Yo-Yo Wizards

After watching her first competition, Gallegos began attending free yo-yo lessons with a group called the Mexican Yo-Yo Association. “There, I started to learn basic tricks like the Sleeper,” she says. In this simple move, the yo-yo keeps spinning at the end of its string. It’s the first step in any professional routine.

To make a yo-yo “sleep,” Gallegos throws it toward the ground. As the yo-yo leaves her hand, it has stored potential energy because of its position, explains Maria Holland, an engineer at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. The force of gravity pulls the yo-yo down toward Earth. The potential energy turns into kinetic energy, the energy of motion.

Inside the yo-yo, the end of the string is looped around an axle. The rest of the string is wrapped around it. As the yo-yo falls, the string unwinds from the axle. When the yo-yo reaches the end of the string, Gallegos is careful not to pull the yo-yo up. If she does the trick just right, the axle keeps turning inside the loop of string.

To “wake” the yo-yo, Gallegos gives the string a quick tug. That creates friction, a rubbing force, between the string and the axle. The yo-yo winds back up the string to Gallegos’s hand, ready for her next trick.

Gallegos started yo-yoing by taking free lessons. They were offered by a local group. It was called the Mexican Yo-Yo Association. “There, I started to learn basic tricks like the Sleeper,” she says. It causes the yo-yo to stay spinning at the end of its string. It’s the first step in any routine.

First, Gallegos throws the yo-yo toward the ground. The yo-yo has stored potential energy as it leaves her hand. That’s because the yo-yo is high up, says Maria Holland. She’s an engineer. She works at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. The force of gravity pulls the yo-yo down. Its potential energy turns into kinetic energy, the energy of motion.

Inside the yo-yo is an axle. The yo-yo’s string wraps around the axle. The string unwinds as the yo-yo falls. Eventually, the yo-yo reaches the bottom. The axle “sleeps,” or keeps turning, inside a loop at the end of the string. 

Next, Gallegos gives the string a quick tug. That “wakes” the yo-yo up. The tug creates friction. That’s a rubbing force between the string and the axle. The yo-yo winds back up the string. It lands in Gallegos’s hand. Now she’s ready for her next trick.

During a yo-yo contest, Gallegos has just a few minutes to wow the judges. To earn the most points, she needs to do as many tricks as possible while the yo-yo sleeps. If the yo-yo’s spinning slows down, Gallegos will have to bring it back up and toss it again, losing precious time she could spend performing the next stunt.

Competition yo-yos are designed to sleep longer than regular yo-yos. Toy yo-yos are made of wood or plastic and have a solid axle. These yo-yos quickly slow as friction builds between the axle and the string. “Every time it spins, friction steals energy from the yo-yo,” explains Holland. 

Pro yo-yos are made of lightweight aluminum. Weights on their edges help them keep rotating. Circling the axle is a device called a ball bearing (see Yo-Yo Designs, page 13). It consists of two rings—one larger than the other—with tiny metal balls between them. The yo-yo string wraps around the outer ring. The metal spheres help the inner ring spin smoothly with the axle. That reduces friction, keeping the yo-yo sleeping much longer. 

Gallegos needs to earn the most points to win a yo-yo contest. She has just minutes to wow the judges. So she needs to do a lot of tricks. That requires Gallegos to keep her yo-yo spinning. If it slows, she’ll have to bring it back up to her hand if it slows and toss it again. That will waste time she’d rather spend that time doing stunts. 

Gallegos’s yo-yo is made of aluminum, a lightweight metal. That’s different than toy yo-yos. They’re made of wood or plastic and have a solid axle. Toy yo-yos slow down quickly. That happens because of friction between the axle and the string. “Every time it spins, friction steals energy from the yo-yo,” says Holland. 

Professional yo-yos have weights on their edges. The weights help the yo-yos spin longer. Circling the axle is a device called a ball bearing (see Yo-Yo Designs, page 13). It’s made of two rings. One ring is larger than the other. Tiny metal balls sit between the two rings. The yo-yo string wraps around the outer ring. The metal spheres help the inner ring spin smoothly. It moves around the axle. That lowers friction. It keeps the yo-yo “sleeping” much longer than a toy yo-yo. 

In April 2019, Gallegos became the first woman to win the Mexican National YoYo Championship. She then spent all summer preparing her routine for the World YoYo Contest held in August 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. Gallegos was one of more than 200 yo-yoers from 21 countries. Her competitors were some of the best yo-yoers in the world, so Gallegos knew her routine needed to be amazing. She worked on it every night for up to three hours. “I couldn’t go to sleep knowing that I hadn’t practiced that day,” she says.

At the competition, Gallegos went head-to-head against eight other yo-yoers in the women’s division finals. When it was her turn to perform, she twirled and flipped her pink yo-yo as the crowd cheered. 

When the results were announced, “I couldn’t believe it,” says Gallegos. She’d won first place! “In that moment, I knew all the hard work was worth it,” she says. “It was a dream come true.” Gallegos now teaches what she’s learned to other kids—so they might someday become yo-yo pros too.

Gallegos won the Mexican National YoYo Championship in April 2019. She was the first woman to ever do so. Next up was the World YoYo Contest. Gallegos spent all summer getting ready for it. It was held in August 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. More than 200 yo-yoers took part. They came from 21 countries. They were some of the best yo-yoers in the world. 

Gallegos knew her routine needed to be amazing. She worked on it every night for up to three hours. “I couldn’t go to sleep knowing that I hadn’t practiced that day,” she says. Gallegos took part in the women’s division finals at the contest. She faced eight other yo-yoers. She twirled and flipped her pink yo-yo. The crowd cheered. 

The results were posted. “I couldn’t believe it,” says Gallegos. She’d won first place! “In that moment, I knew all the hard work was worth it,” she says. “It was a dream come true.” Gallegos now teaches yo-yo tricks to other kids. Someday, they might become pros too.