Off Day

[Cubic]

I'm having an off day

Yesterday was great - I managed to learn the algorithms for the 2 Look OLL.

I can still remember them today, but for the life of me I CANNOT learn more than one of the 2 look PLLs. H-Perm I can do (though all those M turns feel a little clumsy), but nothing else is sinking in.

I can see patterns and symmetry in the algorithms, but I just can't learn them! My brain is dead today.

Hopefully I'll be on form tomorrow.

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On a positive note, I'm beginning to see patterns in last layer, so the 2-look is definitely leading me towards full OLL/PLL. So not all bad...

[applemobile]

As soon as you are feeling you are having a bad day and it is not going in, stop, and have a break. You will never learn anything when you are frustrated at yourself, just keep practicing what you already know, and it will all come in time. There is no rush.

[Cubic]

That's what I'm doing. Just repeating what I know, so that the weird mnemonics I've used really sink in and become automatic. I did better yesterday than I expected, so I shouldn't feel too disheartened.

And I'm spotting patterns, so that's a good sign.

If nothing else, I can practise finger tricks...

[applemobile]

I would try and learn to remember Algs purely using muscle memory. You want your mind to be free to help with your look ahead in a later date. When I started I remembered Algs by Using mnemonics such as, for a three edge cycle....

Ribbit Frog Ribbit, Bounce around, Run Figgeratively Right, Back around, Reversing.


Now it was a great way for a beginner, and it's the way I taught all the Algs to my gf, but the fact you have to think whilst performing them makes it not the best memory method. Just keep drilling the Algs over and over again, and your fingers will remember how to do it.

[Cubic]

Well, the mnemonics help me inasmuch as I no longer have to for the algs on my printout. Once I know the mnemonic, I use it to help me repeat the pattern over and over, until I can FEEL the move rather than see it.

Once I can feel it, I no longer need to remember the mnemonic. My finger can do the thinking rather than my eyes and brain.

[Photon]

You're right. repeat the algorithm over and over again. Your fingers get the hang of it. Motor memory is very effective. I notice how in a ten move sequence for a PLL, I get stuck at a couple of specific points. I do the algorithm repeatedly, concentrating on smoothing out the moves at those points. it helps a lot. I've never once gone for mnemonics... though I HAVE memo'd a couple of algorithms.

[Cubic]

The great thing with practising the moves is that you KNOW them, but can't recite them. Not to begin with, anyway. It's like riding a bike... you just do it. [Procedural memory]