[Member Intro] Hiya

[Mark G]

Hey folks.
I’ve just joined up, I’m 37 yo, from Bristol, UK. I started cubing in November last year with a Favnic speed cube. Got a Favnic magnetic in January and I’ve just treated myself to a Giiker i3 SE.

My solves are anywhere from 1:05 pb, to 2 mins for a bad one. I average 1:40 but it’s inconsistent at the moment.

I’m trying to improve my white cross time as this has the greatest variation at the moment.

Happy to be here.

 

[PetrusQuber]

Welcome! If you use beginner’s method, I’d recommend switching to another more advanced method once you hit that sub 1 minute mark. You can pick here one here:

Beginner's Guide to Choosing a Speedsolving Method

Foreword: We know that this thread may induce the “wall of text” syndrome (try opening up all the spoilers), but we promise that you are doing yourself a favor by reading this. There is a lot of information, but it is all beneficial and there is no unnecessary information. This thread is...

www.speedsolving.com

I live in the UK too by the way, you might want to check out this competition some time as you live in Bristol.

 

[Mark G]

Thanks for the link. I’ll keep an eye on it.

as for methods, I’m still on beginners lbl at the moment, but I’m slowly adding in some f2l algs. There are so many of them and I can’t remember them all just yet.

I think I should be able to get my average down to sub1:30 without any difficulty, then just practice harder to keep improving.

 

[PetrusQuber]

Yeah, don’t feel like you need to memorise all the F2L algs in one go, just learn some cases, and you should be able to set up all positions into the cases you know, with a but of trying. Then just slowly keep learning.
Or you could do it the intuitive way and just figure out how to do pairs on your own

 

[Mark G]

That’s what I don’t get about F2L, if you need to move the pieces into place to be able to do it, I might as well just do LBL.

 

[PetrusQuber]

But its good practise for slowly learning all the 42 algs, albeit being inefficient. And sometimes doing setups will be faster than LBL. Plus once you know all 42, you can do all positions much faster than inserting a corner and edge.

 

[Kevin1958]

Hi Mark

Blimey - that’s quite a coincidence. I started a members intro thread last Monday “aiming for a sub 30 average - aged 61” and I live in Bristol UK as well.

Best of luck with your cubing.

 

[Mark G]

Hi Kevin

Sub 30 is impressive at any age. How long have you been cubing?

 

[kubesolver]

Hi

I'm also 37. I was approx your speed a year ago and now I avg 21-22. And I got recently two sub 20 on my first competition. And I still feel so slow it hurts

Good luck on your journey!

That’s what I don’t get about F2L, if you need to move the pieces into place to be able to do it, I might as well just do LBL.

It's about efficiency.
Imagine that you have to find two shoes and put them in a box. LBL is finding first shoe, opening a box, putting a shoe inside and closing a box, then starting to look for a second shoe, ....
F2L is first finding two shoes, pairing them up and inserting to a box together.

 

[Kevin1958]

How long have you been cubing?

About 10 months Mark, but Ive been pretty obsessed with it there’s a competition near St Mary Redcliffe in September. Maybe see you there.

 

[Mark G]

Good analogy.

Well done on your progress, I imagine you’ve put in a lot of work for those times.

 

[Mark G]

About 10 months Mark, but Ive been pretty obsessed with it there’s a competition near St Mary Redcliffe in September. Maybe see you there.

I’m not sure I’m comp worthy, but may come along anyway as I’m sure I’d pick up some good tips & advice. That is if it’s not cancelled because of the looming apocalypse anyway.

 

[Kevin1958]

P

I’m not sure I’m comp worthy, but may come along anyway as I’m sure I’d pick up some good tips & advice. That is if it’s not cancelled because of the looming apocalypse anyway.

Thats how I feel although everybody says speed doesn't matter - its literally about taking part and hopefully the worst of the crisis will be over by then (Fingers crossed).

Anyway you will smash your PB over the next few months

 

[Deleted member 51471]

I would recommend using this tutorial for F2L :

 

[Nmile7300]

Welcome!

 

[ProStar]

But its good practise for slowly learning all the 42 algs, albeit being inefficient. And sometimes doing setups will be faster than LBL. Plus once you know all 42, you can do all positions much faster than inserting a corner and edge.

No. nonononoononoonnono. Don't learn algorithms for F2L. Learn it intuitively, it helps you understand how to move pieces and not just spam algs. F2L is the most fun part of the solve, cause you can experiment with stuff instead of just spamming algs.

I would recommend using this tutorial for F2L :

That is a great tutorial, but I'd recommend watching more than one. For me personally, I had to watch several tutorials before F2L finally clicked in my brain. Also don't get discouraged if you don't understand F2L, it took me a while, but eventually it just clicked in my brain and I figured it out. In addition to the previously linked tutorial, these are also great, and I used them when I learned:

 

[brododragon]

Or you could do it the intuitive way and just figure out how to do pairs on your own

This is what I'd recommend doing (it's how did it). I couldn't figure it out so I just gave myself a week to figure it out without tutorials. All you need to know is the basic concept: Set the two pieces up and use R U R' (or other insert) to put it in. Learning F2L is something that 'clicks' and makes you understand the cube.

 

[BenChristman1]

Welcome! Do you do any other cubes besides 3x3?

 

[Mark G]

Thanks for the tips on F2L everyone, I’ll definitely need the help of the videos so I’ll have a little watch later I think.

As for other cubes, my son has a 2x2 and I have 3 3x3 novelty cubes, of which I can do 2 of them. The third is just insane! I get it, I just can’t do it.

 

[Mark G]

So having watched the F2L videos and done some practicing, I’m seeing the benefit of F2L, but not in my times. It makes me think more, which makes me slower. I now need to practice with it more and make it muscle memory to Make the most of it.

in other news, doing battles on the Giiker app is great fun, although I’m trying to stick to the beginner method as it’s faster, if I see a pair or can easily make an F2L pair, I will use it. I’m now seeing faster times and my PB in a battle is now 1:07.