Not sure if this is already a thread (feel free to merge this with already-existing ones, Admins). What are your opinions on the Base Cup/Lunar Balance/ "booty" hole? Another innovation in Kendama design that, while not as prominent as bigger cups or sticky paint, seems to be more desirable nowadays. Yea? Nay? On the fence? Sound off! Personally, I would love it more if not for the fact that I can't do Clutch with a basecup hole.
I used to drill all of my kens.. Nowadays I just play them out of the box. Partly because Im lazy, and partly because I've moved away from the Lunar game a little.
Never drill my kens, as I find having to purchase the right equipment, dealing with all the woodchips and sawdust, and even the risk of wrecking a perfectly good ken more hassle than it's worth. Good point about this though is that more companies are starting to have balance holes come standard on their Kendamas, so there are more chances to try the feature out!
I personally like the base hole but I feel like a swoop in combination with a pointed in or almost cone like indentation in the base cup would be the best.
Yep! I don't think it ever panned out, but that was the GT 1.5 shape's goal. In addition to the swoop, the base cup's concave area (the "cup") was conical, so it accomplished the goal of relieving weight from the base cup area without going full on base cup hole.
I have to go with nay, as a small few number of tricks require full contact between the hand/finger and the base cup like the Clutch trick (spinning the kendama with it balancing on your finger). Which, iirc, is one of the reasons why Iji's new Krom pro mod is the only one without the basecup hole drilled into it as he kept those kind of tricks in mind when designing his.
Idk abt the base cup hole, it might help to have one Dama with it, but honestly it might feel better just to weight out a lighter sword for more over all balance
For me, I do a lot of taps in my play style, and a basecup hole doesn’t make it worse or better; just kind of...weird
I think the base cup hole is a bit gimmicky. Haveing put a hole in several damas( and 1.5ing my walnut E1) I found at most it removes 2-3g tops. If your sword is 9g heavier than the sarado it makes nearly no difference to lunar-ability. It does make one turn two turn tricks a little quicker and maybe kenflips too. Also paint is so sticky on some damas that anything is lunar-able anyway. But over all a kendama with a heavier sarado than sword is better regardless of booty hole.
While I don't have a fixed opinion on it, I will admit that it does get in the way of Clutch as you mentioned earlier. If I do have it, however, I'll try to incorporate it into a juggle line (Lukas Sandgren style)
I enjoy them on some setups but sometimes they destroy the whole balance IMO. I own and enjoy setups with and without
I would say that on a natty it is invaluable. Having the ability to balance a lunar on an unpainted kendama is so useful. However I think that a sticky clear, crazy deep cups, a long spike and fat balance hole is a bit too much. That type of kendama makes it seem like the company is holding your hand, rather than metaphorically tossing you into the air.