Old Tom
Member
Progress report on my 3BLD journey: Three weeks after my first "pure" solve, I am making slow progress. Sticking mostly to my plan (sort of) of ignoring speed, trying instead to get consistent. Doing things mostly in sections. Corners are going very well, almost "easy." Edges are currently a real problem, less than 25% success rate. Usually, I don't know which of the many possible errors I have made. Practice! I do this every day, but also get mentally tired, need to back off.
Real progress in that sticker positions are now effortless, mostly. Setups are "familiar", but not yet "automatic", that will come. Both of these advances make for less mental effort, and I am very happy with the improvement there.
I have actually gotten a bit sloppy with my practice sessions. I often watch TV (closed captions) while I do a memo and solve. I interrupt things if the TV (mostly sports and news) gets interesting. This is how I have cubed for 35+ years; it is relaxing and enjoyable!
I am somewhat discouraged that I simply cannot improve finger speed. I have been trying hard to use "finger tricks", but I am just too old, with all sorts of physical and neurological problems that I will not bore you with. I can get under one turn-per-second, but that's about it. Mentally I am ok, but probably slower there also. Since the OP method takes about 340-360 turns, I will need about 5-6 minutes just for execution, with NO hesitations. The usual 10 minute limit at comps will be a major challenge, but possible.
I am having fun with memo and trace. Long, long way to go to get faster, but I really think I can make major advances there. I guess this is a very individual thing, but any tips would be welcome.
But, in particular: I am definitely sticking to letter pairs, but am not sure if it will be effective to mix single-word pairs with two-word pairs. Just as an example, could be anything else: Pair CW. I try for a name first. Takes me too long to find Christopher Walken or Chris Webber (US basketball player). Instead, I can quickly think of CoW, a good mental image. But that's a one-word pair that tends to throw my memo off. Instead, I can almost as quickly think of Clock-Wise, or Counter-Weight, both of which can be worked into good images. Or Cheese-Whiz!
Any advice there? Thanks, and excuse the long post. I figure you have all been where I am now!
Real progress in that sticker positions are now effortless, mostly. Setups are "familiar", but not yet "automatic", that will come. Both of these advances make for less mental effort, and I am very happy with the improvement there.
I have actually gotten a bit sloppy with my practice sessions. I often watch TV (closed captions) while I do a memo and solve. I interrupt things if the TV (mostly sports and news) gets interesting. This is how I have cubed for 35+ years; it is relaxing and enjoyable!
I am somewhat discouraged that I simply cannot improve finger speed. I have been trying hard to use "finger tricks", but I am just too old, with all sorts of physical and neurological problems that I will not bore you with. I can get under one turn-per-second, but that's about it. Mentally I am ok, but probably slower there also. Since the OP method takes about 340-360 turns, I will need about 5-6 minutes just for execution, with NO hesitations. The usual 10 minute limit at comps will be a major challenge, but possible.
I am having fun with memo and trace. Long, long way to go to get faster, but I really think I can make major advances there. I guess this is a very individual thing, but any tips would be welcome.
But, in particular: I am definitely sticking to letter pairs, but am not sure if it will be effective to mix single-word pairs with two-word pairs. Just as an example, could be anything else: Pair CW. I try for a name first. Takes me too long to find Christopher Walken or Chris Webber (US basketball player). Instead, I can quickly think of CoW, a good mental image. But that's a one-word pair that tends to throw my memo off. Instead, I can almost as quickly think of Clock-Wise, or Counter-Weight, both of which can be worked into good images. Or Cheese-Whiz!
Any advice there? Thanks, and excuse the long post. I figure you have all been where I am now!