Stick grind

The diabolo comes off the string and sits spinning on the end of a stick, balanced in the gap between its cups. Held well it looks like the diabolo has simply stopped obeying gravity.

Why this one needs a bearing

A grind works because the diabolo keeps spinning while the stick it is resting on does not. That only happens if the axle can turn freely against something touching it, which is exactly what a bearing is for.

On a fixed axle the stick touches a solid bar that is spinning with the diabolo. The friction that lets a fixed axle climb a string is the same friction that kills a grind: the diabolo grabs the stick, stops, and falls off.

So this trick is the mirror image of the string climb. Between them they are the clearest answer to which axle you want, and the honest answer is that they want different ones.

The grind

1. Get the diabolo very fast. A grind bleeds spin steadily the whole time it is held, so you are spending speed to buy seconds.
2. Throw low and straight, no higher than your chest.
3. Bring one stick under the diabolo and meet the gap between the cups with the tip of the stick.
4. Let the stick drop slightly as it makes contact, then hold it level and still.

Meet the diabolo. Do not stab up at it. A stick moving upward at the moment of contact bounces the diabolo straight off.

Holding it

Keep the stick horizontal and keep your hand quiet. Correct a lean by moving the whole stick under the diabolo rather than by tilting it. Tilting spills the diabolo off the end.

What goes wrong

It grabs and stops. Fixed axle. This trick is not available on it.

It bounces off on contact. The stick was still moving up. Meet and drop.

It slides off the end of the stick. The stick was tilted. Level it and move the whole hand instead.

It holds for a second then dies. Not enough spin going in. A grind is one of the most expensive things you can do with a diabolo.

When it is working

Three seconds of clean balance, then back onto the string and caught. Once the contact stops bouncing, every other grind is a variation on this one.