[Member Intro] Trying to break the 1m time barrier =D

[muph]

Hi guys and girls...

A very warm welcome!

I really picked up the cube for the first time at 43 yrs.of age because my gf picked up a €5 3x3 cube at the supermarket. Went out, got a GAN 356 X S and have been solving exclusively OH since. Found cubeskills.com and have been listening to Feliks Zemdegs a lot learned the beginners method and have been using 4LLL CFOP for 1 or 2 months now starting to slowly gain some speed in F2L. My fastest solve so far has been 1m35s.

F2L (which, I hear a lot, makes for the biggest time savings among the solving stages if done well) almost overloads my brain but I'm kind of smooth when it comes to fixed algorithms. At this point I'm only interested in OH 4LLL CFOP solving (no way in hell I could memorize a single algorithm more beyond those 16 ). Currently I'm awaiting my GAN Mini M Pro 3x3 to help with OH (feels like a smaller cube would be easier to handle...) even though a lot of cubers seem to think a standard size cube is just fine. I followed Feliks' advice to solve the cross on the bottom and to go color-neutral - any tips on how to get my PB below 60s? I've been playing around with the cube setup quite a bit (blue hex: 2, clear GES: 1 click, magnets on the weakest setting) - any thoughts on that?

Thanks so much for sharing all this stuff guys!

Ps: saw a video of Will Smith solving the cube in <55s so I gotta beat that only in OH

 

[hellocubers]

Welcome!

 

[CubeRed]

Nice cube you got there. Welcome! OH is a very fun event. (Pretty handy to impress people easily, of you are good) Welcome to the forums!

 

[hellocubers]

Currently, I'm awaiting my GAN Mini M Pro 3x3 to help with OH

brooo the GAN 354 M v2 isn't a better option but it's cheaper (30,59 euro) and pretty decent.

 

[muph]

Nice cube you got there. Welcome! OH is a very fun event. (Pretty handy to impress people easily, of you are good) Welcome to the forums!

Thanks CubeRed! I'm hooked!

brooo the GAN 354 M v2 isn't a better option but it's cheaper (30,59 euro) and pretty decent.

Thanks for the tip! Looks like a fine cube as well, mine is already ordered so I guess I'll just see how I like it. I spent quite some time researching and couldn't find a clear opinion if a smaller cube really helped with OH.... in the end I decided on the GAN Mini M Pro even though I would have preferred a magnet-free cube for OH. Does it make a big difference?

Oh yeah - I found full OLL&PLL algorithms specifically for OH but not for 2-look. A couple ones I use (cubeskills.com) feel kinda awkward... can someone point me in the right direction for more info on cube/cube setup/4LLL algorithms specifically for OH?

 

[Ultimatecuber0814]

Welcome! Hope you enjoy your GAN MIni M Pro!

 

[cuber314159]

Welcome

 

[LBr]

I remember my first sub 1 avg5, and ironically, it was on a 354

 

[povlhp]

I am 54. I learned 4LLL, felt stuck around 1m40, so switched to Roux, with no regrets.
I am no not solving as much, and fewer solves is not good. Ao100 I can keep around 45s, but fewer solves = more moves.
Roux is supposedly great for OH as well. You might look at that.

I have been starting Blind solving as well. Just corners so far. Doing the larger cubes. Other cubes. So lots of detours away from 3x3. 3BLD is part of my plans over the winter.

 

[theos]

Nice to see a fellow "senior" cuber on here. Surprised to find someone focusing on OH exclusively, especially considering how much I despise OH, but good for you if it's the event that you enjoy.

I'll echo @povlhp in suggesting that you might want to give a Roux a look (and I'm not a Roux solver myself) because of how good it's supposed to be for OH solving.

