Thursday, April 9, 2020

Recoil



beyblade burst god free Launching GIF
It's not like this irl but it does feel like it sometimes



Due to the nature of the game, there are various aspects of physics that one can use to their advantage when playing, and while I've mentioned some of these concepts in past articles, I haven't gone over any in full. So I'll be doing some of that to help things make more sense as I cover and expand on other topics, starting with the one for today, recoil.


What is Recoil?

Starting off with the definition, recoil is a backward movement caused by the force of impact. In terms of beyblade, this refers to the backward movement from colliding with an opponent's bey or from hitting the stadium wall. While one can't control how every clash plays out, they can make adjustments and choices to adjust it in their favor more often.

The most direct way to adjust recoil for your bey is by figuring out what type of contact you want it to have by selecting a layer that fits your needs. Generally, the closer the layer is to being a circle, the less recoil it will have, and the further away you move from this and give the bey defined edges, the more recoil it will have.

Rounder layers, like Dread, have less recoil because when it takes a hit, the force of the impact is dispersed more evenly across the beyblade as there aren't as many weak spots where a hit will more severely knock back the bey, so they're used more often in defensive or stamina based combos, while beys that have more prominent edges like Venom are used in attack based combos since they want to force the impact onto their opponents, going on the offensive to avoid the risk of getting hit themselves. Some layers use different materials which also affect recoil either by adjusting the weight and how it's distributed or by adjusting friction to make it harder or easier to apply/receive recoil. These two factors can actually be applied to the bey as a whole, so I'll explain how each one affects recoil in general.

Friction in relation to Recoil

You have not known true fear until you've unexpectedly faced someone with a fresh Judgement base




Friction is the resistance to motion of one object moving relative to another. For beyblade, this refers to how much or how little a bey will move against the stadium and also against a bey it collides with.

If your bey has less friction against the stadium, it can move and spin more freely at the cost of also taking the risk of getting knocked out easily. Bearing on top of it's namesake having ball bearings, also has a free-spinning tip made of POM that has less friction against the stadium to maximize spin time, making it an excellent tip for stamina types, though it's easier to knockout combos that use the driver due to the reduced friction. This also doesn't mean that beys which have more grip against the floor can't move as much either. Flat rubber tips for drivers like Xtreme are used more commonly for attack types since the wide surface area of a flat tip, along with the added grip from the rubber allows them to more violently push against the stadium to build up speed, while also preventing them from getting knocked back from the force of their attacks. Rubber can also be used defensively, such as the Keep driver, so that the bey is not knocked back as far, if at all when taking a hit from an opponent.

Rubber can also be used on layers for offensive or defensive applications of recoil as well. Judgement is an example of offensive use where it's designed to generate a lot of recoil from the impact of the ridge's shape along with the grip preventing the energy of the impact from being overly dispersed. Defensive applications of rubber are used for layers like Poison to cushion the impact of attacks, or for spin equalization such as Wizard, where the grip of the rubber helps to take the momentum from the opponent, converting more of the energy from the impact into spin power instead of simply dealing with the results of recoil. In addition to friction, weight and weight distribution can also be used to adjust recoil.

Weight and Weight Distribution in relation to Recoil

Just because something is the heaviest does not mean it's the best


Weight refers to how heavy the overall beyblade is, while weight distribution is how the weight is balanced across the bey as it spins. Both apply to recoil as the heavier your bey is, the harder it is for it to move and be moved across the stadium, while weight distribution affects how your bey deals  and recovers from blows. However, some combos will utilize parts that are lighter as they favor reduced friction at the cost of being knock-out prone, such as stamina-based combos. The difference in weight among the individual parts of a combo will also affect burst resistance, so using parts that are lighter can help to improve it as well. Metal sections are a common way to increase the weight of various parts, such as the metal dragon heads on Zwei which are used to apply more force against the opponent's bey. Having a heavier layer can also improve burst resistance. If your disc and driver setup is heavier than the layer and there's no additional features in the combo to aid with burst resistance, the disc/driver combo is more likely to have momentum separate from the layer as it collides with the opponent's bey, making it easier to burst. If the layer setup is lighter than the disc and driver, this effect can be somewhat reduced. 

Discs being the main metal section of the bey will generally have the largest effect on both weight and weight distribution. Currently, the most popular discs fall in the heavier section, such as the recent GT disks like Blitz and Sting, or core discs like 10, 0, and 00. This makes sense as beyblades become heavier in general as they're improved upon, but lighter disks are also still used for the reasons I covered earlier as well. Disc frames are also used to add extra weight as necessary. The stars under the discs also cause minor adjustments to weight distribution, so depending on that along with how you place it in your bey, you can affect the overall balance of your combo. Try placing the disc in a different configuration if you find that's it's not spinning as smoothly as you want it to. By balancing the weight among your parts and adjusting it for even weight distribution as it spins, you can have a more well rounded combo that can handle recoil better, or more specifically have it handled the way you want it to more often.
Buster Xcalibur 1' Sword | Beyblade Wiki | Fandom
Xcalibur is actually pretty cool layerwise for emphasizing this concept


Recoil is a very important factor to consider when making your combos as this is a game where you'll be having two or more tops clash against each other. Making the most of how it's applied and using that knowledge to your advantage can help to improve your customization skills, and put you ahead of others when it comes to battling.