Using others' critiques to get to sub-11 average.

[DaKrazedKyubizt]

NOTE: THIS THREAD WAS MOVED FROM THE VIDEO GALLERY SECTION. The link to the original location is here --> http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/sh...sub-11-average.

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So, I've been plateaued for a while, stopping at just over 12 seconds, and I can't seem to get much faster. I've gotten only two sub-12 averages of 12 (11.95 and 11.90), and I feel like both of those happened on lucky days or days when I was just, you know, "feeling good." I can't seem to recreate them. I've been around the 12-second range for several months (maybe about 4 or 5 months), and I feel like I should have passed it by now.

I know there's multiple cubers out there who are better than me, so I'm sure SOMEBODY will be willing and able to help me out a little. I'm just looking for some critique on what's wrong with my cubing and what kinds of things I can use to improve it (i.e. pre-practice session exercises, new finger tricks to learn, how much I should practice daily, etc.). The help would be greatly appreciated, and I'm sure others could use the suggestions as well!! Feel free to post the critiques here or in the video's comments section on YouTube.

Some quick information about my current cubing status would probably be useful for critiquing. I was originally yellow-cross only (Forgive me, Breandan Vallance), then I switched to semi-neutrality (Y/O cross), and I very recently switched to color neutrality. I've been working on it for the past few months (which could be why I haven't been improving), and I'm okay at it, but I'm still much more comfortable starting with yellow and white. I haven't really worked on cross choice yet, and I really need to, because the number of moves I'm using for the cross tends to be way more than necessary, so that's already on my to-do list.

Anyway, thanks all! I'll do my best to post two RAs of 12 every Sunday. The first will just be a regular old RA of 12. The second will be a slo-mo/calm turning RA of 12 for the purpose of finding problems in my solution. I'll post the scrambles with the videos. (I might use the Sunday Contest for the regular averages. If you recommend that I do so, just tell me!)

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In the meantime, I've been trying something out to try and forcibly decrease my times. I've been trying to use a metronome to help me find the kinks in my cubing. I set it at a certain tempo (usually about 35-45 beats), and using slo-mo/calm turning, I'll try to solve the cube, only taking one beat per step (cross, F2L 1, F2L 2, F2L 3, F2L 4, OLL, PLL). I often choose not to go past F2L completion, just because at the end of the day, I'm hoping to get a consistent sub-8 (and subsequently, sub-7) average for my F2L.

Any thoughts on this metronome training? Anyone wanna try it and get back to me with their thoughts on it or how it could be used to improve?

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NOTE: THIS THREAD WAS MOVED FROM THE VIDEO GALLERY SECTION. The link to the original location is here --> http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/sh...sub-11-average.

[chicken9290]

i had that same problem for two weeks. just keep practicing. and your f2l to get sub 12 should almost always be sub 8 or 7

[antoineccantin]

i had that same problem for two weeks. just keep practicing. and your f2l to get sub 12 should almost always be sub 8 or 7

My F2L is almost sub 7 and I am barely sub-15

[DaKrazedKyubizt]

i had that same problem for two weeks. just keep practicing. and your f2l to get sub 12 should almost always be sub 8 or 7

Again, real "helpful". Did you not see the part where I said I've been stuck for FOUR TO FIVE MONTHS?

[DaKrazedKyubizt]

Will be posting videos as soon as I can get home. I'm stuck at somebody's house. Sorry guys!

[theanonymouscuber]

Hey. I'm not quite sub 11, but I do think I can give you a hand with this sort of thing.

First off: I practice a lot. Hundreds of solves nearly every day. Is it all necessary? Maybe, but according to Stefan Huber, someone much faster than me, hundreds of solves aren't completely necessary. Give it a lot of practice, but don't over do it.

Second: Time all of your algs. Maybe do some LL scrambles. These aren't only good practice, but can be useful for finding algs that are slower than others and should be replaced. Should your N perms be sub 1? Of course not, but try to see what algs are hindering your overall performance. An alg may feel fast, but there is a good chance that it truly isn't. Check all PLLs and some of your OLLs to see where you stand in speed for each algorithm.

