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Timoth3’s expedition to sub 15 and beyond (complete, sub 1:20 4x4 now)

Timoth3

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Apr 4, 2020
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Week 1:

Best ao50: 14.92

Notes: also beat my ao12 and 5 in this average. Very good solves for the most part.

How I practiced: mostly times solves focusing on lookahead with moderate turning speed. As my lookahead improves I will turn slower and after I have great lookahead I will turn slightly faster.

Also learned bld this week. That’s where a lot of my time went. Pretty good average for me, I had a couple solves that were 17-19 seconds but other than that I was getting 14s and 15s. Thoughts? Ideas? Lmk!
 

Timoth3

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Week 2&3:

Best ao50: 16.17 (oof)

Notes: I tried turning slower to improve my lookahead outside of timed solves but so far my look ahead hasn’t improved even a bit. I’ve been trying spamming tps, slow turning, and everything in between during times solves but I’m inconsistent no matter how I turn. Sometimes I get a 13 ao5 and then 3 solves later I’ll get 4 17s for what feels like no reason. It is definitely discouraging especially with how much I improved in the first few weeks of quarantine. I’ll keep it up for another week or 2 as I’m sure this is just a phase in the learning curve.

I think I’m just going to split my post into comments, best average, and this random text stuff at the bottom instead of what I did in week one. If anyone has some tips for practicing lookahead I’d appreciate it. If I don’t see results in a couple weeks I might take a break as it is hard to stay motivated when you are getting slower. Wish me luck and to whomever is reading this, have a great week.
 

Owen Morrison

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Can you give an example solve for me to critique? I am 90% sure that the reason some of your solves are slower even though you felt like you had good turning and look ahead is because of inefficient solutions.
 

Timoth3

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3 miles high in the sky of Ohio
Can you give an example solve for me to critique? I am 90% sure that the reason some of your solves are slower even though you felt like you had good turning and look ahead is because of inefficient solutions.
Here you go:
Scramble: R2 B2 U' R2 D2 U' L2 B2 F2 D R F' D F2 L2 R F' U2 B2 R2

x2 y’
D’ L B F2 D’
R U R’ U’ R U’ R’ U R’ U’ R
L’ U2 L F’ U’ F
d R U’ R U2 y’ R’ U’ R
U R U2 R’ U2 R U R’
U’ F R U R’ U’ F’ U2 R2 D R’ U2 R D’ R’ U2 R’
y x’ R2 U2 R D R’ U2 R D’ R

This one I did at full speed, may be better for critiques:
D2 F2 L2 U' L2 R2 F2 U R2 D L2 F' L2 D' L D2 R' D2 L U' L2

x2 y’ // inspection
D L D2 F2 B2
U’ R U’ R’ y R’ U’ R // first pair
U R U R’ L U L’ // 2nd pair
R U R’ F U F’ // 3rd pair
U2 F’ U F U2 R U’ R’ // 4th pair + skip
U’ T perm U’
 
Last edited:

Owen Morrison

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Here you go:
Scramble: R2 B2 U' R2 D2 U' L2 B2 F2 D R F' D F2 L2 R F' U2 B2 R2

x2 y’
D’ L B F2 D’
R U R’ U’ R U’ R’ U R’ U’ R
L’ U2 L F’ U’ F
d R U’ R U2 y’ R’ U’ R
U R U2 R’ U2 R U R’
U’ F R U R’ U’ F’ U2 R2 D R’ U2 R D’ R’ U2 R’
y x’ R2 U2 R D R’ U2 R D’ R

This one I did at full speed, may be better for critiques:
D2 F2 L2 U' L2 R2 F2 U R2 D L2 F' L2 D' L D2 R' D2 L U' L2

x2 y’ // inspection
D L D2 F2 B2
U’ R U’ R’ y R’ U’ R // first pair
U R U R’ L U L’ // 2nd pair
R U R’ F U F’ // 3rd pair
U2 F’ U F U2 R U’ R’ // 4th pair + skip
U’ T perm U’

Scramble: R2 B2 U' R2 D2 U' L2 B2 F2 D R F' D F2 L2 R F' U2 B2 R2

cross:
x2 y’
D’ L B F2 D’
you should have done z2 D' F' L R2 D'. You never want to have B moves in your cross.

(going off of your solution)

F2L 1:

R U R’ U’ R U’ R’ U R’ U’ R -not the solution I do, but mine isn't any better than what you do.

