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[Member Intro] Aiming for a Sub 30 Average - aged 61

qwr

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Jul 24, 2019
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Full PLL has many memorization shortcuts: this has been repeated many times but T, Jb, Y are rearrangements of each other, A perms are similar, E perm has a distinct alternating pattern, N and F perms also share similarities with T/Jb etc.
 

Taysoncube

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Sep 16, 2021
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I am 43 and have achieved this in 2 months. My advice is to F2L do it slowly and think about the next couple, then speed up. And full PLL.
Screenshot_2021-09-21-01-55-08-38_d887ba6e638abeacd7c7cd8bbdab4150.jpg
 

voidrx

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Apr 1, 2020
Messages
185
Hi guys - my name is Kevin, I'm 61 years old and I live in Bristol, England.

I completely missed out on the Rubik's cube craze in the 80's but I'm making up for it now :) I remember a few friends back then having cubes but I never tried one. Fast forward a few decades and my 39 year old daughter buys me a Rubik's brand cube for Christmas 2018 which stays in its box until she opens it and solves it herself in May 2019 after many hours of studying the enclosed instructions.

So that was it! I couldn't let her beat me, so I secretly spent the next few weeks studying loads of YouTube videos to memorise the beginners method and in June demonstrated my new skills to her with a time of 2 minutes 43 seconds which I've been obsessively trying to lower ever since.

I now use a GAN356X with CFOP (2 look OLL and 2 look PLL) and my current single solve PB is 29.35 although I concentrate on lowering my 10 consecutive solves average PB which currently stands at 41.35

My next goal is to capture a single sub 30 on video but having only managed that once in over 20,000 attempts that could take a while. My ultimate goal is a sub 30 average for 10 consecutive solves.

I know these times will be ridiculously easy for many of you - and I don't want to make excuses - BUT - age definitely takes its toll. For instance, I can't run or play squash (or do pretty much anything) like I used to. My 61 year old brain is nowhere near as sharp as it was and these fingers don't move anything like they used to ;) but I'm sure another single sub 30 will come along one day and maybe that sub 30 average for 10 consecutive solves wont be far behind?

This chart shows my single solve PB progression to date:

View attachment 11515

Thanks for reading.

Kevin
Maybe use a method that is more efficient than CFOP?
You should use Nautilus for 3x3.
Here is the Nautilus website link: https://sites.google.com/view/nautilus-method
This method is very good and has the potential to be world-class. I am the fastest user right now and I currently average 13 seconds, and I hold the Nautilus Unofficial World Record Single of 6.89 seconds.
PS. There is a Nautilus Discord Server link on the main page of the website if you have any questions.
 

Kevin1958

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Joined
Mar 9, 2020
Messages
28
Did I miss out but why does this member intro have so much posts?
Hi Cube Red.

I think it got a little bit of interest because I was unusually old to start cubing and a few people could relate to that. I am now 63 and my true average is 31.7 seconds give or take a tenth either way.

I dont think I will ever truly average sub 30 because I record my solves in sets of 1,000 and my average hardly changes at all now, although I break 30 seconds around 4 times out of 10 and my PB is 17.24.

Having said that my best of 5 PB is 25.8 and my best of 10 PB is 27.73

Cheers
 

CubeRed

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Hi Cube Red.

I think it got a little bit of interest because I was unusually old to start cubing and a few people could relate to that. I am now 63 and my true average is 31.7 seconds give or take a tenth either way.

I dont think I will ever truly average sub 30 because I record my solves in sets of 1,000 and my average hardly changes at all now, although I break 30 seconds around 4 times out of 10 and my PB is 17.24.

Having said that my best of 5 PB is 25.8 and my best of 10 PB is 27.73

Cheers
Oh, wow. What a skill to have at an age of 63! (30 seconds average is pretty big) Thanks!
 
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Hi Cube Red.

I think it got a little bit of interest because I was unusually old to start cubing and a few people could relate to that. I am now 63 and my true average is 31.7 seconds give or take a tenth either way.

I dont think I will ever truly average sub 30 because I record my solves in sets of 1,000 and my average hardly changes at all now, although I break 30 seconds around 4 times out of 10 and my PB is 17.24.

Having said that my best of 5 PB is 25.8 and my best of 10 PB is 27.73

Cheers
Wow that’s really good
I think you could break sub 30, just keep trying a bit longer because you’ve improved loads since the beginning of this thread
 

Kevin1958

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Mar 9, 2020
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An interesting thought is what does being 'SUB 30' actually mean?

I currently calculate my average out of 1,000 solves which I record in batches of 10 i.e. I record 100 batches of 10 solves each (1,000 solves) to calculate my average.

