I'm nearly sub 30. How do I make that constant?

[Crystal]

So, about 30% of the time I'm sub 30. I use CFOP and my cross ranges from 2-6 (normally 4-5) seconds. My f2l ranges from 10-18 (normally 10-15) seconds. My OLL ranges from 4-8 (I use 2 look) and my Pll ranges from 2-12 (I'm in the process of learning full PLL.) My PB is 21 seconds but the closest I have got to that since is 23 seconds. I think learning full PLL we definitely help me be more consent as PLL is where i normally lose my chance of getting sub 30. If learning full PLL will help me be constantly sub 30 how do I improve from there? I am white yellow colour neutral and trying to become fully colour neutral but at my level I don't think that will help to much. I'm not to great at look ahead and predicting cases but I am also trying to work on that. Just any general tips or tutorials to help me out? Thanks in advance!

 

[turtwig]

It's better to become color neutral sooner (if you're gonna switch). Learning full OLL and PLL will probably help a lot. Look ahead (and F2L speed in general) is mostly slowly improved from a lot of practice.

 

[Crystal]

It's better to become color neutral sooner (if you're gonna switch). Learning full OLL and PLL will probably help a lot. Look ahead (and F2L speed in general) is mostly slowly improved from a lot of practice.

Thanks a ton! I was wondering if there is any good way to become colour neutral currently I'm doing only green cross for a week then moving onto only blue cross for a week and so on. Should I just go full out and do whatever is best or introduce each slowly?

 

[turtwig]

Thanks a ton! I was wondering if there is any good way to become colour neutral currently I'm doing only green cross for a week then moving onto only blue cross for a week and so on. Should I just go full out and do whatever is best or introduce each slowly?

I'm not color neutral so I can't really say what's the best way to switch, but I believe there is one if not several threads about switching on these forums that can probably help you.

 

[Crystal]

I'm not color neutral so I can't really say what's the best way to switch, but I believe there is one if not several threads about switching on these forums that can probably help you.

Okay thanks!

 

[DGCubes]

To me it sounds like cross is definitely one of the weaker parts of your solve. You should always try to find all your cross pieces in inspection and plan out the entire cross so you can do it without looking. It's important to shoot for efficiency with cross too; cross can always be done in 8 moves or less, so a good goal might be to get down to a maximum of 10 moves. Then, you could turn at just 3-4 turns per second (which isn't all that fast if you know the moves ahead of time) and still have a sub-3 cross.

 

[Oatch]

On the subject of making good crosses and inspection, a tip I would give is to really make sure you fully utilise your 15 seconds inspection time. Try aiming to know your entire cross solution by the time you start your solve, it really helps with fluidity. If at first it is taking longer than 15 seconds to see all of it, then by all means, take that extra time. I usually do inspection untimed just so I can try to plan as much as I can, which I think is a good habit to have in the long run.

Also, I'd definitely go about improving your LL, seeing that on average it sometimes takes up to about half your solve time. Even though it's in your upper range, 12 seconds for just PLL is a kinda significant issue. Ask yourself which cases in particular are the slowest, and then maybe aim to learn these PLL cases first as it will result in a much larger improvement.

 

[Crystal]

To me it sounds like cross is definitely one of the weaker parts of your solve. You should always try to find all your cross pieces in inspection and plan out the entire cross so you can do it without looking. It's important to shoot for efficiency with cross too; cross can always be done in 8 moves or less, so a good goal might be to get down to a maximum of 10 moves. Then, you could turn at just 3-4 turns per second (which isn't all that fast if you know the moves ahead of time) and still have a sub-3 cross.

Okay thanks a lot! I'll make sure to work on my cross and look ahead and try to make my cross constantly sub 3! Any tips for a faster TPS? You're YouTube is awesome btw I've been watching it for a while!! Keep up the awesome work!

On the subject of making good crosses and inspection, a tip I would give is to really make sure you fully utilise your 15 seconds inspection time. Try aiming to know your entire cross solution by the time you start your solve, it really helps with fluidity. If at first it is taking longer than 15 seconds to see all of it, then by all means, take that extra time. I usually do inspection untimed just so I can try to plan as much as I can, which I think is a good habit to have in the long run.

Also, I'd definitely go about improving your LL, seeing that on average it sometimes takes up to about half your solve time. Even though it's in your upper range, 12 seconds for just PLL is a kinda significant issue. Ask yourself which cases in particular are the slowest, and then maybe aim to learn these PLL cases first as it will result in a much larger improvement.

Thanks a bunch! I'll make sure to give myself infinite inspection because I want to get all the good habits now if I were to progress beyond sub 20. Also I think its the fact I may get a case that I don't yet know at PLL (I'm in the progress of learning full PLL) and it may be a case with no headlights to do it the beginners way which is my main problem I hope learning full PLL and better finger tricks will help. Do you think that will help or will I have to look further into new algs or full OLL instead of 2 look?

