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[Renee]

Just got this new toy.  Could use any hints or tips to get started.  Do I need to put a swivel on the string, like some videos I've seen?  Totally not something to learn in my small kitchen.  I gave it less than 5 minutes outside this afternoon.  The ground is still very soggy and muddy, so I decided to wait for a dryer day.  The whistle holes were getting muddy.

After watching Jim Neff at Miamisburg, I had to give one a try.

[the Earl of Whirl]

They are quite intriguing.  I started into it with the idea that I could get more exercise from it, since you are always turning.  Maybe I didn't get as much exercise as I hoped but I sure have enjoyed moving with it.  I put two clockwise wraps on it while it is laying on the flat crown.  Then I lift up and start pumping as it unwinds.  But then again, I do it differently than JNeff.  You have enough room inside to practice the start.  Once you get it spinning then you can move outside when it is dry.  Good luck.

[Renee]

...I put two clockwise wraps on it while it is laying on the flat crown.  Then I lift up and start pumping as it unwinds...

Do you keep the tip or the crown facing you? And, do you use a swivel on the string?

[Renee]

And there is no bearing on this one. 

[ta0]

You keep the crown towards you and no need for a swivel on the string.

Lots of fun!
The whistle ones like yours are attention grabbers, but play it over a soft surface as that hard plastic will crack on a hard hit.

[butterfingers]

This is a good video for monobolo. The one like yours is explained at 2:56 in the video. I have one just like yours and I don't need to turn in circles to use it. It's balanced and should work for you just like a diabolo would. They are great fun.

If you watch the whole video you will see that the first type will precess because it is not balanced.

[paxl13]

Precession is lifeeeeeee.

[Renee]

"

This is a good video for monobolo. The one like yours is explained at 2:56 in the video. I have one just like yours and I don't need to turn in circles to use it. It's balanced and should work for you just like a diabolo would. They are great fun.

I had watched that video, and some others.  When she starts it spinning, there are no loops around the spindle.  But, shortly after it starts, she appears to whip the string around the spindle before she starts the up and down swing of the monobolo.  There would have to be a loop or it would fly off on the upward arc.
 
So, I have a couple questions, if you were to start this one with a wrap already around it how would that look?  I will post a couple of photos of options in a bit.
Also, Do you use that slippery nylon string that comes with it?  Guess I'm so used to the cotton for spin tops. 
And, how do you keep that darn slippery Houdini string tied to the sticks?!  It keeps coming untied.  I put a little tape around it, but it was cellophane tape and only lasts so long, then it flies apart.

[the Earl of Whirl]

She looks like she is most comfortable playing it with the tip facing her.  Near the end she does show about how to play it with the tip facing away, having the crown nearer her body. 

The start method she uses seems to be very efficient.  I learned to start from the ground with a double wrap and as it comes unwrapped (moving down from my right hand) and I begin turning.  At this point the double wrap has become a single wrap or an open wrap and then I try to control it like a regular diabolo.  Have you played much diabolo, Renee?

Yes, there has to be a wrap around the spindle to do that up and down regenerating move she is making.  You do not need that wrap around the spindle to do a side to side whip regenerating move.

Nylon strings seem so nice to me then it slips when you least expect it.  A good knot on there very tightly usually is enough but then it still sometimes comes loose.  Stickier tape like duct tape might help.  This stuff melts very easily with a match.  Maybe that will help you?
 

[Renee]

When I stand it up on the crown, and wrap clockwise around it twice with my right hand (as suggested by the Earl of Whirl), it looks like this when tipped toward me.  The string going to my right hand crosses under the left.

Or like this with the crown toward you.

This is the tape on the string


If I start it like the woman in the video, with one wrap, it looks like this if the crown is toward you.  Also, it looks like she gives it a clockwise spin to start it.  When I manage to get it spinning with the crown toward me, it is spinning counterclockwise.

[Renee]

Have you played much diabolo, Renee?

I have never played diabolo.  Which explains a lot.

Stickier tape like duct tape might help.  This stuff melts very easily with a match.  Maybe that will help you?

I was going to try some different tape, but melting sounds like the way to go.

Thanks for all your help!

[Renee]

Precession is lifeeeeeee.

I do have to admit that I was a bit disappointed that there is no precession.  Part of what attracted me about it was the dance like movements of many of the players. 

[ta0]

When I learned monobolo, I used to start it by wrapping it on the ground as the Earl says, but now I do it on the string. In fact, the way she does it on the video is the way I was shown by a group of kongzhu players at a park in Shanghai. By the way, they were using one-way bearing monobolos  But she spins the monobolo clockwise when viewed from the crown, while most right-hand players (as she is) I believe would spin it counter-clockwise. Because that's the way spintops are spun, I prefer the later.

I need to try that way of standing up the monobolo with the stick, looks very cool.

Traditional monobolos precess: it makes them more distinct from diabolos and I think more interesting.

[Renee]

Traditional monobolos precess: it makes them more distinct from diabolos and I think more interesting.

Is there an entry-level presessing monobolo you would recommend?

[Mermouy]

Now you give me taste to these!!! Interested if anyone has advice for buying one too...