Older cubers discussions

[SpartanSailor]

3BLD PB 1:11:30
L' R' F' R2 D2 B D2 R F2 D2 R2 L F D' R L2 F2 D' B2 U' F2 L F R2 B2

Fantastic! That’s great

 

[SpartanSailor]

Well, I'm in USA (Virginia), but question for you anyway: Are there many slow cubers at the competitions, or are they mostly under-20 second hotshots? Any really slow ones? And what about older cubers? You are over 40, but I am about to be over 80. I'm curious anyway!

Meanwhile, congrats to you and your boy.

I attend nearly all the comps in VA and MD. There some slow Cubers. They have a 10min limit when there’s a limit at all... and I have seen people take a lot of that. Most are faster than me, but there are slower ones.

As to older... I’m in my 40s and usually I’m the oldest. There’s one other dad I see regularly, but I’m older than he is.

You would be a hero if you showed up and competed at 80 years old! If there are any 80 year olds, they brought their grandchild and are watching them compete! You should ABSOLUTELY do it and not worry about if you’re the slowest or oldest. Everyone will welcome you with open arms.

 

[Old Tom]

I have never visited a comp but from what I have seen on YouTube everyone goes. There was a xhaonthat was a 2 minute solver that went.

I’d say there should be a prize for the oldest, at 80 that’s an inspiration. But at 40 I already know that you being 80 is nothing to do with age - you will feel the same age as I do, hovering somewhere around 24

Exactly! 80 is the new 24.

 

[openseas]

I have never visited a comp but from what I have seen on YouTube everyone goes. There was a xhaonthat was a 2 minute solver that went.

I’d say there should be a prize for the oldest, at 80 that’s an inspiration. But at 40 I already know that you being 80 is nothing to do with age - you will feel the same age as I do, hovering somewhere around 24

Actually, it depends on organizers whether there will be any awards based on age. Cubecomps whcih you do for data entry during a competition gives the age based results information to organizer and delegate. We (in Texas) often give youngest achiever awards in comps. I’ve also received the oldest competitor award once (I was not the organizer / didn’t award to myself ).

If I find an older guy (than me) competing in my comp, I certainly will.

 

[Old Tom]

I attend nearly all the comps in VA and MD. There some slow Cubers. They have a 10min limit when there’s a limit at all... and I have seen people take a lot of that. Most are faster than me, but there are slower ones.

As to older... I’m in my 40s and usually I’m the oldest. There’s one other dad I see regularly, but I’m older than he is.

You would be a hero if you showed up and competed at 80 years old! If there are any 80 year olds, they brought their grandchild and are watching them compete! You should ABSOLUTELY do it and not worry about if you’re the slowest or oldest. Everyone will welcome you with open arms.

You've got me inspired. So what if I've had hand surgeries, have recovered from a stroke, and have a chronic rheumatologic condition in my hands and arms. My mind is stiil young. i will look for a comp.

 

[Old Tom]

Plus, I did mention that I've been deaf since I was a kid. (Not looking for any awards. Just looking to have fun. My dog Poogie solves faster than I do.)

 

[SpartanSailor]

You've got me inspired. So what if I've had hand surgeries, have recovered from a stroke, and have a chronic rheumatologic condition in my hands and arms. My mind is stiil young. i will look for a comp.

You can only move forward... right? Things can affect our bodies, but it’s always our choice to keep going! I will keep an eye out for you

 

[40yearstosolve]

You've got me inspired. So what if I've had hand surgeries, have recovered from a stroke, and have a chronic rheumatologic condition in my hands and arms. My mind is stiil young. i will look for a comp.

Superb Tom, do it! You’d probably make the news. Cancer brought me to speed solving and to do my first solve, so seems to me with surgeries, a stroke, your hands and being deaf you can show the kids just what is possible. I know my kids now, seeing me beat cancer, have a fantastic armament of coping strategies for when life throws them a curved ball. And certainly today Tom I will be telling them your story.

We’ll expect photos of you competing and collecting a prize or two.

Don’t know about you but to hear there’s a 10 minute limit makes me relax. Even if I do a slow 3 minute I’d just feel pleased to compete.

I think here we are looking at inspiration on inspiration. Think I will see if I can find a UK comp right now

 

[newtonbase]

Think I will see if I can find a UK comp right now

The WCA site will show you what has been announced so far in the UK Peterborough is full and registration isn't open yet for anything else. There's also the UK Championships in Stevenage on the last weekend of October. Weston Super Mare is organised by fellow oldies @Shaky Hands and @Selkie and is highly recommended.
Be warned that they fill up very quickly so it's best to have a WCA account set up in advance so you can book a place the minute registration opens.

 

[40yearstosolve]

The WCA site will show you what has been announced so far in the UK Peterborough is full and registration isn't open yet for anything else. There's also the UK Championships in Stevenage on the last weekend of October. Weston Super Mare is organised by fellow oldies @Shaky Hands and @Selkie and is highly recommended.
Be warned that they fill up very quickly so it's best to have a WCA account set up in advance so you can book a place the minute registration opens.

May go as spectators for the first one. Be great if there were some closer to home and I see there was one in Manchester in Feb so hopefully this is repeated annually.