 

[SenorJuan]

Welcome. As a senior solver, who also likes OH, I can see what challenges you're up against.
Getting the raw finger speed needed for faster solves is one thing you must work on. Aim for 4 turns per second on simple repetitive stuff/the fastest algs, and 3 tps on typical real-world algs that contain 'slow' parts, like double-turns, z-rotations. You'll need to warm up properly, too, that takes longer when you're older.
Re: the cross solution: Ergonomics are more important when doing it OH. Don't force 'cross-on-bottom', as a left-handed solver, many of my cross solutions are done with cross on F or R, and the final quarter-turn rotation is combined with the final turn of the cross solution; eg. if R z is needed, it's done as a mashup of R z and z D.

Also, despite clearly stating "I'm only interested on OH CFOP" , you're just going to have to accept that you're going to get bombarded with advice to use every other method under the sun. Learn to ignore it.

For inspiration, there's several of us old folks who can sub-30 and sub-20 at OH, so your quest should be achievable.

 

[cuberswoop]

buna prietene! Welcome to the forums!

 

[abunickabhi]

Hi guys and girls...

A very warm welcome!

I really picked up the cube for the first time at 43 yrs.of age because my gf picked up a €5 3x3 cube at the supermarket. Went out, got a GAN 356 X S and have been solving exclusively OH since. Found cubeskills.com and have been listening to Feliks Zemdegs a lot learned the beginners method and have been using 4LLL CFOP for 1 or 2 months now starting to slowly gain some speed in F2L. My fastest solve so far has been 1m35s.

F2L (which, I hear a lot, makes for the biggest time savings among the solving stages if done well) almost overloads my brain but I'm kind of smooth when it comes to fixed algorithms. At this point I'm only interested in OH 4LLL CFOP solving (no way in hell I could memorize a single algorithm more beyond those 16 ). Currently I'm awaiting my GAN Mini M Pro 3x3 to help with OH (feels like a smaller cube would be easier to handle...) even though a lot of cubers seem to think a standard size cube is just fine. I followed Feliks' advice to solve the cross on the bottom and to go color-neutral - any tips on how to get my PB below 60s? I've been playing around with the cube setup quite a bit (blue hex: 2, clear GES: 1 click, magnets on the weakest setting) - any thoughts on that?

Thanks so much for sharing all this stuff guys!

Ps: saw a video of Will Smith solving the cube in <55s so I gotta beat that only in OH

Welcome muph.

Cool story you have. Happy cubing!

 

[muph]

I am 54. I learned 4LLL, felt stuck around 1m40, so switched to Roux, with no regrets.
I am no not solving as much, and fewer solves is not good. Ao100 I can keep around 45s, but fewer solves = more moves.
Roux is supposedly great for OH as well. You might look at that.

I have been starting Blind solving as well. Just corners so far. Doing the larger cubes. Other cubes. So lots of detours away from 3x3. 3BLD is part of my plans over the winter.

So thankful for all the kind advice everyone!

@povlhp awesome to read your cubing history since it's so similar to mine. I WAS reading about Roux, only sounded like it wasn't the most obvious choice for OH. I would LOVE a method with less/no algorithms even though it's so fun to burn fast through my easiest alg blind sounds cool as well! Maybe not for my mushy brain though I've been solving mirror cubes, 2x2 cubes, ghost cubes,... nothing beyond 3x3 though. Can you solve bigger cubes with a mostly intuitive method as well? I'm a bit scared to get lost in algorithm jungles I already forgot the ones I memorized to solve the 2x2

Nice to see a fellow "senior" cuber on here. Surprised to find someone focusing on OH exclusively, especially considering how much I despise OH, but good for you if it's the event that you enjoy.

I'll echo @povlhp in suggesting that you might want to give a Roux a look (and I'm not a Roux solver myself) because of how good it's supposed to be for OH solving.

Hey @theos,

you despise OH? I thought from the first time I saw it that it was almost like a magic trick interesting you're also recommending to look into Roux, I remember reading a couple times that Roux was supposedly trickier with one hand... you guys got me curious now! No (?) algs sounds almost too good to be true will be back here after meeting Mr. Roux!

