gsingh's Road to Sub 6

[Caleb Valenzuela]

Cubing update ig

Just got back from Worlds yesterday. Super fun comp, and I got to meet a few of you guys. Unfortunately, my results weren’t the best. I was pretty nervous for 3x3, and I think the lack of practice in 2x2, 4x4, and 5x5 also caught up to me.

When I got to the comp, I was in the middle of my first round (Clock) when I realized I didn’t really want to compete in it. I DNS’d my last solve and decided I’d just focus on the events I actually care about (2-5 and OH). I ended up having to skip OH due to some scheduling issues though.

2x2 was okay considering I hadn’t touched it in a while (low 3 avg), but I lost my GAN 251 at the comp, which kinda sucks. 4x4 was solid — 32 avg, which is close to what I used to global, and I had like 7/10 parities. 5x5 was rough though (1:23 avg ). And 3x3 was pretty bad. I got two mid-8 averages, which I think is the first time in a long while I haven’t gotten a sub-8 avg at a comp. Still, the comp was 100% worth it. Worlds motivated me to lock in again.

Going to try doing around 4 hours of practice a day on weekdays (which is about 4 more than I usually do). Planning for roughly an hour and a half each of 3x3 and 4x4, and an hour of 5x5. I need to completely derust on 4 and 5 (I haven't done 5x5 since last June help), and for 3x3 I’m just trying to push down into mid 6 territory. I'll try to send daily updates here to help me stay accountable. I also started new sessions for all three events (titled POST WORLDS GRIND). (And if you couldn't tell from this post, 5x5 is one of my main events again)


July Goals:

3x3:
Sub 7 ao200
Sub 6.5 Official Average (Comp on August 2nd)

4x4:
Sub 30 ao100

5x5:
1:00 - 1:05 Global
Sub 1:05 Official Average (Comp on August 2nd)

4 hours is a lot of time for practice! It was about time you started locking in because i have been starting to get sub-6.8 averages everyday since last week (and i don't think it will stop there). feat 6.25 PB average rolled into 6.21

 

[gsingh]

Nice improvement after just a week of practice! Prob sitting at like a 1:08 global rn, but I can definitely average 1:06 when I'm in a flow state. Hopefully sub 1:05 global soon.

I was averaging 36 on 4x4 last week (ugh), but I've got it back down to like 32-33 rn. Hopefully I'll push to sub 30 soon.

Also been averaging bad on 3x3 recently (7.4). Not quite sure why, going to try to resetup my cube and see if that helps. Feels good to be practicing a lot though.

 

[Caleb Valenzuela]

View attachment 41782
Nice improvement after just a week of practice! Prob sitting at like a 1:08 global rn, but I can definitely average 1:06 when I'm in a flow state. Hopefully sub 1:05 global soon.

I was averaging 36 on 4x4 last week (ugh), but I've got it back down to like 32-33 rn. Hopefully I'll push to sub 30 soon.

Also been averaging bad on 3x3 recently (7.4). Not quite sure why, going to try to resetup my cube and see if that helps. Feels good to be practicing a lot though.

bad = 7.4 i mean that isn’t great for my standards too but it’s pretty good

 

[Caleb Valenzuela]

also what drills would you recommend for 4x4 cross edges

 

[gsingh]

also what drills would you recommend for 4x4 cross edges

Just try to do solves where you focus on fluidity and lookahead during cross edges

Also just got this average (5x5)

Generated By csTimer on 2025-07-15
avg of 5: 1:04.74

Time List:
57.66, (1:15.67), 1:04.82, 1:11.73, (55.80)

Pretty unfortunate counting times but I'll probably get a better PB average soon anyway, since I get high 1:04 averages pretty frequently. Hopefully 1:02.

(I definitely have an average faster than this, but I started a new session after worlds so this is more of a session best rather than PB. Still counting it as PB though, since in my old session I would handscramble instead of following the generated scramble. )

 

[Caleb Valenzuela]

Just try to do solves where you focus on fluidity and lookahead during cross edges

Also just got this average (5x5)

Generated By csTimer on 2025-07-15
avg of 5: 1:04.74

Time List:
57.66, (1:15.67), 1:04.82, 1:11.73, (55.80)

Pretty unfortunate counting times but I'll probably get a better PB average soon anyway, since I get high 1:04 averages pretty frequently. Hopefully 1:02.