Third: At the end of your post, you mention using a metronome. Here's a hint from someone who has progressed fairly quickly from ~30 seconds to about 11.5: it truly isn't necessary. If you find that your solves are inconsistent and have many pauses, just slow down your turning a bit. Metronome training could be useful for VERY inconsistent solvers, but since you appear to be quite fast already, normal solving should be enough.

Finally: Learn some F2L tricks. Not too many, but just a few that may help you rotate less during solving. Rotations aren't only slow to do in excess, but can really stop the flow of a solve. I recommend this site for some very cool and useful F2L algs: http://f2l.net46.net/index.html

If you have any more questions (assuming you found this useful) feel free to PM me. I'd also be happy to race and chat on twist the web (www.twisttheweb.com) if you are interested as well.

Other than that, just keep up the practicing.

[DaKrazedKyubizt]

Hey. I'm not quite sub 11, but I do think I can give you a hand with this sort of thing.

First: Your PBs sure don't agree with that statement. You seem to be rockin' sub-11 average, no prob.
Don't be modest. If you're an awesome cuber, say you're an awesome cuber. You have the times to prove it.

First off: I practice a lot. Hundreds of solves nearly every day. Is it all necessary? Maybe, but according to Stefan Huber, someone much faster than me, hundreds of solves aren't completely necessary. Give it a lot of practice, but don't over do it.

Second: Time all of your algs. Maybe do some LL scrambles. These aren't only good practice, but can be useful for finding algs that are slower than others and should be replaced. Should your N perms be sub 1? Of course not, but try to see what algs are hindering your overall performance. An alg may feel fast, but there is a good chance that it truly isn't. Check all PLLs and some of your OLLs to see where you stand in speed for each algorithm.

Third: At the end of your post, you mention using a metronome. Here's a hint from someone who has progressed fairly quickly from ~30 seconds to about 11.5: it truly isn't necessary. If you find that your solves are inconsistent and have many pauses, just slow down your turning a bit. Metronome training could be useful for VERY inconsistent solvers, but since you appear to be quite fast already, normal solving should be enough.

Finally: Learn some F2L tricks. Not too many, but just a few that may help you rotate less during solving. Rotations aren't only slow to do in excess, but can really stop the flow of a solve. I recommend this site for some very cool and useful F2L algs: http://f2l.net46.net/index.html

If you have any more questions (assuming you found this useful) feel free to PM me. I'd also be happy to race and chat on twist the web (www.twisttheweb.com) if you are interested as well.

Other than that, just keep up the practicing.

Second: Thanks. I appreciate the help.

[DaKrazedKyubizt]

Sorry for being late. A video will be up in a few hours. It's not a very good average, but I thought I'd just dish something out so I can get to studying for my written driver's test in the morning.

[Toire-Dakku]

I'm almost exactly in the same situation as you. I got my PB avg12 of 10.87 around October 2010 with a 2-week old lingyun. That was the last PB I had. I think i tied it 1-2 months ago, 10.87 again. Every average in between was just around low 12s - low 11s.

So, I've noticed that I fumble/lock up a lot, especially when I try so hard to be fast :P I'm focusing right now on getting that right. other than that, I'm still trying to improve my OLLs and PLLs by looking for good algos, trying to get used to solving them in different angles etc.

[DaKrazedKyubizt]

I'm almost exactly in the same situation as you. I got my PB avg12 of 10.87 around October 2010 with a 2-week old lingyun. That was the last PB I had. I think i tied it 1-2 months ago, 10.87 again. Every average in between was just around low 12s - low 11s.

So, I've noticed that I fumble/lock up a lot, especially when I try so hard to be fast :P I'm focusing right now on getting that right. other than that, I'm still trying to improve my OLLs and PLLs by looking for good algos, trying to get used to solving them in different angles etc.

Interesting. Maybe this thread will help you, my friend. =)

Another thing I realized about my cubing--I'm trying too hard to think fast, so I make extra moves such as y2, U3, etc. often. If you have a similar problem, then try this: While inserting an F2L pair, if you haven't found the next one, then once you insert that one, force yourself to just stop moving and look for the next pair, before you decide what to do.