How to be sub 20

[PJKCuber]

Do you mean stop cubing for a while? Like how long? One week? I wouldn't have thought that stopping practice instead of practising more would help me improve. Would changing puzzle help, like, let's say, start learning Ortega for 2x2? I'd miss cubing, seriously.

Yes totally. When I was averaging 22. I started to hate speedcubing because I was stuck. I got a 4x4 and practiced until I got sub 2 . I took a week of from 3x3. When I came back, I was sub 20.

 

[TDM]

Yes totally. When I was averaging 22. I started to hate speedcubing because I was stuck. I got a 4x4 and practiced until I got sub 2 . I took a week of from 3x3. When I came back, I was sub 20.

I was stuck at 21-22 as well. I eventually stopped cubing for a bit, and when I came back to do my first comp (and got a decent cube), and that also made me sub-20.

 

[mafergut]

I responded to your vid in the solve critique thread.

I saw that. Very good insights and some things I hadn't thought of myself. Thank you very much. I will reply more thoroughly on that thread.

 

[mafergut]

I was stuck at 21-22 as well. I eventually stopped cubing for a bit, and when I came back to do my first comp (and got a decent cube), and that also made me sub-20.

Thanks for the advice. If no other thing works (and for now nothing is really working) I will definitely try this. I have been wanting to learn Ortega since I got a LingPo so that could be a way to stay out of the 3x3 for a while. Also I got an AoSu that I have not used yet so I will try to learn the parity algs, etc. I'm afraid, though, that the part of getting a decent cube I cannot count on because I already own several top-notch cubes (ChiLong, HuanYing, AoLong, Weilong, Aurora...)

I will let you know how it all goes! Thanks again to all that gave suggestions

 

[mark49152]

Thanks for the advice. If no other thing works (and for now nothing is really working) I will definitely try this. I have been wanting to learn Ortega since I got a LingPo so that could be a way to stay out of the 3x3 for a while. Also I got an AoSu that I have not used yet so I will try to learn the parity algs, etc.

I'd recommend spending time on 4x4 rather than 2x2. Reason is that after a week on 4x4 you'll come back to 3x3 and it will just look easy - so few pieces, and they are big and chunky, easy to turn, and easy to find.

 

[mafergut]

Hi,

First sign than the advice you all guys gave me could be paying off a bit already. I have been doing some 4x4 (which I'm not good at, with times of 3-4 minutes) for some days and then came back to 3x3 but, instead of focusing on timed solves I was focusing on blind F2L solves and then in F2L lookahead, slow solves trying to not pause (but without a metronome).

I was starting to get almost the same times while slow solving than when speed solving (21-27 seconds). Then, just a while ago, while still slow solving I got a very fluent one. When I stopped the timer, it showed 18.72 seconds!!!! And I wasn't even trying too hard when doing OLL+PLL. Just two 45º (y/y') turns during the whole solve (until PLL, I have to learn the other orientation of A-perms and U-perms, I know, btw, any recommended algs for those?)

14. 18.72 R2 D2 B' U2 L2 R2 B R2 F' D2 B' L' F2 L D2 L2 U' L' B2 U F2

(x2) (y) // inspection

u L' u B2 U F2 // Cross (6/53) a bit ackward, isn't it?
(y) U2 L' U' L // F2L #1 (10/53)
(y') U' L' U' L R' U' R // F2L #2 (17/53)
U L' U' L // F2L #3 (21/53)
L U' L' U L U L' // F2L #4 (28/53) a lot of left hand work in F2L
U f R U R' U' f' F R U R' U' F' // OLL (41/53)
U (y2) R2 U' R' U' R U R U R U' R // PLL (53/53) yeah, it should have been U' PLL U2, instead of U y2 PLL, or better, learn opposite orientation PLL!!!

Thanks to all that helped!!!! I'll keep pushing

 

[TDM]

I have to learn the other orientation of A-perms and U-perms, I know, btw, any recommended algs for those?)

http://algdb.net/Set/PLL is a great website for finding algs.

Aa:
l' U R' D2 R U' R' D2 R2
[y2] r' U L' D2' L U' L' D2' L2
[y'] R U R' F' r U R' U' r' F R2 U' R'

Ab:
[y] [l' R'] D2 R U R' D2 R U' R'
r U' L D2 L' U L D2 L2'
[y2] l U' R D2 R' U R D2 R2'

Ua:
R U' R U R U R U' R' U' R2
[y2] R2 U' R' U' R U R U R U' R
[y2] M2 U M' U2 M U M2
M2 U M U2 M' U M2

Ub:
R2 U R U R' U' R' U' R' U R'
[y2] R' U R' U' R' U' R' U R U R2
M2 U' M U2 M' U' M2
[y2] M2 U' M' U2 M U' M2

 

[maps600]

OLL: R U2' R2' U' R2 U' R2' U2 R

I think it's faster

 

[maps600]

Hi,

First sign than the advice you all guys gave me could be paying off a bit already. I have been doing some 4x4 (which I'm not good at, with times of 3-4 minutes) for some days and then came back to 3x3 but, instead of focusing on timed solves I was focusing on blind F2L solves and then in F2L lookahead, slow solves trying to not pause (but without a metronome).