My last 1,000 solves averaged 31.53 which included a best average of 10 of 27.73 and a best average of 5 of 25.80.

Out of those 1,000 solves just over 40% were sub 30 and a couple were over 70 seconds :)

So what would the forum say is my average?
 

BenChristman1

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Oct 26, 2019
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2019CHRI11
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An interesting thought is what does being 'SUB 30' actually mean?

I currently calculate my average out of 1,000 solves which I record in batches of 10 i.e. I record 100 batches of 10 solves each (1,000 solves) to calculate my average.

My last 1,000 solves averaged 31.53 which included a best average of 10 of 27.73 and a best average of 5 of 25.80.

Out of those 1,000 solves just over 40% were sub 30 and a couple were over 70 seconds :)

So what would the forum say is my average?
I personally call myself sub-x based on average of 1000. Right now, I have a sub-15 ao1000, so I call myself sub-15. Everybody has different opinions, though. Some only do 100, and some do 10,000.
 

Kevin1958

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Mar 9, 2020
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I personally call myself sub-x based on average of 1000. Right now, I have a sub-15 ao1000, so I call myself sub-15. Everybody has different opinions, though. Some only do 100, and some do 10,000.
Cheers Ben

I think the average of 1,000 solves has to be fair.

The amazing thing is how little my average changes now - I expect you are the same? I will get the very occasional sub 20 and a few nightmares where I find myself starting over towards the end when I realise something is wrong and taking over a minute, but the overall average stays pretty steady and is coming down very slowly now - literally a tenth here and there.

I use 2 look CFOP and I hardly hesitate at all so I either have 2 increase my turn speed which isn't happening - or I need to learn full OLL or PLL which I really think is beyond me based on how long I took to learn 2 look.

I actually caught my 17.33 PB on video which is my 3rd and last solve on this video:


Thanks,
 

BenChristman1

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Cheers Ben

I think the average of 1,000 solves has to be fair.

The amazing thing is how little my average changes now - I expect you are the same? I will get the very occasional sub 20 and a few nightmares where I find myself starting over towards the end when I realise something is wrong and taking over a minute, but the overall average stays pretty steady and is coming down very slowly now - literally a tenth here and there.

I use 2 look CFOP and I hardly hesitate at all so I either have 2 increase my turn speed which isn't happening - or I need to learn full OLL or PLL which I really think is beyond me based on how long I took to learn 2 look.

I actually caught my 17.33 PB on video which is my 3rd and last solve on this video:


Thanks,
I haven’t had much time to practice lately, so my average has probably gone up, if anything. Previously, I seemed to plateau for a while, but then I would just drop. I was at 20-22 for a very long time, then I just dropped to 17, then gradually worked my way down to 15.

I would recommend learning full PLL, though. That dropped my times a lot, and when you first learn it, it’s really fun to be able to solve so many pieces with just one algorithm. Plus, a lot of the algs are really fun to execute, such as the RUFfS F perm that I switched to recently.

Also, great solve (and great reaction)! Almost pauseless.
 
Last edited:

Kevin1958

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Mar 9, 2020
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In general, it means you expect to get times under 30 seconds on every solve. You won't but the vast majority of your solves will be under 30. If 40% of your solves are under 30 seconds, you're not sub-30. You are sub-70 though ;)
Cheers Tabe, I definitely agree with that, I am currently sub-32 :cool:

I obviously need to change something now to progress, so I will ‘attempt’ to learn full PLL as a few people have suggested.
 

CubeRed

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Cheers Tabe, I definitely agree with that, I am currently sub-32 :cool:

I obviously need to change something now to progress, so I will ‘attempt’ to learn full PLL as a few people have suggested.
I don't think full PLL will help a great amount IMO but it certainly is pretty fun to learn and execute. But you're not missing out on anything so go ahead!
 

Kevin1958

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I don't think full PLL will help a great amount IMO but it certainly is pretty fun to learn and execute. But you're not missing out on anything so go ahead!
Thanks

What would you recommend to improve on the 2 look OLL & PLL I currently use?

Cheers
 

CubeRed

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Thanks

What would you recommend to improve on the 2 look OLL & PLL I currently use?

Cheers
Well, practicing fingertricks would be good. As you get more and more advanced your turning style and fingertricks will matter more. It would help further on on OLL and PLL. Have a way to look at 2look OLL as edges and corners. What I mean is to focus on the corners after the cross rather then recognizing it as a whole case. Whole case memo can come later at full OLL.
 

LBr

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May 2, 2021
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Consider trying a new method, like Roux, or learning tips, tricks and algorithms for CFOP. Roux is popular amongst older solvers as it is more efficient, which can cancel out slower TPS
 
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