Welcome. As a senior solver, who also likes OH, I can see what challenges you're up against.
Getting the raw finger speed needed for faster solves is one thing you must work on. Aim for 4 turns per second on simple repetitive stuff/the fastest algs, and 3 tps on typical real-world algs that contain 'slow' parts, like double-turns, z-rotations. You'll need to warm up properly, too, that takes longer when you're older.
Re: the cross solution: Ergonomics are more important when doing it OH. Don't force 'cross-on-bottom', as a left-handed solver, many of my cross solutions are done with cross on F or R, and the final quarter-turn rotation is combined with the final turn of the cross solution; eg. if R z is needed, it's done as a mashup of R z and z D.

Also, despite clearly stating "I'm only interested on OH CFOP" , you're just going to have to accept that you're going to get bombarded with advice to use every other method under the sun. Learn to ignore it.

For inspiration, there's several of us old folks who can sub-30 and sub-20 at OH, so your quest should be achievable.

Thanks @SenorJuan

I 'm close to 4tps on my favorite alg, the rest is way slower though. I like your warming up idea, I stretch my fingers a lot like I do when I play guitar. In fact, it's crazy how many similarities there are to playing the guitar/an instrument. Learning to get fast and fluid on a number of moves feels almost exactly the same as trying to get through a fast solo.

So far I'm still thankful for recommendations on maybe more suited methods, looks like I was a little fast to pass on Roux....

I would assume there must be a LOT of cubers out there who can do sub-1m OH no? Even oldies that term alone makes me wonder what the avg.age of speed cubers is??

buna prietene! Welcome to the forums!

Welcome muph.

Cool story you have. Happy cubing!

Thank you so much @abunickabhi

Quantum physics? Chess? Crazy speed cubing community! (in a good way ) has a correlation been found between personal records and IQ?

 

[cuberswoop]

I would assume there must be a LOT of cubers out there who can do sub-1m OH no? Even oldies that term alone makes me wonder what the avg.age of speed cubers is??

There was actually a poll recently about the average age of the foums here: https://www.speedsolving.com/threads/poll-average-age-in-this-forum.85574/#post-1458751

 

[theos]

I would assume there must be a LOT of cubers out there who can do sub-1m OH no? Even oldies that term alone makes me wonder what the avg.age of speed cubers is??

You can have a look at how the 40+s have done at OH in WCA competitions here: Senior Rankings 3x3x3 One-Handed - Over 40s. I see my own official OH time is still over 1:10

No (?) algs sounds almost too good to be true

For what it's worth my own, slow, OH method uses no algs at all (because I don't want to invest any time into practising OH algs). The method is based on Petrus and is similar to many FMC solves: block-build to 2x2x3... edge orientation... finish F2L except 1 slot... permute remaining edges... use intuitive commutators to solve remaining corners. No, I don't recommend my method if you actually want to get good at OH

I've been solving mirror cubes, 2x2 cubes, ghost cubes,... nothing beyond 3x3 though. Can you solve bigger cubes with a mostly intuitive method as well? I'm a bit scared to get lost in algorithm jungles I already forgot the ones I memorized to solve the 2x2

However you solve corners on 3x3 can just be used for 2x2. No need to learn any new algs except to go faster. Then for big cubes (4x4 and up), the reduction method is pretty straightforward and can be done without algorithms until the cube is reduced to a 3x3. The exception is for the parity cases where you can get by with just new 2 algorithms (so-called orientation and permutation parity algorithms)... or you use the "rescramble if I hit parity" method.

Also consider looking into the pyraminx and skewb if you haven't already. Both can be fun (and manageable) puzzles to try and solve on your own without looking up up hints or guides.

 

[muph]

There was actually a poll recently about the average age of the foums here: https://www.speedsolving.com/threads/poll-average-age-in-this-forum.85574/#post-1458751

Thanks! Interesting...!