But I am tempted to travel esp if there are forum members there - may have to get a t-shirt printed with my forum name on

 

[Mike Hughey]

May go as spectators for the first one.

I've seen many people say this, but then when they get there and realize how easy and fun it is to compete they often regret deciding not to compete the first time. I'd say you should go ahead and compete right away if you can!

But then again, since competitions in your area tend to fill up, if the first competition you can conveniently get to is all full so that you're not allowed to compete, it might not be a bad idea to go to that as a spectator just so you'll know what it's like.

Still, I would say you should compete if you possibly can. As long as you're under 10 minutes solving, you'll be glad you did!

 

[40yearstosolve]

I now use csTimer thanks to the suggestions here. Does anyone else find that the scrambles at the top of the timer screen often generate very simple scrambles? If I scramble the cube myself I find I produce a much harder solve. I take it I have understood correctly that the algo at the top of the screen is a scramble

 

[bubbagrub]

Yes -- just to add another voice to the chorus: do come along and compete if you can. It's such fun, and you'll be surprised at how welcoming everyone is, regardless of how fast or slow you are. Although it's a competition most people genuinely view it as being about competing with yourself, and if you tell someone that you tend to average 2 minutes and you get a lucky 1:30, they'll congratulate you just as genuinely as if you average 15 seconds and get a lucky 10.

Someone asked if there are competitions in Manchester -- there have been a few over the past few years, and no doubt will again. I guess Stratford-upon-Avon is the closest that's currently scheduled:

https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/competitions

Finally, I'm another oldie with a full family of competitors, although not anywhere near on the scale of Mike. My son has competed in almost exactly the same competitions as me (I've just done a few FMC-only competitions that he's not been to) and he started competing when he was 8 years old and I was 40. My daughter learned to solve pyraminx last year and my wife learned to solve pyraminx and skewb, so they both competed in a competition fairly recently.

 

[JanW]

I now use csTimer thanks to the suggestions here. Does anyone else find that the scrambles at the top of the timer screen often generate very simple scrambles? If I scramble the cube myself I find I produce a much harder solve. I take it I have understood correctly that the algo at the top of the screen is a scramble

Yes, that's the scramble. There are many different settings. I recommend WCA, which should produce official random-state scrambles, just like the ones you'd get in comps. A random-state scramble means that it is generated by randomly assigning the location and orientation of each piece, then it produces the alg to reach that state and presents it to you as the scramble alg. This should make it truly random, with equal probability for each possible scramble to occur. This is not true if a scramble is generated as a random series of moves.

 

[40yearstosolve]

I've seen many people say this, but then when they get there and realize how easy and fun it is to compete they often regret deciding not to compete the first time. I'd say you should go ahead and compete right away if you can!

But then again, since competitions in your area tend to fill up, if the first competition you can conveniently get to is all full so that you're not allowed to compete, it might not be a bad idea to go to that as a spectator just so you'll know what it's like.

Still, I would say you should compete if you possibly can. As long as you're under 10 minutes solving, you'll be glad you did!

I’ll take that advice thanks Mike. I have signed up for updates on the UK CA website so should get to enter my local event in February next year - am sure we’ll go and visit one as spectators before then for the ones already full.

 

[40yearstosolve]

I can retire

Reached my goal of sub 2 minutes just now and I am very happy with that (it’s a single solve time, my mean average is a full minute more than that).

Got a bit lucky on the OLL (yellow, last solid side (top) before PLL if I have remembered correctly) where yellow appeared after just one algo after the first two layers were completed. I was talking to one of my son’s friends too as I was solving, and had a few non-optimal turns during the first two layers, so not feeling quite happy to celebrate).

Oh, and those scrambles on csTimer definitely help

Do you think I am justified in answering the question “how long does it take you to solve” with “about a couple of minutes”

“Under a minute” is my next goal. I feel chopping off between 60 and 90 seconds will take intuitive F2L (as suggested already by a few of you - thanks) and some training on my finger tricks. And time.

One advantage of the cube training is I don’t spend all of my spare time on my phone now!!

 

[40yearstosolve]

In

Yes, that's the scramble. There are many different settings. I recommend WCA, which should produce official random-state scrambles, just like the ones you'd get in comps. A random-state scramble means that it is generated by randomly assigning the location and orientation of each piece, then it produces the alg to reach that state and presents it to you as the scramble alg. This should make it truly random, with equal probability for each possible scramble to occur. This is not true if a scramble is generated as a random series of moves.

In that case I used competition conditions to get to under 2 minutes yay thanks Jan, time for a beer cheers

 

[Old Tom]

I can retire

Reached my goal of sub 2 minutes just now and I am very happy with that (it’s a single solve time, my mean average is a full minute more than that).

Got a bit lucky on the OLL (yellow, last solid side (top) before PLL if I have remembered correctly) where yellow appeared after just one algo after the first two layers were completed. I was talking to one of my son’s friends too as I was solving, and had a few non-optimal turns during the first two layers, so not feeling quite happy to celebrate).

