Older cubers discussions

[newtonbase]

Any tips for 4x4 practice? I'm using Yau with 3-2-3 edge pairing but can't get a single under 2 mins at the moment. It's meant to be one of my main focuses for the next comp but I'm not keen on practicing for 7 weeks to get just 2 solves.
Finding pieces is my biggest problem.

 

[phreaker]

Welcome to page 500!

 

[Jason Green]

Also, don't hesitate in sharing here your first impressions of those two new and promising Yuxin cubes. I'm definitely getting the 6x6 but if the 4x4 is better than the G4 (quite a challenge)... well, you know the rest

Like anyone here would hesitate? I'm tempted to buy the Yuxin 6x6 but I really think I'll wait due to having time to practice what I want. The 4x4 too has crossed my mind.

I'll definitely post my thoughts on the new Yuxin 6x6 and 4x4 when they get here. I'll do an unboxing if I can resist opening it until late evening when I have time to record. I make no promises

Agreed, a first impressions or any video is fine, it doesn't have to be a true unboxing.

 

[phreaker]

Like anyone here would hesitate? I'm tempted to buy the Yuxin 6x6 but I really think I'll wait due to having time to practice what I want. The 4x4 too has crossed my mind.



Agreed, a first impressions or any video is fine, it doesn't have to be a true unboxing.

I'd love to hear the impression with a bit of break-in, and setup properly... because that's how we'll actually use it.

 

[mark49152]

Any tips for 4x4 practice? I'm using Yau with 3-2-3 edge pairing but can't get a single under 2 mins at the moment. It's meant to be one of my main focuses for the next comp but I'm not keen on practicing for 7 weeks to get just 2 solves.
Finding pieces is my biggest problem.

Try Hoya, if you haven't already. I had the same problem with Yau and that's why I switched.

 

[CLL Smooth]

Any tips for 4x4 practice? I'm using Yau with 3-2-3 edge pairing but can't get a single under 2 mins at the moment. It's meant to be one of my main focuses for the next comp but I'm not keen on practicing for 7 weeks to get just 2 solves.
Finding pieces is my biggest problem.

Have you timed your splits to see which areas need focus? Also, I recommend giving Hoya a try if you haven't already. I found it much more comfortable than Yau and my times saw an almost immediate improvement when I switched.

 

[muchacho]

Do you use a different color scheme?

I'm playing with a GTS, OH myself. It is the most forgiving cube I've run into.

Yep, colorblind to the green cubes usually come in, I get it confused with yellow, and sometimes also with some oranges (like the one that comes with the Weilong ) if light is not good.

Since I wanted to use stickerless cubes, I put black pieces where the red usually are, the red was moved to the orange position and the orange to the green.

I think I'll be able to use the same scheme on stickered cubes, but the red and orange stickers that I have are a bit too dark, I have to buy lighter ones.

The cube can be seen in this video:

 

[newtonbase]

Try Hoya, if you haven't already. I had the same problem with Yau and that's why I switched.

Have you timed your splits to see which areas need focus? Also, I recommend giving Hoya a try if you haven't already. I found it much more comfortable than Yau and my times saw an almost immediate improvement when I switched.

I haven't timed splits but I'm pretty sure that it's the pairing that really let's me down both in cross and edge pairing.
I'll give Hoya a try. What are the best resources? I have a couple of of longish car journeys this weekend. If I can get the wife to do some of the driving I'll learn it then. Thanks guys.

 

[mafergut]

I haven't timed splits but I'm pretty sure that it's the pairing that really let's me down both in cross and edge pairing.
I'll give Hoya a try. What are the best resources? I have a couple of of longish car journeys this weekend. If I can get the wife to do some of the driving I'll learn it then. Thanks guys.

Of course, trying Hoya might be a good idea. Maybe I should try that out too. Anyway, I have been able to get down to 1:30-1:40 with Yau and, well, yeah, I still have a lot to improve in lookahead / finding pieces but I think that if solves go over 2 minutes it's not only because pairing, probably, but small things here and there that add up. Why don't you film an Mo3 so that you can get more specific advice? Not by me, probably (but I'll do my best, of course) but by other faster solvers around this forum. I progressed significantly just by changing from 6-2 pairing to 3-2-3 and now I think changing to 1st 3 cross edge pairing on M instead of E slice is better for ergonomics and also lookahead but I'm still trying to get used to it. Hope you get you goal!!!

 

[JanW]

That's the problem. I try to figure out how to make it faster but I'm not sure what to do.

I just remembered this software I wrote last December for drilling 3-cycles, which I think could be helpful to you. I got it almost completed, only missing feature was support for custom letter scheme, but then I completely forgot about it as other work got in the way. If you want to test it, I could send it to you when I get back home this weekend. I might not have time to write in support for custom letter scheme, but I could make a version with your letter scheme as default. You use Speffz?

 

[mark49152]

I haven't timed splits but I'm pretty sure that it's the pairing that really let's me down both in cross and edge pairing.
I'll give Hoya a try. What are the best resources?

I can't remember where I learned but I think it was Aaron Lo Prete's video (sp?).

I switched to Hoya in Jan 2014 when I averaged about 2:30 and within a month I was down to 2:00. I now average 1:10 with 4LLL so I know I have room for improving further if only I had more practice time .

For me, the key to getter faster after about 1:30 was lookahead. That means (i) making it easier to find pieces while (ii) always keeping moving. Hoya helps with both aspects IMHO.

