Preparation and basic stance
Let your shoulders relax, hold your upper arms lightly against your sides, with the underarms holding the sticks horizontally. With this stance, the diabolo hanging in the cord should be approx. 15cm above the ground.
Please note that these instructions are intended for right-handed users. Should you be left-handed, then simply substitute left for right and right for left!
The most important thing to note from the very start, is that you should keep the diabolo spinning as fast as possible, since this alone maintains its stability! Hang the diabolo in the cord and set it on the ground to your right. Now draw the diabolo from right to left, which will sei it rotating. As soon as the diabolo is at your left, lift it with both sticks.
Accelerating the spin
1. Hold the left-hand stick lightly and horitontally while moving the right-hand stick rapidly up and down (a few cm suffice). This causes the diabolo to bounce in its string, and gain impetus. 2. The effekt which is basically exploited above, may be employed in full as follows: Move the right-hand stick up and down approx. 10 to 20cm. During the upward movement, the whole weight of the diabolo is fed from the right hand to the left, which will hence be drawn downwards. When the diabolo has nearly reached the left stick end, lower your right hand. The weight which draws on your left hand will be reduced, allowing you to lift it up again (the diabolo’s weight will now hardly be noticeable, since it only lightly rests on the string). This sequence is to be repeated evenly and continually. There’s no need to be hectic; you have more time than you think!
3. Wind the string around the diabolo in the manner depicted in Fig. 5, and make the same motion as in (2) above. Here, it is important to take care during the backward stroke (when you move your right hand down, and your left hand upwards), that the cord tension is relaxed.
Errors and remedies:
When you can’t seem to get the diabolo spinning well enough, the mains cause usually stems from the fact that you slow it down too much during the backward stroke. To avoid this, the strokes must be asymmetric!
Should the diabolo tilt away from you, then draw the right-hand stick towards yourself, until its axis is horizontal again.
Conversely, should it tilt towards you, then hold the right-hand stick further away.
This form of correction may also be used during the acceleration phase.
Throwing the diabolo up into the air …
Assume the basic stance, and draw both arms rapidly and simultaneously outwards. Take care to ensure that the stick ends move in a straight line.
... and catching it again!
In order to catch the diabolo, stretch out your right arm and hold the stick vertically. Tension the cord, which should be positioned in front of your left hand. In this manner, you can easily take a bearing via the right-hand stick. As soon as the diabolo has landed, dampen its momentum with your right hand to avoid it jumping off the cord again.
Should the diabolo happen to come down behind you, then avoid moving the stick ends in a circular fashion when throwing.
Elevator – How to make the diabolo climb up the cord:
For this trick, you must initially get the diabolo spinning extremely fast! Hold the right-hand stick in the air and loop the cord around the diabolo with your right-hand stick as described for the acceleration – step 3. With the correct amount of cord tension, the diabolo will roll upwards. Just before it reaches the end of the cord, relax the tension and unwind the loop.
How to make the diabolo jump over your foot:
Assume the basic stance, holding your arms wide apart. Now step on the cord with your right foot to the right of the diabolo. Simultaneously lift the cord with the left stick to flip the diabolo over your foot. Upon catching the diabolo again, release the tension with the right-hand stick and remove your foot from the cord in one rapid movement.