F2l 2:

L’ U2 L F’ U’ F here I would have done a y' before I inserted it so I would have my 2 back slots solved

F2L 3:

d R U’ R U2 y’ R’ U’ R I think you meant R', good solution.

F2L 4:

U R U2 R’ U2 R U R’ - again, not what I do, but your solution is just as good.

OLL:

U’ F R U R’ U’ F’ U2 R2 D R’ U2 R D’ R’ U2 R’ - I think it is about time to start learning full OLL.

PLL:

y x’ R2 U2 R D R’ U2 R D’ R Never do y or y' in PLL, it is so much faster to do U and U'. I got about a full second faster (~13 seconds to ~12 seconds, at the time) when I stopped rotating for PLL. That is an interesting A Perm, but it doesn't seem too bad.
 

Timoth3

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Location
3 miles high in the sky of Ohio
Scramble: R2 B2 U' R2 D2 U' L2 B2 F2 D R F' D F2 L2 R F' U2 B2 R2

cross:
x2 y’
D’ L B F2 D’
you should have done z2 D' F' L R2 D'. You never want to have B moves in your cross.

(going off of your solution)

F2L 1:

R U R’ U’ R U’ R’ U R’ U’ R -not the solution I do, but mine isn't any better than what you do.

F2l 2:

L’ U2 L F’ U’ F here I would have done a y' before I inserted it so I would have my 2 back slots solved

F2L 3:

d R U’ R U2 y’ R’ U’ R I think you meant R', good solution.

F2L 4:

U R U2 R’ U2 R U R’ - again, not what I do, but your solution is just as good.

OLL:

U’ F R U R’ U’ F’ U2 R2 D R’ U2 R D’ R’ U2 R’ - I think it is about time to start learning full OLL.

PLL:

y x’ R2 U2 R D R’ U2 R D’ R Never do y or y' in PLL, it is so much faster to do U and U'. I got about a full second faster (~13 seconds to ~12 seconds, at the time) when I stopped rotating for PLL. That is an interesting A Perm, but it doesn't seem too bad.
Thanks for this! Lots of good stuff.
 

Owen Morrison

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This one I did at full speed, may be better for critiques:
D2 F2 L2 U' L2 R2 F2 U R2 D L2 F' L2 D' L D2 R' D2 L U' L2

x2 y’ // inspection
D L D2 F2 B2
U’ R U’ R’ y R’ U’ R // first pair
U R U R’ L U L’ // 2nd pair
R U R’ F U F’ // 3rd pair
U2 F’ U F U2 R U’ R’ // 4th pair + skip
U’ T perm U’

Cross:
x2 y'
D L D2 F2 B2 - again, you never want to have B moves in your cross. z2 D F D2 R2 L2 or x2 D' L2 F' R2 would have been better.

F2L 1:

U’ R U’ R’ y R’ U’ R - good solution

F2L 2:

U R U R’ L U L’ - good solution

F2L 3:

R U R’ F U F - good solution

F2L 4:

U2 F’ U F U2 R U’ R I don't know if you used this solution because you saw that it would skip, but normally U2 R U R' U2' R U' R' U R U' R' is better. It takes a lot more moves but it can be executed faster than what you did. EDIT: after I have been thinking about this, your solution might be better. I need to try it out and maybe start using it.

PLL:

U’ T perm U’ - good, U' is much better than rotations.

Overall, the areas you need to work on the most are your cross solutions, and making sure you don't do y rotations in PLL. I would recommend to start learning full OLL at a slow pace, maybe one alg a week.

I can't know about your lookahead, because I can't see you solve, but if you think it needs work than I would recommend doing slow untimed solves making sure you have no pauses and slowly working your way back up to faster TPS.
 

Timoth3

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Apr 4, 2020
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Week 4:

Best ao50: 14.62

Notes: In this session I did 75 solves and the total average was 14.87. My averages in general aren’t improving much but I’m getting more consistent at getting 14s after warming up. This week I’ve been working on pll tps and consistency via pll time attack. This week I noticed that when I’m not paying attention and doing mindless solves I turn really fast but don’t look ahead. This leads to 15s so I’m going to try to actively focus on every solve this week. On top of this I’m going to learn 3-4 1loll algs. I currently know about 17 (including cross cases) and work on my cross solutions and execution. Oh, and Owen, thanks for doing the critiques :). That’s all for this week and next week.