 

[Oatch]

Do you think that will help or will I have to look further into new algs or full OLL instead of 2 look?

I think for breaking sub-30, learning full PLL will be much more beneficial than knowing full OLL at the moment. With good algs, 2-look OLL is fine and can probably be used all the way up until you're sub-15. Since you've mentioned that you use a beginner's approach for cases you don't know, learning PLL will definitely cut down times a bunch. There's heaps of beginner's methods for last layer so I'm not sure how efficient the one you are using is, but at the very least, if you haven't already, try learning 2-look PLL first (T-perm, Y-perm and the EPLLs) so that if you can't 1-look a PLL, you can still solve it fairly quickly with the 2-look system.

Also another thing, when looking for PLL algs, consult a variety of resources. Use websites like alg.db or the Speedsolving wiki. Some youtubers also make lists of their PLL algs all compiled into one video, so that can be an excellent source of algs because you have the confidence that they can be fingertricked nicely and executed quickly. Have a look through and find an alg that suits you (an alg that someone may really like may not be as comfortable to perform for you personally, for instance). Finally, make sure you learn good algs from the start, and not slightly worse ones just because they're easier to remember - trust me, it'll be much more helpful in the long run!

 

[cuber314159]

If you want to learn full PLL, I strongly recommend learning E,N,V and Y perms first as they take the longest with beginners method and it will show more improvement and ptobably prevent procrastination. After that I recommend T and F as they lead to Z perms after Aa perm alg. Also if you use algdb.net then in general learn the top one for each case even if others look easier, the top is the most popular otherwise cubeskills.com is very good as Feliks zembegs is obviously going to use good PLLs

 

[Crystal]

If you want to learn full PLL, I strongly recommend learning E,N,V and Y perms first as they take the longest with beginners method and it will show more improvement and ptobably prevent procrastination. After that I recommend T and F as they lead to Z perms after Aa perm alg. Also if you use algdb.net then in general learn the top one for each case even if others look easier, the top is the most popular otherwise cubeskills.com is very good as Feliks zembegs is obviously going to use good PLLs

Ok thanks! I was wondering which ones were the ones that were the most time consuming with the beginners method. I'll learn those next although I've learnt 14/21 so far. Have you got any good ways of remembering algs like the G perms because I think I'll have trouble with some of the harder algorithms (I'm not that good at remembering) I normally use fingertricks or patterns to remember my algs until they're in my muscle memory then I can just do them. Any more efficient ways to remember them and are my current methods ok? Thanks!

I think for breaking sub-30, learning full PLL will be much more beneficial than knowing full OLL at the moment. With good algs, 2-look OLL is fine and can probably be used all the way up until you're sub-15. Since you've mentioned that you use a beginner's approach for cases you don't know, learning PLL will definitely cut down times a bunch. There's heaps of beginner's methods for last layer so I'm not sure how efficient the one you are using is, but at the very least, if you haven't already, try learning 2-look PLL first (T-perm, Y-perm and the EPLLs) so that if you can't 1-look a PLL, you can still solve it fairly quickly with the 2-look system.

Also another thing, when looking for PLL algs, consult a variety of resources. Use websites like alg.db or the Speedsolving wiki. Some youtubers also make lists of their PLL algs all compiled into one video, so that can be an excellent source of algs because you have the confidence that they can be fingertricked nicely and executed quickly. Have a look through and find an alg that suits you (an alg that someone may really like may not be as comfortable to perform for you personally, for instance). Finally, make sure you learn good algs from the start, and not slightly worse ones just because they're easier to remember - trust me, it'll be much more helpful in the long run!

Thanks for the advice! Right now I'm going through a couple of different videos and finding the ones I like but sometimes I still really don't like them so I'll definitely check out alg.db and speedsolving wiki! I'm normally using Paradoxcubing and Feliks' tutorials to learn the finger tricks but is there any way of learning finger tricks if you learn them off websites? Or do you just make them up?

Also I learnt to N(a) two different ways as I'm not sure which I should do.
The [(L U' R) U2 (L' U R')*2 U and the R U R' U R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U2 R U' R'. The second one is the one I have decided to use but I still know both. I can execute the second one much faster but with practise I'm sure I could execute them equally as fast. Which one would you recommend using?

I also learnt N(b) the first way but with my right hand. I know the one where you rotate the cube and do 'd' moves is apparently faster but I remember hearing or reading somewhere that there was no point as its hard to remember without constantly doing it and the alg that I mentioned above is fine since its pretty much as faster. Should I switch or stay the same? Thanks!

 

[Oatch]

Thanks for the advice! Right now I'm going through a couple of different videos and finding the ones I like but sometimes I still really don't like them so I'll definitely check out alg.db and speedsolving wiki! I'm normally using Paradoxcubing and Feliks' tutorials to learn the finger tricks but is there any way of learning finger tricks if you learn them off websites? Or do you just make them up?