I was starting to get almost the same times while slow solving than when speed solving (21-27 seconds). Then, just a while ago, while still slow solving I got a very fluent one. When I stopped the timer, it showed 18.72 seconds!!!! And I wasn't even trying too hard when doing OLL+PLL. Just two 45º (y/y') turns during the whole solve (until PLL, I have to learn the other orientation of A-perms and U-perms, I know, btw, any recommended algs for those?)

14. 18.72 R2 D2 B' U2 L2 R2 B R2 F' D2 B' L' F2 L D2 L2 U' L' B2 U F2

(x2) (y) // inspection

u L' u B2 U F2 // Cross (6/53) a bit ackward, isn't it?
(y) U2 L' U' L // F2L #1 (10/53)
(y') U' L' U' L R' U' R // F2L #2 (17/53)
U L' U' L // F2L #3 (21/53)
L U' L' U L U L' // F2L #4 (28/53) a lot of left hand work in F2L
U f R U R' U' f' F R U R' U' F' // OLL (41/53)
U (y2) R2 U' R' U' R U R U R U' R // PLL (53/53) yeah, it should have been U' PLL U2, instead of U y2 PLL, or better, learn opposite orientation PLL!!!

Thanks to all that helped!!!! I'll keep pushing

f2l solution looks okay.. how long does it take you to solve cross + f2l alone?

 

[mafergut]

http://algdb.net/Set/PLL is a great website for finding algs.

Aa:
l' U R' D2 R U' R' D2 R2
[y2] r' U L' D2' L U' L' D2' L2
[y'] R U R' F' r U R' U' r' F R2 U' R'

Ab:
[y] [l' R'] D2 R U R' D2 R U' R'
r U' L D2 L' U L D2 L2'
[y2] l U' R D2 R' U R D2 R2'

Ua:
R U' R U R U R U' R' U' R2
[y2] R2 U' R' U' R U R U R U' R
[y2] M2 U M' U2 M U M2
M2 U M U2 M' U M2

Ub:
R2 U R U R' U' R' U' R' U R'
[y2] R' U R' U' R' U' R' U R U R2
M2 U' M U2 M' U' M2
[y2] M2 U' M' U2 M U' M2

Many thanks. I usually go to the wiki on this site, which also has great algs but I was asking for advice. Yeah, I know that the best advice is to test by oneself and decide. But, for example, I cannot make my mind between the U-perms that are just the reverse of the ones I use now or the M2 ... ones. I'm afraid learning 4 perms so similar to each other can lead to confusion, so I was thinking if maintaining the current ones for y2 orientation and using completely different ones for opposite orientation would be better (namely, the M2 ones).

For the As I was practising the lefty versions, they are not y2 appart, though, only y but anyway you can always find an orientation that is only a U/U' away right?

 

[mafergut]

f2l solution looks okay.. how long does it take you to solve cross + f2l alone?

For this solve and others in the 18-20 range I'd say:
Cross: 1,5 - 2 seconds
F2L: 9 - 12 seconds
Total between 10.5 - 14.

My PB lucky (PLL skip with no AUF) is 12.49 so that must have been:
- cross+F2L: 10 secs,
- OLL: 2 secs,
- oh my! I got a PLL skip + stop the timer: 0.5 sec
give or take a tenth.

After that, LL greatly varies depending on OLL-PLL found. I have 1.8-2sec PLLs (As, Us) and 4.xx sec PLLs as well (V, Ns...). As you can see, very slow at oll/pll.

 

[mafergut]

OLL: R U2' R2' U' R2 U' R2' U2 R

I think it's faster

Thanks for the suggestion. It looks like probably faster but it took so much effort to learn the 55 OLLs (yep, I'm missing two of them since months and months ago) that I am a bit lazy to learn better ones. I should have analysed that before learning all of them but I was ignorant of many things back then ;-)

 

[TDM]

Many thanks. I usually go to the wiki on this site, which also has great algs but I was asking for advice. Yeah, I know that the best advice is to test by oneself and decide. But, for example, I cannot make my mind between the U-perms that are just the reverse of the ones I use now or the M2 ... ones. I'm afraid learning 4 perms so similar to each other can lead to confusion, so I was thinking if maintaining the current ones for y2 orientation and using completely different ones for opposite orientation would be better (namely, the M2 ones).

For the As I was practising the lefty versions, they are not y2 appart, though, only y but anyway you can always find an orientation that is only a U/U' away right?

I use the MU ones, and I don't get confused - the middle bit is always M U2 M' if the bar is on the back and M' U2 M if it's on the front, and that doesn't change for the other U perm. You usually won't get confused between algs if you used them enough, and you will use PLLs a lot, so I wouldn't worry about learning algs that are too similar.

