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My Tips for Becoming Color Neutral

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jskyler91

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This video is meant to be nothing more than a guide for those who wish to become color neutral. In short, my "method" for doing this, which is more just a scheduled way to change, calls for a 30 day period in which you do not ever use your original color. During this 30 days you will spend approximately 5 days on each other colors working through them systematically by color filter groups (opposite colors that share the same f2l pieces). There will be two review days where you will practice all the colors you have learned. The point of this way of doing things is that it makes sure that you have no chance to try your main color which will be faster until you complete the month and thus are not tempted to stop learning CN before your mind has the time to get used to it. Most people either only try for a week or two as Weston did or they don't do the correct system for learning each color i.e. by color filters. My method calls for a 100% CN solve policy, which most people do not normally follow and thus, IMO , fail. I do not claim this method to be fullproof or that you will be 100% perfect at CN by the end of it, I am just stating that if you stick to it you can become CN far faster than most people realize (approx. one month if you do not stop). I acknowledge that being faster will make the transition more uncomfortable, but not impossible. As many studies have shown it takes a month to change a habit, and I believe this applies for CN as well.

Please try this method before you say it won't work. I personally think it will, but if you don't think so please prove me wrong.

Per request, here is a schedule for those who want it:

Days 1- 4 Practice Yellow only
Days 5- 9 Practice Blue only
Day 10- Practice Blue and Yellow, always doing the best cross
Days 11-15- Practice Green Only
Day 16- Practice with Blue Green and Yellow Only
Days 17- 21- Practice Red Only
Days 22- 26- Practice Orange Only
Days 27- 30- Practice all Colors Except White
Day 31- Til you quit cubing- Practice all colors, always choosing the best cross.

This assumes you will be starting with white, if not just switch yellow with the color opposite of your normal starting color. You will also see that on days 10, and 16 i have you doing all the colors you have learned, after some thought I realized that it might be a good idea to have some review every now and then.

To all of those who wish to comment on the validity of this idea please watch this first:

I made this video simply to help those who wished to change, this forum is not a place to have CN battles or to say that going CN is impossible because it simply isn't. If you don't like my method then don't try it.
Some benefits I see to making this change are:

better cross choice, shorter crosses, more chances for extended crosses, a better lookahead due to your shorter cross, a smoother solve due to this increased lookahead, more confidence that you won't have a horrible cross and thus less stress during inspection, likely a lower standard deviation because you won't have that random horrible solve due to a crazy hard cross and ideally a lower solving time in the end because you had less moves and all of the benefits listed here.

Thank you and good luck changing!!!
 
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PandaCuber

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I am glad to hear it, I responded to you on youtube, but I am sure you will be able to do it. Just make sure that you don't give up or do your dominant color until the month is up. What color are you starting with?

Im talking to you here and on Youtube, Where do you wanna keep the Convos? lol

And Yellow.
 

jskyler91

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Im talking to you here and on Youtube, Where do you wanna keep the Convos? lol

And Yellow.

You might as well do it here, that will make things easier and others can benefit/enter into out convos. Sounds good, One thing that I forgot to mention in the vid is that switching colors will seem really confusing and frustrating at first, but sometime around the 20-25 day mark you will get that click and it will seem so easy after that.
 

PandaCuber

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You might as well do it here, that will make things easier and others can benefit/enter into out convos. Sounds good, One thing that I forgot to mention in the vid is that switching colors will seem really confusing and frustrating at first, but sometime around the 20-25 day mark you will get that click and it will seem so easy after that.

Right now the only thing bothering me, is that i insert pairs into the wrong slot. You know?
 

5BLD

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Very good video, I've been trying but its really hard. I will now watch the video again carefully and pick up more info... It's very very informative :)

I find being colour neutral with CFOP much easier, I dunno whether it's because ive gotten fast with Roux or whether Roux blockbuilding is somehow harder to be colour neutral. For Roux I even struggle for sub-15, even then, there's the problem that I can't help but be biased towards my original colours.

Also I find little change in times with colour neutral for one handed...

anyway, I'll use Rapidash Open 2012 as a reason to postpone my colour neutral pursuits to May...

EDIT: actually, I think I might be able to get down to 10 seconds again CN by April... Well, I see how it's either I do it or I don't; I can't practice CN then suddenly do my averages non CN.

Edit2: **** it, im doing it. But alongside non CN practice. You've convinced me...
 
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Bapao

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Seriously, that is one of the most impressive displays of awesomeness that I have ever encountered. I have no place here... *closes door quietly*.

*Talks from behind the closed door*:

I was actually working on CN at work today. Your out of the box thinking is seriously amazing. But also intimidating at the same time.

You seemed very nervous in that video though ;) Thanks for sharing.

Regards,

H.
 

PandaCuber

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Very good video, I've been trying but its really hard. I will now watch the video again carefully and pick up more info... It's very very informative :)

I find being colour neutral with CFOP much easier, I dunno whether it's because ive gotten fast with Roux or whether Roux blockbuilding is somehow harder to be colour neutral. For Roux I even struggle for sub-15, even then, there's the problem that I can't help but be biased towards my original colours.

Also I find little change in times with colour neutral for one handed...

anyway, I'll use Rapidash Open 2012 as a reason to postpone my colour neutral pursuits to May...

EDIT: actually, I think I might be able to get down to 10 seconds again CN by April... Well, I see how it's either I do it or I don't; I can't practice CN then suddenly do my averages non CN.

Edit2: **** it, im doing it. But alongside non CN practice. You've convinced me...


Alex, you worry about time wayyy too much! If your times go up, so what? Cause in less than 2 months youll be back to your old self, but CN and faster, cause blocks will be easier to find and we will be like the only 2 roux solvers that are color neutral lololol..jk im sure there are more.
 

Dene

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Way too much effort. Man up and go cold turkey. That has always been my advice to those wanting to switch, and I haven't been given any good reason not to do it this simply.
 

5BLD

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There's only one other that I know of... Cool Frog.
Yeah but I'm nearing sub-10 and in 2 months I could be sub-10 non CN.

But since you're doing it too..... LETS DO THIS. :D
 

jskyler91

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Alex, you worry about time wayyy too much! If your times go up, so what? Cause in less than 2 months youll be back to your old self, but CN and faster, cause blocks will be easier to find and we will be like the only 2 roux solvers that are color neutral lololol..jk im sure there are more.

My thoughts exactly, I also to Dene, I think going cold turkey isn't a very structured way to do it and thus many people fail because they see how much faster their original color is.. My way you never need to be tempted because u are not ever doing your original color.

Edit, To 5bld and panda I say great to see you doing it.. 5bld, I I think that if you switch to color neutral first then becoming sub 9 will be all the easier.

Edit 2
Challenge accepted.
To decide what cross to do, I'm just going to do what the last move is (always scramble white top green front. Let's say last few move is B, I'd do green.)

I wouldn't do this, but because it doesn't develop your color pair filters. You will likely just get frustrated this way.
PS. the no double posting is annoying when you want to respond to multiple people.
 
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Bapao

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WE ARE LIVING THE DREAM BUDDY!
I feel so inspired now.

Challenge accepted. But do expect to still be solving 10 years from now if you ever want to see me catch up with you guys. This is certainly motivating content though. I'm going for CN...make it 30 years from now...owait..
 
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