[Help Thread] OLL and PLL Discussion

[cashis]

Does anyone have any tips on how to improve OLL and PLL recognition and execution instead of just how to practise it?

Starting with OLL, which in my opinion is the easier to recognize. As soon as youre done with F2L, stop. Dont do any U moves at all until you know what case it is. You should be able to tell from two sides which OLL it is, and sometimes you can tell from just the top. Once you know what case it is, think about what angle you do it from and do the corresponding U move to get it to the angle you need. Everyone uses different algs, so I can't really tell you how to do this, but it should be easy enough.
PLL is similar, but a bit more difficult in my opinion, because you don't get to look at the top face to recognize the case. Luckily, there's only 21 cases. Do the same thing as OLL. Once youre done with OLL, stop and look at the pieces and recognize the case. Then, recognize the U moves you have to do to get it to the angle you need. Do those moves, and before you start the alg, recognize what AUFs you have to do, before you start. Then do the alg and do the AUF, without looking again for the AUF.
If you need help recognizing PLLs from only 2 sides, there's a PDF guide somewhere on this forum about that exact topic. Even if you dont think you'll need that, I would recommend taking a look at it for certain cases, because it really is quite helpful. Drill both of these things in untimed solves. It might take a while yo get as fast as what you're doing, but it will eventually be much faster because youre not doing multiple looks for the OLL or PLL.
In my opinion, this is the best way to do OLL and PLL. This is what I use and it makes me LL a breeze.
Happy cubing! If you have anymore questions, feel free to DM me
Edit: Also, learning many algorithms for different angles for OLL and PLL help a lot, because the less unnecessary U moves you can avoid, the better

 

[Xavilien]

Thanks!

 

[Chree]

Edit: Also, learning many algorithms for different angles for OLL and PLL help a lot, because the less unnecessary U moves you can avoid, the better

Do this, but don't get too crazy with it. Algs that work at different angles can be slower than your main alg... a lot of times it's just faster to pre and post AUF, and do the main alg that you're really good at instead. For instance, it might not be worth learning a new Jb Perm from all angles, since the main (R U R' F') alg is just so fast.

Also, the more you practice just 1 (maybe 2) algs, the faster you'll get at it. And learning a new alg will only take away from the amount of practice you get with the first one. So it's really important to start out with good algs in the first place.

My biggest mistake when I was learning the PLL step was failing to recognize certain PLLs from all angles and then learning algs for them at ALL angles. To this day, I still actively use 8 A perms. I feel like cutting that down to just the 4 right hand cases would be a big advantage since I execute the 4 left hand cases significantly slower.

 

[mark49152]

If you need help recognizing PLLs from only 2 sides, there's a PDF guide somewhere on this forum about that exact topic. Even if you dont think you'll need that, I would recommend taking a look at it for certain cases, because it really is quite helpful.

https://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?41108-Two-sided-PLL-recognition-guide

Looking at just two sides, the six relevant stickers can form 35 different patterns. Each of those 35 patterns resolves to exactly one PLL, so you never have to look at the other two sides. It's just as easy as recognizing from 3 or 4 sides, but faster; about half the cases are really easy, and the other half take a bit more practice to recognize.

 

[CubeCow]

What PLLs should I learn first? I have full intent on learning them all, but where should I start? I know two look, So I have H, Z, and E down. (and A? IDk what all come w/ 2LPLL)

 

[molarmanful]

What PLLs should I learn first? I have full intent on learning them all, but where should I start? I know two look, So I have H, Z, and E down. (and A? IDk what all come w/ 2LPLL)

Have you learned the U perms? Learn those first if you haven't.

I learned PLL in this order:
Ua + b, Aa + b, E, H and Z (2-look algs)

T and Y, Ja + b, F, Ra + b (easiest fingertricks and recognition)

Ga + b + c + d (not too bad to recognize, but not the best fingertricks)

V, Na + b (No headlights, hardest to fingertrick)

 

[Aurichalcite]

4LLL Help?

Hello guys, this is my first question as I just joined Speedsolving today. anyway, I am sub-40 and take 5 seconds on cross and 15-20 seconds on F2L. That means that it takes me 15 seconds to do LL. I am fully conscious that I need at improve all aspects of the cube but focusing on 4LLL, what are some ways to speed up LL? It's really annoying when a sub-15 F2L gets ruined by a bad LL. Thanks for reading!

 

[obelisk477]

What are your OCLLs? Or what site did you get them from

 

[Ranzha]

V, Na + b (No headlights, hardest to fingertrick)

I disagree. If anything, Ra is more difficult to execute cleanly than V, Na, or Nb.
The alg I use for Ra is (R U' R' U') (R U R D) (R' U' R D') (R' U2 R' U'). The transitions between the moves always slows down my execution.
With algs like (R U' R U R') (D R D') (R U' D) (R2' U R2 D' R2), there is technically no break between the parentheses since the transitions are all finger tricks in themselves.

 

[TDM]

I disagree. If anything, Ra is more difficult to execute cleanly than V, Na, or Nb.
The alg I use for Ra is (R U' R' U') (R U R D) (R' U' R D') (R' U2 R' U'). The transitions between the moves always slows down my execution.
With algs like (R U' R U R') (D R D') (R U' D) (R2' U R2 D' R2), there is technically no break between the parentheses since the transitions are all finger tricks in themselves.

R U R' F' R U2 R' U2 R' F R U R U2 R'

 

[molarmanful]

I disagree. If anything, Ra is more difficult to execute cleanly than V, Na, or Nb.
The alg I use for Ra is (R U' R' U') (R U R D) (R' U' R D') (R' U2 R' U'). The transitions between the moves always slows down my execution.
With algs like (R U' R U R') (D R D') (R U' D) (R2' U R2 D' R2), there is technically no break between the parentheses since the transitions are all finger tricks in themselves.

For me, that algorithm is actually really fast. I use it for one-handed, and I use TDM's algorithm or the algorithm you use for two-handed. I do like my R perms a lot, but it's just my opinion.

 

[Aurichalcite]

I get them from badmephesto's cubing site.

 

[Sub20MinSolver]

what oll and pll should i learn first?
i know all the cross cases and some line cases for oll and for pll i know j,h,u,n,v,t,z and a perms

 

[Animorpher13]

what oll and pll should i learn first?
i know all the cross cases and some line cases for oll and for pll i know j,h,u,n,v,t,z and a perms

finish PLL (so learn the G's, F, R's, etc.) and the T cases for OLL.

 

[Sub20MinSolver]

ty when i finish learning pll (i learn like 5 a day so it won't take long) what case should i learn for oll? (wedge,line or dot)
pd:i already know both t cases

 

[theROUXbiksCube]

ty when i finish learning pll (i learn like 5 a day so it won't take long) what case should i learn for oll? (wedge,line or dot)
pd:i already know both t cases

Imo dots because they are the slowest for 2 looking

 

[EntireTV]

Help with OLL!

I don't know if this has happened to other people before, but when I do some of th algorithms such as OLL #23's alg, (R2 D) (R' U2) (R D') (R' U2 R') It doesn't work! I always get two diagonal yellow and white corners swapped! What do I Do?

 

[Username]

You're doing the D-moves in the wrong direction

 

[TDM]

If algs don't look like they're working to you, check them in alg.cubing.net. That has an animation which shows you what each move does.

 

[Ordway Persyn]

You're doing the D-moves in the wrong direction

^this. This is the Alg I use for headlights and It works for me. Remember that D' is the same direction as U and D is the same direction as U' .