A style of yo-yoing where the
yo-yo is not attached to the player's
hand. Instead, a
counterweight is attached, and the player holds on to it. By not having the
string permanently attached, the yo-yo may be passed between hands, flung around shoulders, under legs, and basically allows a greater degree of movement. A
technique particular to freehand are freehand regenerations. This technique allows the yo-yo to regain rotational
speed without the player holding it in any way, by launching it into the
air.
The most common counterweights include cancelled casino dice and rubber balls with holes drilled into them. Steve Brown is credited with inventing this style.
Freehand is also a vector illustration program by Macromedia. Its main competition is Adobe Illustrator. While Freehand lack's Illustrator's gradient meshes, it has tighter integration with other Macromedia products such as Flash. It is my illustration program of choice because it seems a lot less bloated and makes more efficient use of computer resources.