F2L Tips and Help thread

**A Leman** · 06-13-2012

Some tips I think can help

1. Study the example solves of faster cubers. Learning intuitively and by example can help ALOT!

2. Get better at inspection. Part of the challenge of f2l is look ahead but if you are prepared for the first 2 f2l pairs before the cross, you times will get cut down and you will have a much more confident f2l.

3. Look ahead (find your next pair while executing your first pair) If you already found pairs during the inspection time, it gives you much more time to find the last pairs.

4. Don’t worry about cube rotations that much if they are helping your solves (you can tell). Actually practice your rotations so you don't lose time regriping.

5. Learn the benefits of wide turns for making the next pair rotationless

**drogg** · 06-13-2012

Benmeister. I think I can help you out here. I am by no means a fast cuber (average around 26 have been cubing for last 5 months). However, around two months ago my average was 42s and my F2L times mirrored yours.

Reading through your post your numbers don't seem to add up. Your f2l average is 24s. You say you only waste at worst case scenario 0.5s finding a pair. So 0.5x4 (for all pairs) = 2secs. Therefore it takes you 22/4 = 5.5secs on average to insert each pair!

I would suggest in reality the majority of your time is wasted finding your pairs and you in fact have close to zero lookahead (I'm not trying to be harsh). I know I certainly did when I was averaging 42s (and it is still poor at my current average of 26s). If you want to prove if this is true you can solve your cross then individually time inserting each pair, having studied each case before starting the timer, and see what your f2l totals then when it is limited only by turning speed and not lookahead. This gives you your theoretical fastest time at your current turning speed.

Now in terms of helping you. Everyone bangs on about lookahead and how important it is. I am by no means disputing this!!!! But when I was averaging 42s I wasn't confident enough at inserting my pairs at anywhere near a normal speed without looking at them to start concentrating on the next pair, but it soon came with practice. You say you've only been cubing for 1 month so clearly you need lots of practice to improve your F2L (I would stress this heavily at your stage) and as someone else has already stated slow solves will help you out too as they start to allow you to track the next pair better as you don't have to worry so much about the current insertion as it's so slow. I also found it much easier to start inserting with my non dominant hand when solving slowly, as well as inserting into back slots. But don't try to do too much just focus on one thing and keep practicing it to see improvements in your times!

If I am completely wrong and you do in fact only spend 0.5s finding each pair then I apologise for my remark about your lookahead and I suggest you need to look at some much more efficient ways of inserting pairs. There are lots of videos out there but just looking at the wiki and experimenting with your cube helps.

I hope this helps to some degree. Keep at it you will be sub-30 in no time!

**awesomecuber150** · 06-14-2012

Well for me I had the same problem. The thing that made me slow was I took to many moves. Try counting how many moves it takes you to F2L. I take about 30 to 40 moves and I average about 12 sec. for my f2l. But really all I can say is take it slow work out the cases with as least moves possible. And don't turn as fast as you can just really focus on lookahead. Try to solve one F2L slot with closing you eyes to. If you can do that then you don't have to look at your pieces but other pieces.

**nuclearbigdaddy** · 06-21-2012

Hello Everybody...Does any one know some very good tips for f2l look ahead. I was looking for more unique advice. Thanks!!

**jeff081692** · 06-21-2012

http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/sh...ctice-F2L-here

If there are any more unique tips maybe we should add to this list.

**Prodigy360** · 08-04-2012

Hi,
I am not a speedcuber quite yet but I do average around 30 seconds, my best being about 21 (which I have acheived a few times, one time actually using the beginner's method with shortcuts). I have learned 2-look OLL (I will learn 1-look OLL later) and know all but four of the PLL algorithms as of tonight. I haven't looked into F2L much yet at this point, as I figured that I would just learn it by the algorithms. However, I have recently done some research and learned that it is apparently much more beneficial to learn F2L intuitively, and I understand why. I have just watched badmephisto's F2L guides and have started to practice doing F2L intuitively tonight. Of course, my times are immensely increased (I'm not even bothering to time myself at this point), and I know that eventually they will decrease after much practice.

What I want to know is how long it will take before my times get better. I am a pretty fast learner, as I started cubing just last summer and had my times down to a minute within the first couple of weeks using a storebought Rubik's cube. I hope to get my times below my last timed averages in the next three weeks, before the end of the summer, although I know it may be tough. I plan, and probably will, practice at least two or three hours a day. I don't know how to pair peices both already in the top layer or separated between the top and bottom layers, but I have begun to understand it intuitively.

I would appreciate any help, especially tips on how to learn F2L faster and more efficiently. What I really need is a good estimate on how long it would take me to get my times back down with my learning rate and practice time. Thanks.

**Cubic** · 08-05-2012

There are loads of tutorials available to help you. As a beginner at learning a speedcubing method myself, I have found the tutorials from Badmephisto and Rido particularly useful.

Have a look at:
http://www.badmephisto.com/ and
http://rishidoshi.blogspot.co.uk/

Of course, there are plenty of other resources available, and both these sites link to some very easy to understand material and some great printable guides.

Good luck.

Cubic

**KobaltKour** · 08-05-2012

I learned it by watching a video which pretty much broke it down to 4 cases and teaching you what to do in each case. It's not that hard. You can learn it in a day or two. It's one of the F2L videos on youtube.