I’m wanting to get a new 3x3 main because I don’t really enjoy my Gts2 and it’s a little outdated. I’ve narrowed it down to the following: gts3, x v2, and v3e. Does anyone have a process they go through to pick a new main? I’m very indecisive.
Btw it’s Mother’s Day tomorrow just in case you forgot
 

PetrusQuber

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Week 4:

Best ao50: 14.62

Notes: In this session I did 75 solves and the total average was 14.87. My averages in general aren’t improving much but I’m getting more consistent at getting 14s after warming up. This week I’ve been working on pll tps and consistency via pll time attack. This week I noticed that when I’m not paying attention and doing mindless solves I turn really fast but don’t look ahead. This leads to 15s so I’m going to try to actively focus on every solve this week. On top of this I’m going to learn 3-4 1loll algs. I currently know about 17 (including cross cases) and work on my cross solutions and execution. Oh, and Owen, thanks for doing the critiques :). That’s all for this week and next week.

I’m wanting to get a new 3x3 main because I don’t really enjoy my Gts2 and it’s a little outdated. I’ve narrowed it down to the following: gts3, x v2, and v3e. Does anyone have a process they go through to pick a new main? I’m very indecisive.
Btw it’s Mother’s Day tomorrow just in case you forgot
Thanks for the reminder lol. (Even though I’m British and already had a Mother’s Day).What do you like in a cube (for picking a main)?
 

Timoth3

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Thanks for the reminder lol. (Even though I’m British and already had a Mother’s Day).What do you like in a cube (for picking a main)?
Oops, didn’t realize different parts of the world have different mother’s days.

As for a main, smoothness, spring customization, strong magnets or ability to change magnets, and speed are the qualities I’m interested in.

Currently, I’m leaning towards the gts3, because it has stronger magnets than the WR m, or the x v1/v2. I’m not a huge fan of the magnet system of the xs or the core the xs and x v2 have, but the matte finish on the x v2 keeps it as a possibility. The v3e I don’t think I would like the feel of and the mgc elite seems to me like it’s not quite as great as other options. Are there any cubes that I overlooked?
 

PetrusQuber

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Oops, didn’t realize different parts of the world have different mother’s days.

As for a main, smoothness, spring customization, strong magnets or ability to change magnets, and speed are the qualities I’m interested in.

Currently, I’m leaning towards the gts3, because it has stronger magnets than the WR m, or the x v1/v2. I’m not a huge fan of the magnet system of the xs or the core the xs and x v2 have, but the matte finish on the x v2 keeps it as a possibility. The v3e I don’t think I would like the feel of and the mgc elite seems to me like it’s not quite as great as other options. Are there any cubes that I overlooked?
Maybe Tengyun V2?
 

Timoth3

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Apr 4, 2020
Messages
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Location
3 miles high in the sky of Ohio
Week 5:

Best ao50: 14.46
Best ao100: 14.62

Notes: Focusing myself before solves helps quite a bit with times. Unfortunately, I’m still getting a 17 or 18 second solve every 7 or so solves which is bringing down my averages. These solves tend to have very choppy turning during f2l even though I look ahead and see next pair. Next week I’m going to work on fluid, smooth turning even if it slows my times down for a week or two because I don’t want to keep getting these bad choppy f2ls. This week I decided to learn the R U D g perms instead of some oll so I’m learning a couple oll algs next week instead.

That’s about it. I decided on getting a gts3 as my main so I should have that in a couple weeks and I’m planning on getting a Tengyun v1 as well just for fun. Next week is my final week of school so I might be practicing more or less depending on how much work I have to do. Have a great week everyone!
 

Timoth3

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Week 6&7:

Best ao50: 13.89
Best ao100: 14.10

Notes: I had quite a bit of school during week six and hardly practiced which is why I didn’t post. Week 7 I did 100 solves a day (at least) which led to yesterday getting the averages above. Sub 15 now! Next week I’m going to focus on 4x4. I know yau already but I’m very slow, 1:40-2:00, and don’t practice. I’m hoping to be sub 1:20 by the end of the week which I feel is doable. I’ll mostly be working on muscle memory and special cases in 3-2-3 EP.

After I finish this week of 4x4 I might do another if I’m not happy with my results. If I do well though then I’ll be moving onto a week of color neutrality on blue green. Then orange red and repeat until I’m sub 17 on all sides. I already am dual CN so I don’t need to work on yellow.
 
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