Why are my times so slow?

[UberJay]

So I've been cubing for around 6-8 weeks. I'm using a Rubix brand cube and have learnt F2L (and a lot of algorithms), 2 look OLL & PLL.

I've read up that if I know all of this I should be around 40 seconds. My times are nearer to 1.30.

Not wanting to blame bad tools but would a better cube speed things up..

 

[DGCubes]

A better cube will definitely help a ton, so I highly recommend getting any speedcube, but the main thing to do is to just practice. 6-8 weeks is a very very short amount of time to be cubing. Don't compare yourself to other people though; there's no specific time you should be with what you know. You could technically be sub-10 seconds with what you know, but you could also be over 2:00. All you can do is keep practicing and do the best you possibly can, and your times will improve.

 

[UberJay]

Thanks, I ordered a Weilong GTS and Gans Air so it will be interesting!

 

[shadowslice e]

Don;t worry about it. When I was 8 weeks in, I averaged around 40-60 seconds and I still ended up sub-10 after 1.5-2 years of practise so you should be fine.

 

[UberJay]

Don;t worry about it. When I was 8 weeks in, I averaged around 40-60 seconds and I still ended up sub-10 after 1.5-2 years of practise so you should be fine.

That's quick! Thanks..

 

[YouCubing]

I got a "fast" cube about a month in to speedsolving and it dropped my times from 1:05 to maybe sub1. the hardware doesn't matter that much unless it's absolute trash (like me) and just practice is the best way to get faster

 

[EntireTV]

I got a "fast" cube about a month in to speedsolving and it dropped my times from 1:05 to maybe sub1. the hardware doesn't matter that much unless it's absolute trash (like me) and just practice is the best way to get faster

Yeah I agree with YouCubing. If you practice with the algs you know for a while you could get much faster. I was about 30 seconds when I learned 1 look PLL

 

[EntireTV]

A better cube will definitely help a ton, so I highly recommend getting any speedcube, but the main thing to do is to just practice. 6-8 weeks is a very very short amount of time to be cubing. Don't compare yourself to other people though; there's no specific time you should be with what you know. You could technically be sub-10 seconds with what you know, but you could also be over 2:00. All you can do is keep practicing and do the best you possibly can, and your times will improve.

I don't necessarily agree that one could be sub 10 with 2 look OLL and PLL

 

[DGCubes]

I don't necessarily agree that one could be sub 10 with 2 look OLL and PLL

I may be wrong, but I believe some really fast people have done averages with 4LLL and been sub-10. If not sub-10, sub-15 is definitely possible. That doesn't mean I recommend it; I'm just talking about actual limits.

 

[AlphaSheep]

The number is weeks you've been cubing doesn't matter much. What really matters is:

• How many solves have you done in that time?
• Were you actively focusing on getting faster during those solves?

All that stands between you and 40 seconds is practice.

 

[EntireTV]

I may be wrong, but I believe some really fast people have done averages with 4LLL and been sub-10. If not sub-10, sub-15 is definitely possible. That doesn't mean I recommend it; I'm just talking about actual limits.

I see

 

[GenTheSnail]

I got down to about ~22 with a rubik's brand speedcube.

I agree with AlphaSheep; the amount of practice you put in determines your speed, not how long you have been cubing.

 

[pglewis]

Record a few solves and watch them back, if you can. There is likely a lot more time spent during the solve looking around for pieces than you realize. It'll probably make it obvious where you can start trimming off time.

 

[aavlee]

I was able to make the jump from 1:20 --> :50 averages by really focusing on where I was "slow". I timed each phase, cross, f2l, 2 oll, 2 pll. I'm sure it's common for a lot of beginners, I was spending a ton of time in F2L looking for my next solve. After a week of slowing down and practicing finding my next pair I basically cut my F2L time in half.

Still lots of improvement, I finish my 4LLL in 10-12 seconds, but over 60% of my solve is spent in F2L.