Yoyo King Grind Control Yoyo

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Thumb grinds. Finger grinds. Arm grinds. Inner ring grinds. There are a lot of different grinding tricks for yoyos out there, and and there hasn't really been a single yoyo that is good at all of them. Until now. But there's a lot more than "good at grinding" to the story of the Yoyo King Grind Control yoyo. Because it turns out that what makes the Grind Control yoyo superior at grinding tricks also ended up making it great for non-responsive yoyoing and long, difficult string tricks in general. Basically, Yoyo King developed a metal shape that excels at grinding, which requires stability and spin time. The Grind Control keeps a big chunk of its weight out at the end and outside edge of the yoyo, as you can see by looking at the rim at the edge.

The laws of physics dictate that weight at the outside edge of a spinning object will make the object spin longer. Weight at the outside also adds to the stability of the spin, reducing any wobbling from a less than perfect throw. What this means to you, the yoyo player, is that even if you don’t care about doing grind tricks, you'll still be able to enjoy using this yoyo. Because what makes it good at grind tricks in this instance also makes it very good at long spins and stability, which will help you with all the rest of the string tricks you'll do with the Grind Control.

This might be the best all around high end aluminum yoyo we've listed for sale yet. Let's talk about the bearing for this yoyo. Yoyo King went with a wide C bearing that measures .250 x .500 x .187.

If you are new to yoyoing, you might not be familiar with the concept of non-responsive yoyoing. Non-responsive (or unresponsive) means that when you throw down this yoyo and make it sleep at the bottom of the string, it will not "wake up" when you tug on the string to pull it back. It's not supposed to. Instead of waking up a non-responsive yoyo by tugging on the string, you wake it up with a "bind," which is a way of putting an extra amount of string into the gap of the spinning yoyo, which makes the string catch and forces the yoyo to roll back to your hand. It is a challenge to learn how to bind with a yoyo. And it's not for rank beginners. But once you master binding, it opens up an entire new range of yoyo tricks to you that simply can't be done with a standard responsive yoyo that wakes up when you pull on the string.

The Grind Control yoyo comes in three different color options. Stealth black, metallic blue, or black with silver camo. The photo doesn't do the camo pattern justice, in my opinion. That camo pattern might be the coolest finish I've seen on a yoyo in years. Another area where you can see that Yoyo King has paid close attention to every detail is the inside of the yoyo. They printed Yoyo King underneath the silicone response system. In case you forget where it comes from when you take it apart to change a string, I guess.

And back to grinding for a minute. You know how with some yoyos, it's really hard to keep the yoyo grinding on the tip of your thumb because the angle of the inside rim on the side? You keep trying, but the yoyo just falls off your thumb. Well, with the Grind Control yoyo, there's a lip on the inside rim on the sides that makes it much, much easier to do side grinds with a thumb or finger. You'll be amazed.

The Grind Control isn't made from just any type of aluminum. It's made from from aircraft grade 6061 aluminum -- a high enough quality of aluminum that it's also suitable for use as an airplane wing or fuselage. Each yoyo half starts as a piece of 6061 aluminum raw material that is placed into a high tech CNC machine. CNC stands for Computer Numerical Control. What it really means is that a computer guides and controls the manufacturing process in order to meet a level of quality that would not be possible if even the most skilled human were to try and operate the machine by hand. It takes approximately 3 minutes for the CNC machine to create a yoyo half from the raw material, cutting away the excess aluminum with a special cutting tool called a lathe. The machine itself is operated by someone with at least 3 years' worth of experience, to make sure that each yoyo half is precisely balanced and weighted so that it matches the other half and rotates smoothly.

After the raw aluminum yoyo half comes out of the CNC machine and is inspected for defects, it goes together with the other approved halves in a large batch. The halves are next run through another process where the aluminum parts are anodized. Anodization is a special electric treatment of aluminum that increases corrosion resistance and strength, while also adding color.

Next, the yoyos are tested for quality control again, and are hand assembled and boxed. And only after this entire process is the yoyo ready to sell to you. As you can see, this is a precision instrument. So take good care of it. Don't overtighten the halves and ruin it. Don’t misthread the axle. All high end yoyos require careful handling. Now that you know the story behind the Grind Control yoyo from Yoyo King, it's time to add it to your shopping cart and buy it. Because only by owning and playing with this yoyo will you be able to fully appreciate how great it really is. 

If you are buying a yoyo, don't forget to buy a yo-yo trick book to carry with you, a yoyo trick DVD for at home, and extra yoyo strings. Learning new tricks makes yoyoing much more fun, and you'll need extra strings, because they wear out with regular use.

Yoyo King Grind Control Specifications and Features:

• Weight: 66.8 grams
• Width: 41mm
• Diameter: 50.75mm
• Inside rim diameter: 37mm
• Constructed of aircraft quality 6061 aluminum
• Anodized for color, added strength, and corrosion resistance.
• Non-responsive design means that binding is required to wake the yoyo up.
• Wide C bearing for longer spin times and non-responsiveness.
• Silicone response system for superior binding
• Take apart design for ease of changing and untangling strings