A yo-yo is disclosed with a substantially frictionless freely rotatable ball bearing, positioned upon a spindle between two separate halves of rotatable yo-yo members, such ball bearing having a smooth, continuous, outer concave surface. The smooth concave surface constitutes a segment of a circle having a radius of about 0.225 inches, contacting the yo-yo string, and is shallow, continuous and uninterrupted by the presence of a prior art groove formed in the outer surface. This surface configuration tends to urge the string towards the center of the bearing to reduce string friction against inside walls of the yo-yo halves while the string is winding around the bearing, yet allows some lateral movement of the string, enabling efficient performance of string layering maneuvers.