(I definitely have an average faster than this, but I started a new session after worlds so this is more of a session best rather than PB. Still counting it as PB though, since in my old session I would handscramble instead of following the generated scramble. )

ok thanks, i'll definitely try that

road to sub-leo borromeo on 5x5

 

[gsingh]

road to sub-leo borromeo on 5x5

lmao thats literally my goal

 

[Caleb Valenzuela]

lmao thats literally my goal

what fr ok (good luck)

 

[gsingh]

Generated By csTimer on 2025-07-23 (solving from 2025-07-23 10:37:26 to 2025-07-23 10:43:19)
avg of 5: 28.61

Time List:
1. 27.36 B' U2 F2 L2 B2 R' F2 R' D2 B2 R F2 L' B' R' F D' B2 U R2 L' Uw2 Fw2 U' Rw2 F U' D2 F' Uw2 Rw2 D B2 Rw' U L F L' D R Uw F2 Rw B Fw' Rw2 @2025-07-23 10:37:26
2. 28.13 R2 L2 B' U B' R D2 L F2 L2 D' R2 B2 R2 U D B2 D' B2 Fw2 R' Rw2 U Uw2 F2 B2 L Rw2 U' Rw2 U D2 B R Fw' Uw2 Fw' L2 F' Uw' Fw U' D2 F Rw' @2025-07-23 10:38:19
3. (34.71) L' B2 L2 F' U2 B' L2 B' U2 F L2 D2 B2 U' B L' U L2 B' R' D Fw2 Rw2 D' F' Rw2 F2 U' F2 Uw2 F2 D L B D' Rw B' Fw D L' Fw2 D2 Uw' Rw' @2025-07-23 10:40:53
4. (25.92) L2 D2 B2 L' B2 D2 L2 U2 R' D2 F B2 L B R F U R' D R' Rw2 U' B2 Uw2 R2 D R' U' Rw2 D Rw2 D L Fw D' B2 L' F2 Fw' U2 Uw' Fw' R' Fw' L D2 @2025-07-23 10:42:02
5. 30.35 R2 F' B2 U2 R D2 B2 R' B2 R U2 R' D F2 D B' D L' F2 Uw2 L' U' Fw2 Uw2 F2 L F2 Rw2 F2 U Uw2 R2 Fw' U L' Uw2 F B2 Rw' Fw' R2 Uw2 F Fw' L @2025-07-23 10:43:19

Pretty nice but I did the wrong ZB on the last solve, so could've been even better

Also I got this a few days ago and for some reason was completely unaware of it until about 30 seconds ago
Generated By csTimer on 2025-07-23 (solving from 2025-07-21 10:42:52 to 2025-07-21 10:46:15)
avg of 5: 28.73

Time List:
1. (33.21) U2 B2 R' B2 U2 R2 B2 R D2 R2 D' F' L2 F' D2 R D' L B2 Uw2 R' Fw2 R' U2 B R2 Uw2 R Rw2 B U2 B2 D L' Uw F D Uw2 Fw' Uw' B' L' Fw' Rw U2 R @2025-07-21 10:42:52
2. 27.88 U F D' F B' R' B' L' F U2 F2 L' U2 D2 R' D2 R' L2 D2 R2 Fw2 Rw2 U' F' D' Rw2 U' L2 F2 Uw2 R2 Fw2 D' Rw F' U D F2 Fw' R' Rw' F Fw' L Fw' @2025-07-21 10:43:46
3. 29.85 B' R2 D2 B U2 B' R2 F D2 F D F R' D' R2 L U' L2 B L' Fw2 Uw2 B' L' Uw2 F L' D2 R' B' R2 U' Uw' B' D Uw2 F' Fw' L2 Fw2 L Fw L2 @2025-07-21 10:44:34
4. 28.45 F' R' L2 D' B2 U2 B2 L2 U B2 R2 D2 L F' D R B' D' F2 Fw2 U B2 Rw2 B' Fw2 Uw2 Rw2 U F' B' U2 D Rw F' R F B2 Uw' Rw' F' Uw2 F' L' Rw @2025-07-21 10:45:23
5. (27.48) R2 F' D' R U2 R' U2 L2 D L2 F2 B' D2 B R2 L2 B' D2 L2 Fw2 R Uw2 Rw2 F Uw2 B2 Fw2 R L B' R U D Uw F2 L2 Uw F R2 Uw Fw' D' Fw2 R' @2025-07-21 10:46:15

 

[gsingh]

View attachment 41782
Nice improvement after just a week of practice! Prob sitting at like a 1:08 global rn, but I can definitely average 1:06 when I'm in a flow state. Hopefully sub 1:05 global soon.

