time to get rid of string tension between the combos #3 and #4.

due to that part between #4 and #5 being too small, I'm not going to work a full length combo for it, rather, I'll figure a few basic moves to relax myself a little before part #5

part #2 changed for 50% for something that actually looks better and is much easier to perform, I now have a small tangler in my FS ! and it also makes the last bit of part #2 smoother, but adds a bit of string tension (mentioned above). All in all, I wasn't really satisfied of my former part #2, now I'm happy, it's a great start, not too hard/technical but still good enough looking (to my standards at least)

So, all in all

part #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 are fixed for 90% now

I also found a neat "trick" to do during the very calm part of the music, which also brings me a nice way to enter the last part, I'll lose points here for sure, but I can definitely use it to interact with the crowd and it has this little "punk" attitude to it that I like very much.

Still working on the last part, I know what tricks I want to put in, but I need to figure the order out now, they'll be a bit less technical than #3 and #4 (the FS's most "technical" parts, again, to my standards)

Alright, I had to take it easy for the last 3 days, I could barely throw, my arm hurts from wrist to elbow (non throw hand). But I know that a little pause can also be good, let the brain assimilate everything. I slowly started and did practice a little bit today, only my FS move, I'll be on stage 9 days from now and the pressure starts to grow, Imma have to find a way to get it off before I step up.

the freestyle is all set except for the very last part, I got some ideas for it and I just need to put everything together, it'll probably be some tricks I'm comfortable with, basic efan stuff and one last trick I took from jake bullock's tosscore and it should be it.

the success rate is still fairly low but I managed to leave enough room within the FS to allow a few mistakes to happen and still manage to do my more "technical" tricks (to my skill level at least)

so combos #1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are all set, I need to practice and improve my success rate and identify the most critical points.
combo #6 will have to come up within next week



it's still not sure whether or not there will be 5A prelims, so I sent a music for the prelims and figured I'd throw the most technical parts of the FS and hope for the best. I still might make it, with luck and lots of it.

next time I make sure I take home french nationals Xdivision title so I won't have to go through the prelims.

alright, I can finally start training again, at least a little bit, but I feel it's for the best, a hardcore grind a few days before the event might not be that good of an idea.

anyways, I'm as ready as I will be, which means not ready at all. So I'll have to rely on luck rather than skill, which also means I'll be stressed on stage as I'm not feeling prepared enough.

But all in all, ejoy the ride rather than the destination, I've made great progress within the last month or so, I did go through the challenge and I think I came up with something at least decent to show (given that I don't screw up)

throw wise, I did most my practice with a 09 severe and was getting into the idea that I'd use it for the FS, but I took my code 1 today and it felt greater than ever, the only issue is that the CW that I'll be using is a tiny bit too light so I'll have to work something out here (I already have an idea tho)

the last part is yet unclear, I know what I'll do, and I think I'll just leave it to that, I have a selection of 4 tricks to use there, I can do all 4 and I'll just throw them in there during the FS, the 3rd and 4th parts are the most important and those I'll have to focus on. I don't have the ending of the 3rd part quite yet, I can do it but it looks sloppy, so this is something I'll have to be working on, if it goes well, it'll show well, if not, then it'll be a shameful experience.