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2016 Alternative Freestyles – US Nationals

January 10, 2017 By Steve Brown

The Alternative Freestyles are a player favorite…people who didn’t make finals, or just have a style that doesn’t lend itself to contest play, get up on stage for a few minutes of pressure-free play to show off their latest and greatest. We’ve got video of all the Alternative Freestyles from the 2016 US National YoYo Contest…check out a few of the judges favorites along with their comments, and then head over to YouTube to watch all the rest!

Judges Pick – Keiran Cooper

To me, Keiran embodies all of the qualities that makes a great yoyoer “great”. In this freestyle, you can see from the combination of his speed, comfort, and trick complexity how naturally talented Keiran is. I loved watching his perfected speed and laceration combos mixed with his own jaw dropping original tricks. Keiran dropped dope tricks throughout the whole freestyle which made it really something special to watch. Keiran definitely has some of the best tricks in the game and had me screaming the entire time ❤ – Andrew Maider

Judges Pick – Shane Lubecker

Shane is the pick because his tricks are big, unique, and really can pump the crowd up. He looks dope, but not like he’s taking it too seriously, and when he landed those bangers so effortlessly it sent a chill down my spine. Some tricks of Shane’s may have not done so hot in competition, but he unleashed them in full glory on the alternative stage, and the crowd reaction showed how dope them tricks really are. Judges Pick-Ky Zizan: Kieran Cooper My favorite routine from that night was definitely Keiran’s. A perfect blend of pace and trick content. Can’t wait to see what he does next. – Michael Kurti

Shane is one of my favorite yo-yoers. The room at Nats was full of people not paying attention, talking and hanging out, generally being a typical mess of scattered yo-yoers… until Shane stepped up. He slayed a freestyle that made everyone stop what they were doing and sit down and start watching, and he was bar none the best performance on that stage that evening. – Sebastian Brock

Best Up and Comer: Ty Goldman
Most Steez: Ky Zizan
Most Unique Style: Paul Dang
Best Choreography: James Reed
Most Innovative: Keiran Cooper

Filed Under: Contests, Players, Video Tagged With: alternative freestyles, us national yoyo contest, yoyo contest, yoyo tricks, yoyo video

2016 Alternative Freestyles

August 24, 2016 By Steve Brown

2016 Alternative Freestyles

Every year (well, nearly) at the World YoYo Contest, a handful of players carve out a spot for themselves to hold an anti-competition. It’s not that they are against yoyo contests, it’s that there are a lot of players who just aren’t built for them, but do some legitimately amazing stuff nonetheless. Yoyo play is vast, and while we’ve done a fairly good job at figuring out how to quantify and score it, there will always be players who’s style and aesthetic just doesn’t work inside of that system. And that’s why the Alternative Freestyles exist: to give a platform to people who need a different place to showcase their skills.

This year’s Alternative Freestyles were supposed to be held on the main stage as the focus of the third after-party, but communication and scheduling issues moved it to a conference room after finals were over. Check out the three “Judge’s Pick” freestyles below (and a bonus pick from me, because it’s my site and I’ll do what I want), and then head over to the full playlist on YouTube to see everyone who entered.

Judge’s Pick: Chris Rodrigues

“It was really difficult to choose one person with the plethora of amazing names, but Chris was the first person to go up and boy did he throw down something special.  His performance was just beautiful to watch, the music was happy and elegant as he threw down some gorgeous and innovative tricks that unified everyone at the start of the event and made everyone feel as though they were watching something special.  The bangers didn’t just make me clap but they made people excited and happy that someone could do something so fun and exciting.  It made me feel legitimately emotional to watch and I could not be happier to have been able to witness that performance.” – Sebastian Brock

Judge’s Pick: Isaac Sams

“There is something really special going on when you watch someone else yoyo. I feel as though Alternative Freestyles this year was incredibly educational and fun, so my choice based on that is Isaac Sams. His yoyoing is extremely refreshing to watch, and the direction he chooses to take with his tricks is not only unique, but fundamental as well. On top of all that, he seems to be really enjoying himself which in turn really lends to how he sells his tricks.” – Stephen Fuentes

Judge’s Pick: Sebastian Brock

“I really enjoyed watching all of the freestyles, but my favorite routines were: Chris Rodrigues, Isaac Sams, Ivan Maslin, Riccardo Fraolini, Mark Mangarin, Yuuki Spencer, Shane Lubecker and Sebastian Brock. If I had to pick only one favorite freestyle, it would be Sebastian Brock’s freestyle, because in addition to his crazy and unique tricks his presentation and his tricks together with the music were very inspiring, peaceful and relaxing to watch, so I really felt like it had a story to tell.” – Janos Karancz

Bonus Pick: Mark Mangarin

“I love watching through the Alternative Freestyles. So much talent in there, and I love watching players just *play* without the pressure of a contest or judges. I’ll argue to the death that Hiroyuki Suzuki is 1000% better when he’s not on stage, because the tricks he chooses are so much cooler. Mark Mangarin occupies this strange and wonderful grey area for me: I think if he took it more seriously he could legitimately start destroying contests, but at the same time it’s his cynicism about modern yoyoing that pushes and informs his trick creation and his tricks are just stupidly fun and amazing. I love hearing people complain about his Cabin Tutorials being hard to learn because Mark is left-handed….no dude, they’re hard to learn because his tricks are awesome, ha ha! The way he builds and paces his tricks, the geometry that he uses in his body moves, the fact that you never quite know what direction the yoyo is headed next…he’s the visual equivalent of Fugazi to me, and I absolutely love watching him play.” -Steve Brown

Filed Under: Featured, Video Tagged With: alternative freestyles, chris rodrigues, Innovation Movement, Isaac Sams, mark mangarin, sebastian brock, yoyo tricks, yoyo video

2013 Alternative Freestyle Invitational – Jensen Kimmitt

August 13, 2013 By Steve Brown

2013 Alternative Freestyle Invitational – Jensen Kimmitt

YoYoNews is incredibly proud to present exclusive video of the 2013 Alternative Freestyle Invitational from the World YoYo Contest.

The Alternative Freestyle Invitational was conceived by Sebastian Brock as a way to showcase a select group of “players favorites” who didn’t make it to finals or simply didn’t compete. There are no judges for the Alternative Freestyles, and players are encouraged to take risks on tricks that they might edit out of a competition freestyle due to their difficulty.

YoYoNews will be uploading all of the Alternative Freestyles, one each day, and we start with the always amazing Jensen Kimmitt. This former World Champion redefined smoothness in modern yoyoing, and this year he surprised us with an unannounced appearance at the Alternative Freestyle Invitational. Jensen is throwing the new Yeti by CLYW.

Filed Under: Video Tagged With: 2013 world yoyo contest, alternative freestyle invitational, alternative freestyles, featured, jensen kimmitt, video

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