In the cross stage of Hoya, you have eight pieces to solve and you can find and solve them in any order. You don't have to find specific pieces to pair up as you do in Yau. That makes it easier to not pause, because you just solve the next cross wing you see. There's less hunting. The insertions are simple and you don't have to look to align the bottom face, so it's easier to do those things automatically while scanning the cube for more pieces. So easier to keep moving. Lookahead is thus easier to develop.

I also use 3-2-3 and also find that lookahead is the key to good times. I don't have any specific advice on that, but I have gone through a few different schemes of choosing slots to insert to and rotations to apply, until I found one that worked well for me. Maybe you just need to experiment. It's hard to explain concisely what I do, but I slice with Uw then insert the bottom wing to FR, FL, FL, and then do the 2-3 on FR. I insert the bottom wing to FR while slicing Uw meaning that on most solves all inserts are done to the same slot. Previously, I was inserting pieces to the layer I was slicing so inserts alternated between FR and FL, and that was more awkward. Hope that makes sense .

 

[mafergut]

I just remembered this software I wrote last December for drilling 3-cycles, which I think could be helpful to you. I got it almost completed, only missing feature was support for custom letter scheme, but then I completely forgot about it as other work got in the way. If you want to test it, I could send it to you when I get back home this weekend. I might not have time to write in support for custom letter scheme, but I could make a version with your letter scheme as default. You use Speffz?

You see, @h2f Grzegorz? We all want to help you achieve that goal. I don't have much to offer, other than my absolute belief that you can do it.

 

[Shaky Hands]

I haven't timed splits but I'm pretty sure that it's the pairing that really let's me down both in cross and edge pairing.
I'll give Hoya a try. What are the best resources? I have a couple of of longish car journeys this weekend. If I can get the wife to do some of the driving I'll learn it then. Thanks guys.

I can't remember where I learned but I think it was Aaron Lo Prete's video (sp?).

Not that I use Hoya (yet) but I have watched several vids on it.

This is Aaron's video on Hoya 4x4:

There's also a longer one by him on Hoya 4x4 and 5x5:

I also think the Cubinger video is good (and a bit more recent):

Cheers and good luck.

 

[h2f]

I just remembered this software I wrote last December for drilling 3-cycles, which I think could be helpful to you. I got it almost completed, only missing feature was support for custom letter scheme, but then I completely forgot about it as other work got in the way. If you want to test it, I could send it to you when I get back home this weekend. I might not have time to write in support for custom letter scheme, but I could make a version with your letter scheme as default. You use Speffz?

You see, @h2f Grzegorz? We all want to help you achieve that goal. I don't have much to offer, other than my absolute belief that you can do it.

Thank you both. Ollie Frost gave me an advice to stay with 3style and to make a lot of sighted solves. So I've started doing it and found it helpfull at this stage. @JanW, yes I would like to test it. I use my own letter scheme - it's in my signature in 3style algs.

I'm gonna give Hoya a try on 4x4.

 

[JanW]

Okay, I will check it out and make you a version when I get home.

 

[newtonbase]

Not that I use Hoya (yet) but I have watched several vids on it.

This is Aaron's video on Hoya 4x4:

There's also a longer one by him on Hoya 4x4 and 5x5:

I also think the Cubinger video is good (and a bit more recent):

Cheers and good luck.

Thanks for that. I'll try to watch them at lunch.

 

[mafergut]

Wow! Got what's surely one of my top 3 averages of 5 (3x3). Sadly not on cam. All full step solves too. Sad part is that the 19 should have been clearly sub-17, maybe even sub-16 (I had to redo a couple moves of a wrong OLL start and PLL was very locky) so it could have been my all time 2nd sub 16 Ao5, maybe even PB

Generated By csTimer on 2016-6-10
avg of 5: 16.09

Time List:
15.89, 17.15, 15.20, (19.59), (15.16)

 

[phreaker]

Yep, colorblind to the green cubes usually come in, I get it confused with yellow, and sometimes also with some oranges (like the one that comes with the Weilong ) if light is not good.

Since I wanted to use stickerless cubes, I put black pieces where the red usually are, the red was moved to the orange position and the orange to the green.

I think I'll be able to use the same scheme on stickered cubes, but the red and orange stickers that I have are a bit too dark, I have to buy lighter ones.

The cube can be seen in this video:

Interesting. I also use a colorblind scheme on stickerless cubes, but because Red and Orange are far enough apart contrast wise, usually, and Green can collide with Orange and Yellow, I pull green, and just replace it with black. So I get "Black and Blue" cubes.

I figured this was an easier replacement than any of the others, and has worked well on the Yuexiao, and the Thunderclap I did it on. I haven't moved it to all cubes yet, because I can tell the GTS' stickers apart, and good stickerless colors apart... but bad ones... man do I hate that.

I'm "color deficient" to Red. So, the fact I keep two reds, is amusing, but it seems to work quite well. Also for ZZ the easy thing to remember is "Red is Wrong" for EO. Except when I do it Y rotated .

 

[mafergut]

I'm gonna give Hoya a try on 4x4.

I just watched the 1st tutorial that Andy @Shaky Hands posted here and I might also give it a try. It looks interesting and in case of switching the sooner the better, before I put too much effort on trying to get better at Yau.

 

[mark49152]

This is the 9999th post in this thread. Who's gonna be next?