About the Trick
This trick is called the Elevator because of how it looks while it travels up and down the string. It will help you learn to control the spin of the yo-yo while extra string is in the gap. This is the first trick you will learn involving your freehand, and learning to do this trick correctly will help you later on when you’re learning more advanced two-handed tricks such as “Man on the Trapeze” and “Double or Nothing.”
- Throw a sleeper.
- Bring the index finger of you Freehand behind the string of the sleeping yo-yo, beneath your Throwhand.
- Bring your Throwhand back toward you body and down, at the same time lifting your Freehand forward and up until your Throwhand is beneath the yo-yo about an inch.
- Bring the string attached to your Throwhand into the gap of the yo-yo.
- Keeping your Freehand stationary, pull your Throwhand straight down. This will pull the yo-yo up along the string.
- Once the yo-yo has traveled about one foot up the string, bring your Throwhand back up the string until the yo-yo is back where you started, about one inch above your Throwhand.
- Bring your Throwhand toward you body, removing the string attached to it from the gap of the yo-yo. Simultaneously bring you Freehand forward and down until your Throwhand is above your Freehand.
- Remove your Freehand from the string and lightly tug on the yo-yo with your Throwhand to return it to your hand.
Tips
- This one can be tricky. By putting the string in the gap of the yo-yo, you are slowing it down by adding an extra surface (the string) to touch the hubs of the yo-yo. The quicker you complete the trick the more likely you’ll be able to make the yo-yo return.
- Make sure you don’t jerk your hands around while performing this trick. Keep every movement smooth and you’ll have no trouble with it. If you jerk your hands around, the yo-yo could return prematurely and smack one of your hands.
- If the yo-yo stops spinning while you are performing this trick, you will need to throw it harder. Practice “the Sleeper” for awhile. Once you can get your yo-yo to sleep for ten to fifteen seconds, you should have no trouble doing this trick.
