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The Butterfly : The Most Common Shape

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Once a simple toy, yo-yo’s have evolved into more complex designs and materials in order to increase playability and spinning time. In the most basic idea, yo-yo’s can be classified into three distinct shapes, each having further subcategories Within the 1A division (manipulation of the string using one yo-yo), the butterfly is the most common shape, with three further shapes within the butterfly. The butterfly shape has three main shapes, being the H shaped, V shaped, and O (organic shaped). Each shape has benefits and caveats, though V shaped yo-yo’s are most commonly used in competition for combining the best elements of organic and v shaped yo-yo’s H-shaped yo-yo’s primarily focus on wide string gaps and heavy rim weight, which …show more content…

This shape, however, was the first (and thereby signature) butterfly shape, popularized by the aptly named Duncan Butterfly. Advantages of organic yo-yo’s include a larger catch zone for string tricks, and well as fitting in one’s hand rather comfortably when compared to an H or V shaped yo-yo. Yet, this shape, though popularized by the company OneDrop, lacks the performance benefits associated with V or H shapes, though nevertheless remains for nostalgia and a, “fun,” throw. Combining the aspects and benefits of both H shaped and organic yo-yo’s is the V shaped yo-yo. One of the most popular shapes today, this style allows a wide catch zone and long spin times. Though there are no playability related downsides to this shape, quality V yo-yo’s are often times more expensive than other shapes, though this is not always true in some instances. It also must be considered that all yo-yo shapes are somewhat arbitrary- though H,V, and O shapes have defining characteristics, there is no set guide to shapes, and thus depends on player to player. Therefore, the aim of this experiment is to determine if yo-yo shapes influence spin times in the manners I described, as it is the general consensus among yo-yo players. Using a yo-yo from each shape described, with each being subject to two throws, will determine the longest spinning yo-yo. For reference, the yo-yo’s being used include the YoYoFactory

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