 

[muph]

You can have a look at how the 40+s have done at OH in WCA competitions here: Senior Rankings 3x3x3 One-Handed - Over 40s. I see my own official OH time is still over 1:10


For what it's worth my own, slow, OH method uses no algs at all (because I don't want to invest any time into practising OH algs). The method is based on Petrus and is similar to many FMC solves: block-build to 2x2x3... edge orientation... finish F2L except 1 slot... permute remaining edges... use intuitive commutators to solve remaining corners. No, I don't recommend my method if you actually want to get good at OH


However you solve corners on 3x3 can just be used for 2x2. No need to learn any new algs except to go faster. Then for big cubes (4x4 and up), the reduction method is pretty straightforward and can be done without algorithms until the cube is reduced to a 3x3. The exception is for the parity cases where you can get by with just new 2 algorithms (so-called orientation and permutation parity algorithms)... or you use the "rescramble if I hit parity" method.

Also consider looking into the pyraminx and skewb if you haven't already. Both can be fun (and manageable) puzzles to try and solve on your own without looking up up hints or guides.

Thanks for the comp results link that's cool! Didn't know there were age groups... 1:10 yeah!

I have to admit I only partially understand your solving method but so cool it doesn't require algs!

Yeah I almost got a twisted 3x3 cube at one point, just that the speed thing got in the way would you say solving different puzzles helped your 3x3 cube times a lot? I find the no hints/guide approach to a new puzzle fascinating but at this point I feel like it would have to be crazy simple to give me any chance whatsoever

It's cool though, I can see it's just a matter of time and effort eventually...

Edit: oh yeah, I have to look up the reduction method... are you saying you solve bigger cubes intuitively until you have a 3x3 area in the middle of every one of the 6 faces? And then it solves like a normal 3x3 cube?

Thanks for the long post ✌

 

[theos]

Yeah I almost got a twisted 3x3 cube at one point, just that the speed thing got in the way would you say solving different puzzles helped your 3x3 cube times a lot? I find the no hints/guide approach to a new puzzle fascinating but at this point I feel like it would have to be crazy simple to give me any chance whatsoever

I don't think solving different puzzles really helps my times, but it does help to keep up the motivation. If I've been grinding away at one particular event for a while, I'll enjoy mixing it up with relaxing untimed solves on another puzzle or trying to figure out a new puzzle. Pyraminx and skewb can reasonably be figured out by average joes with enough persistence even if they don't know how to solve a 3x3. Megaminx, while intimidating, can also be fun to figure out just by seeing which methods and algorithms from 3x3 will work on it's odd shape.

Edit: oh yeah, I have to look up the reduction method... are you saying you solve bigger cubes intuitively until you have a 3x3 area in the middle of every one of the 6 faces? And then it solves like a normal 3x3 cube?

So a big cube still has 3 types of pieces: corners (3 colours), edges (2 colours) and centres (1 colour). For reduction: group all centres of the same colour together on the same face to make 6 mega-centres; then group all edges with matching colours together to make 12 mega-edges. Your cube will now look like a 3x3 and can be solved the same way (unless you run into parity).

 

[muph]

I don't think solving different puzzles really helps my times, but it does help to keep up the motivation. If I've been grinding away at one particular event for a while, I'll enjoy mixing it up with relaxing untimed solves on another puzzle or trying to figure out a new puzzle. Pyraminx and skewb can reasonably be figured out by average joes with enough persistence even if they don't know how to solve a 3x3. Megaminx, while intimidating, can also be fun to figure out just by seeing which methods and algorithms from 3x3 will work on it's odd shape.



So a big cube still has 3 types of pieces: corners (3 colours), edges (2 colours) and centres (1 colour). For reduction: group all centres of the same colour together on the same face to make 6 mega-centres; then group all edges with matching colours together to make 12 mega-edges. Your cube will now look like a 3x3 and can be solved the same way (unless you run into parity).

Awesome thanks. I actually started playing around with an 8x8. So awesome! Had this idea of trying to solve it w/o any more guidance than what you wrote above. So I've got 4 solved center faces but I'm running out of ideas how to solve the last 2. I'm wondering if the solving order of the different faces makes any difference...

So far I'm successfully managing to ignore the fact that the edges are probably trickier than the center pieces