Oh, and those scrambles on csTimer definitely help

Do you think I am justified in answering the question “how long does it take you to solve” with “about a couple of minutes”

“Under a minute” is my next goal. I feel chopping off between 60 and 90 seconds will take intuitive F2L (as suggested already by a few of you - thanks) and some training on my finger tricks. And time.

One advantage of the cube training is I don’t spend all of my spare time on my phone now!!

Yes, intuitive F2L. You will get slower at first, but even then, you will enjoy the logic of it all. Then you get faster, because you chop 20-40 turns off your solve. (Not sure if those numbers are correct, but definitely lots fewer.)

 

[pglewis]

You've got me inspired. So what if I've had hand surgeries, have recovered from a stroke, and have a chronic rheumatologic condition in my hands and arms. My mind is stiil young. i will look for a comp.

Competitions nearly always have a high time limit of 10 mins for 3x3 in order to accommodate nearly anyone who can solve. Other events, especially bigger cubes, will have a more competitive time limit in order to host as many events as they can and still stay on schedule but they continue to welcome all levels for 3x3 without any filtering. You could end up seated next to a world record holder, an average speedsolver, or someone else at their very first comp.

Like most folks here, I encourage anyone who can solve in under 10 mins to go and compete. It's a fun environment, exciting as a spectator, and the first time competing is mostly about experiencing the competition environment (and if you're self-competitive, setting personal marks to beat the next time out).

I now use csTimer thanks to the suggestions here. Does anyone else find that the scrambles at the top of the timer screen often generate very simple scrambles?

I've also had plenty of random state scrambles that I probably wouldn't have accepted and kept scrambling more, had I been hand-scrambling. The beauty of randomness is some scrambles will turn out favorable for you, we learn early in this hobby that luck is not a crime.

Do you think I am justified in answering the question “how long does it take you to solve” with “about a couple of minutes”

Yeah, that's good enough . Most people who pick up one of the "modern methods" and practice a fair bit at this stage progress reasonably quickly to sub 2 mins. The average person is struck by the "impossible puzzle" mystique and the ability to solve it at all is amazing. A speedsolver is going to know you're just getting started and yet have a lot of respect for you successfully tackling the hardest part of getting that first solve.

“Under a minute” is my next goal. I feel chopping off between 60 and 90 seconds will take intuitive F2L (as suggested already by a few of you - thanks) and some training on my finger tricks. And time.

Getting the hang of the very basics of F2L got me under 2mins. More practice and improving F2L got me to about 1:30. Yet more F2L practice, 2-look OLL and full PLL got me to around the 1 min mark. From ~1:00 to ~:30 was pretty much all improving F2L: more efficient ways to deal with some cases, learning the importance of edge orientation, cutting out rotations. And from here... most of my improvement will come from faster F2L case recognition and better lookahead. You may spot a trend here . People progress differently and at different rates but regardless of who your are: it's difficult to overstate the importance of F2L in improving your times with CFOP.

 

[Old Tom]

Competitions nearly always have a high time limit of 10 mins for 3x3 in order to accommodate nearly anyone who can solve. Other events, especially bigger cubes, will have a more competitive time limit in order to host as many events as they can and still stay on schedule but they continue to welcome all levels for 3x3 without any filtering. You could end up seated next to a world record holder, an average speedsolver, or someone else at their very first comp.

Like most folks here, I encourage anyone who can solve in under 10 mins to go and compete. It's a fun environment, exciting as a spectator, and the first time competing is mostly about experiencing the competition environment (and if you're self-competitive, setting personal marks to beat the next time out).



I've also had plenty of random state scrambles that I probably wouldn't have accepted and kept scrambling more, had I been hand-scrambling. The beauty of randomness is some scrambles will turn out favorable for you, we learn early in this hobby that luck is not a crime.



Yeah, that's good enough . Most people who pick up one of the "modern methods" and practice a fair bit at this stage progress reasonably quickly to sub 2 mins. The average person is struck by the "impossible puzzle" mystique and the ability to solve it at all is amazing. A speedsolver is going to know you're just getting started and yet have a lot of respect for you successfully tackling the hardest part of getting that first solve.



Getting the hang of the very basics of F2L got me under 2mins. More practice and improving F2L got me to about 1:30. Yet more F2L practice, 2-look OLL and full PLL got me to around the 1 min mark. From ~1:00 to ~:30 was pretty much all improving F2L: more efficient ways to deal with some cases, learning the importance of edge orientation, cutting out rotations. And from here... most of my improvement will come from faster F2L case recognition and better lookahead. You may spot a trend here . People progress differently and at different rates but regardless of who your are: it's difficult to overstate the importance of F2L in improving your times with CFOP.

All those comments are helpful to me. I never time myself much, but am around two minutes now since I changed to F2L. Zero look-ahead at present, concentrating on the great logic of the F2L moves. "Logic" is a better word than "intuition" for where I am now; my head is working harder than my fingers. I notice something new almost every time. (Just noticed that the Sledgehammer alg for inserting a joined pair - R'FRF' - is identical to the keyhole insertion of a middle edge in my old LBL method!)

I will start working on look-ahead soon enough, but with the goal of being smooth rather than fast.