Yoyo question

Sorry for the slight delay, let me see how I can answer my replies…

A: The loop is too tight.

I have a string type which if it is left off the yoyo will twist ad infinitum, so in order to put it on the yoyo you have to untwist it from itself, put the loop on, and then it retwists itself and fits snug. I thought this might be the issue so I tried letting it twist itself into basically a single strand, then I tied THAT into a loop onto itself. This led to it coming back all the time, it seems either because when it lowers to the part with the loop it kinda ‘flops over’ at the end making it bounce. Or possibly what is happening is that if it is knotted from the string already being double wound in on it (a double thickness string where it is attached to the yoyo), the string thickness has something to do with it.

B: The problem is that it is knotted at the string

Not sure quite what this is, do you mind explaining please?

Thank you for your replies.

There are some cheap yo-yos that come knotted at the axle.

See that top illustration? That’s NOT what you want. The yo-yo should be like the bottom illustration.

Just go and buy yourself a Duncan Imperial. They’re like $6 and are a perfectly good starter yo-yo, or at least they were in the 80s. Now I’m sure there’s all sorts of ball-bearing “sleep forever” yo-yos.

But in the case that you have a yo-yo like the bottom, here’s all you have to do to get the right tension. Or at least close to it.

Let it fall. Let it unravel. It will start spinning either clockwise or counter clockwise at the bottom of your string. When it looks like it’s just about to start spinning the other way, gather up the string and loosely restrand the yo-yo. That should put you close to the tension you want. It may be a tad loose, but generally a few snaps of it up and down will get it right. If it snaps too easily out of its sleep, then you can try loosening it a bit more by letting it fall and spinning it more in its natural direction of unwinding. If it just sleeps and won’t come back up with a flick of your wrist, do the opposite and spin it in the direction where the strands tighten up.

Thankyou pulkyamell.
Now I have the visual for a knotted yoyo, however,
can you please describe what makes a knotted yoyo inferior to a naturally occurring loop yoyo?

If you just knot a fixed loop or even an adjustable loop, it will be difficult to adjust without re-doing the whole thing, plus the knot itself is bulky.

Ok, maybe I’m not understanding the question right, but it’s that if you knot it at the axle, it won’t be able to spin and sleep, and it will just come back up. It’ll just snap back. You need there to be a somewhat loose loop so it can freely spin.

Certainly, if you hitch it tightly to the axle then it will bind and the axle will not be able to rotate freely. And if you tie a big fixed loop it will probably be too loose.

I’m going by the illustration I linked to above, which is how I’ve seen some cheapo yo-yos strung. I don’t see why tying it otherwise would be a good idea, either.

If you haven’t seen a modern yo-yo competition recently they are insane.