Yeah, you can just do the lefty version. As long as it does it from a different angle you won't ever need to do a y2/U2 before the alg.

 

[Lazy Einstein]

Stuff you said

14. 18.72 R2 D2 B' U2 L2 R2 B R2 F' D2 B' L' F2 L D2 L2 U' L' B2 U F2

(x2) (y) // inspection

u L' u B2 U F2 // Cross (6/53) a bit ackward, isn't it?
(y) U2 L' U' L // F2L #1 (10/53)
(y') U' L' U' L R' U' R // F2L #2 (17/53)
U L' U' L // F2L #3 (21/53)
L U' L' U L U L' // F2L #4 (28/53) a lot of left hand work in F2L
U f R U R' U' f' F R U R' U' F' // OLL (41/53)
U (y2) R2 U' R' U' R U R U R U' R // PLL (53/53) yeah, it should have been U' PLL U2, instead of U y2 PLL, or better, learn opposite orientation PLL!!!

Thanks to all that helped!!!! I'll keep pushing

OLL: R U2' R2' U' R2 U' R2' U2 R

I think it's faster

http://algdb.net/ is best alg site ... & U and the same time as I pick up the cube.

 

[Lazy Einstein]

I use the MU ones, and I don't get confused - the middle bit is always M U2 M' if the bar is on the back and M' U2 M if it's on the front, and that doesn't change for the other U perm. You usually won't get confused between algs if you used them enough, and you will use PLLs a lot, so I wouldn't worry about learning algs that are too similar.

Yeah, you can just do the lefty version. As long as it does it from a different angle you won't ever need to do a y2/U2 before the alg.

Do you find the MU CW U difficult? The U turns suck for me because I can't M with my left hand well so I only right hand M.
With the CW U I have to japanese OH finger trick flick the U turns but it feels really bad

 

[mafergut]

Do you find the MU CW U difficult? The U turns suck for me because I can't M with my left hand well so I only right hand M.
With the CW U I have to japanese OH finger trick flick the U turns but it feels really bad

Funny that you say that, 'cos I was right now trying those U-perms and for me it's the other way around. I M2 (e.g. H-perm) with my left ring & middle so, the problem for me is to do the CCW U, which has U' and the solution I tried to use was, can you guess...? japanese OH U flick but with my right index to do the U' but, yeah, it's "a bit" awkward.

Also, how do you do the M? I'm trying with my (left) ring finger, pushing with the back of the finger on the FD sticker but I feel clumsy doing that. And, of course, r' R is too slow (but I still use it in one OLL out of lazyness to improve that, can you guess which OLL?).

Anyway, I will take the opportunity to try different PLLs now that I'm learning them. Perhaps if I get faster with these I will drop the one for my current orientation (2nd alg in TDM lists, 'cos my current orientation is y2 orientation on that list).

 

[TDM]

Do you find the MU CW U difficult? The U turns suck for me because I can't M with my left hand well so I only right hand M.
With the CW U I have to japanese OH finger trick flick the U turns but it feels really bad

No, I like both U perms. This is how I fingertrick them. No Japanese OH fingertricks, just weird M2s

 

[SpicyOranges]

Do you find the MU CW U difficult? The U turns suck for me because I can't M with my left hand well so I only right hand M.
With the CW U I have to japanese OH finger trick flick the U turns but it feels really bad

I turn with my left, but I'm also working on getting good with my right on the M turns. It's kinda tricky to have to learn how to turn after doing the same thing for so long. So uh you should try to turn with both, it will help in the long run.

 

[Lazy Einstein]

Also, how do you do the M? I'm trying with my (left) ring finger, pushing with the back of the finger on the FD sticker but I feel clumsy doing that. And, of course, r' R is too slow (but I still use it in one OLL out of lazyness to improve that, can you guess which OLL?).

Well they can be good with practice. Jay McNeil uses r' R in is PLL video(usually for r R' however) and I have seen him M flick the FD with his ring finger. However, he is a Boss and uses his ring finger for R' and r' in OH all the time.

I actually modify my M for regrips in algs. Depending on my hand position I push the BD to BU with my middle finger and when my hand is near the top of the cube I pull the UB to UF with my index finger.

I am too inaccurate with FD flicks that and it is so awkward.

 

[mafergut]

Well they can be good with practice. Jay McNeil uses r' R in is PLL video(usually for r R' however) and I have seen him M flick the FD with his ring finger. However, he is a Boss and uses his ring finger for R' and r' in OH all the time.

I actually modify my M for regrips in algs. Depending on my hand position I push the BD to BU with my middle finger and when my hand is near the top of the cube I pull the UB to UF with my index finger.

I am too inaccurate with FD flicks that and it is so awkward.

Gotta learn to do the M2 with my right hand as well, then I can do the U' with left index. These U-perms have a very nice flow (except for the M, I'll have to work on that too). I think I'm going to include them in my "repertoire".

Thanks a lot!!!