I usually try to find my own fingertricks when I'm learning algs, although currently it may be that I'll have to optimise them later on anyway! Maybe try watching the videos to see how other cubers fingertrick certain cases to get an idea of the techniques you could use for different moves, then try applying them for algs you find elsewhere.

Also I learnt to N(a) two different ways as I'm not sure which I should do.
The [(L U' R) U2 (L' U R')*2 U and the R U R' U R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U2 R U' R'. The second one is the one I have decided to use but I still know both. I can execute the second one much faster but with practise I'm sure I could execute them equally as fast. Which one would you recommend using?

I also learnt N(b) the first way but with my right hand. I know the one where you rotate the cube and do 'd' moves is apparently faster but I remember hearing or reading somewhere that there was no point as its hard to remember without constantly doing it and the alg that I mentioned above is fine since its pretty much as faster. Should I switch or stay the same? Thanks!

I actually also currently use the first alg, but I feel like the second alg seems faster feels more fluid. Funnily enough, I learnt the first alg because it was easy to remember back when I was learning PLL, and although it's not terrible, it could definitely be better. However, it isn't really too much of a problem for me since I rarely finish a solve with PLL nowadays and even then, the case rarely ever comes up! Although again, the first case may feel slightly slower for me since my fingertricks may not be optimal. So I'd say stick with the second alg but only if it feels the most comfortable to you.

However, if you do stick with the first alg, then it would make a lot of sense to use the mirror for N(b). Also, I typically strive to stay away from algs with rotations because it disrupts my flow, but other people have found great success using them, same for d' moves. My current F and V perms use d' moves and they're among some of my worst cases which I haven't bothered relearning since I was first going through the set (again, seeing that I don't have a massive use for full PLL anymore haha) but that's just my personal preference!

 

[Roussell]

Cross: watch jperm's cross video that may help.
F2l: be able to do your pairs blind folded
Oll: DO NOT start learning full oll UNTILL you have good fingertricks for 2 look and can sub 1.5 all of the algs ( also use good algs)
PLL: mostly the same as oll but sub 2 algs and use good algs

 

[greentgoatgal]

DO NOT start learning full oll UNTILL you have good fingertricks for 2 look and can sub 1.5 all of the algs ( also use good algs)
PLL: mostly the same as oll but sub 2 algs and use good algs

I went straight from LBL to full CFOP. It's not crucial to be good at 4 look before moving on.

 

[kemuat]

I remember trying to be sub 30 lol. Just practice a bunch, you don't need any advanced crud. If you know 1-look PLL, you should be fine. Also, F2L algs >>>>>>>>> OLL algs. They are way more useful.

 

[CarterK]

Also, F2L algs >>>>>>>>> OLL algs. They are way more useful.

But don't learn the algs as algs. Learn them as what they do to the pieces.

 

[Crystal]

But don't learn the algs as algs. Learn them as what they do to the pieces.

Okay thanks! I'll make sure to learn some tricks for f2l

 

[kemuat]

But don't learn the algs as algs. Learn them as what they do to the pieces.

Isn't that the same thing lol

 

[DGCubes]

Isn't that the same thing lol

No. For example, I could just memorize the moves F' U F U2 R U R' and treat it like any other algorithm, but it's better to understand the case (in this case, think of it as splitting up the pair and inserting it after a U2). This allows for better improvisation mid-solve too. For example, if I split up the pair and see that no last layer edges are oriented, I could insert the pair with a different algorithm (maybe R' D' r U r' D R2 U R') to force an EO skip. If I didn't understand the algorithm and just knew what moves to do, I wouldn't realize that and would miss out on a better last layer.

 

[pglewis]

Full PLL definitely seems your major bottleneck right now, I think you'll be averaging sub 30 once you have the rest of them learned and the recognition is quick. We're very close on times and even closer once you get PLL down; I think focusing on "lookahead everywhere" might be a good exercise. Make a conscious effort to look ahead from cross to F2L, F2L to OLL, and OLL to PLL as pauses in those spots will make your solves a lot longer than just the sum of the phases.

Full OLL won't provide as much gain as full PLL did. Two look OLL can be fairly fast, between edge control during F2L and the fact that EO algs for OLL are short and quick. But as someone who is just now finishing up learning full OLL I want to give you the opposite perspective of pushing it off. I learned full PLL when I was around a minute and my F2L lookahead developed rather slowly so I had become relatively good at 2-look OLL recognition through practice. I've had to completely break that established recognition habit and become slower and wildly inconsistent during this push to learn full OLL (and I knew roughly half before this final push). If I had waited until I was ~15 seconds instead of now it would be even harder to want to accept the regression. I'm a strong proponent of learning new algs/algsets as soon as the ones you have are solidified. The sooner you start learning them the sooner the recognition will develop, and poor recognition is the real slow down IMO.