I was averaging 36 on 4x4 last week (ugh), but I've got it back down to like 32-33 rn. Hopefully I'll push to sub 30 soon.

Also been averaging bad on 3x3 recently (7.4). Not quite sure why, going to try to resetup my cube and see if that helps. Feels good to be practicing a lot though.

It's been about another week. Definitely sitting at 1:06 on 5x5 now, with a lot of even faster averages. Gotta work on my consistency a little bit and I'll have that 1:05 in no time. My edges have gotten a lot cleaner, and I think my main weakness now is F2C. I'm going to work on planning more and trying to be more fluid during that step.

Haven't done as much 4x4 as I would've liked since last week, but I've still practiced a fair bit and I'm probably averaging 31-32 right now. However when I'm in the zone I can pump out 30 averages, so I'll probably get a low/sub 31 ao100 in the next week or so. Just working on making less mistakes and reminding myself to lookahead during 3-2-3.

My 3x3 global is at 7.1 - 7.2 rn, which is okay, but I know I can average sub 7 if I don't make that many mistakes. I seem to average 6.8 sometimes, but once I get a few bad solves, it gets into my head and I get a 7.4 ao25. Going to try to work on pushing through bad solves mentally, and I'm optimistic that it'll go well.

 

[gsingh]

Hopefully 1:02.

Generated By csTimer on 2025-07-28 (solving from 2025-07-28 18:33:49 to 2025-07-28 18:40:29)
avg of 5: 1:01.57

Time List:
1. (1:06.94) Uw' F B' Lw Fw' Dw2 U Bw2 Lw' Dw R' Dw2 Rw B' L2 Dw D R D Lw2 D F' Lw Bw' Fw Lw2 F Rw Bw2 L2 R' F' Bw2 Uw' Rw2 Uw' Fw2 U2 D2 F D Rw Dw Bw Dw' B F' Bw Fw2 Lw2 Bw2 F U Lw' Fw' Lw' Rw' F' R' Dw @2025-07-28 18:33:49
2. 1:05.39 Fw D' R Rw2 Uw2 L Uw2 F2 Lw U2 Fw R' Dw L' Uw' Bw' L' Dw2 Uw Lw D' Lw Dw2 Fw B' L2 Dw2 Rw2 L Uw Bw' L' Rw' Fw L Rw Uw Bw' F Uw L Dw2 Bw' D2 Lw' Uw B2 U2 Fw Rw2 D Dw' R B' R2 Fw Bw B2 R U @2025-07-28 18:35:37
3. 1:00.63 Lw' B' L2 B2 L2 Uw' B' U' Bw2 D' Uw' R' D Uw Bw2 Uw2 Rw2 F2 D2 U2 B' Bw2 Lw' R2 Uw' R2 D2 Uw Lw' Bw F' U Uw2 Rw' U2 Rw Bw Dw D' Rw' Uw R' Dw F B2 Fw2 Rw2 Fw' B' F2 D' Rw' D B' Bw' R2 Uw2 B2 Uw2 L2 @2025-07-28 18:37:14
4. (57.68) D' R Rw' D2 Bw F' L U D2 Uw' L' Dw' D Uw R2 U' B2 Rw2 R2 Bw' D Bw' Fw D' R2 Uw2 Fw L2 Rw Lw2 R D' Rw' Lw' F Dw2 B Lw2 Uw' R2 Uw2 D' U' R F' Dw' L B L Dw Uw2 Lw' U Dw' R Uw Lw2 Uw L R @2025-07-28 18:38:44
5. 58.70 Lw2 Uw2 B2 R2 Uw U' Lw2 R' U2 Dw2 L' R' Uw2 Bw2 R2 Bw2 Dw U2 B Rw2 F Lw' Dw2 Lw U' D' B' Lw D2 L' B' Lw' Rw Uw2 Rw B U Lw2 U B' R D' L' Dw Lw' Fw' Lw Bw2 L Lw Dw' U' B2 Dw2 Bw' Uw' Bw Fw D Dw @2025-07-28 18:40:29

Gotta work on my consistency a little bit and I'll have that 1:05 in no time.

 

[gsingh]

Generated By csTimer on 2025-07-30
single: 25.86

Time List:
1. 25.86 B2 R2 D2 L' B2 L U2 R D2 F2 L' F' L' U D2 L2 B2 R F2 R' Uw2 R' U' Rw2 D Fw2 D' Uw2 Fw2 U R L D Fw' U' L Uw2 B L Rw2 Uw Rw2 Fw' L2 Rw D @2025-07-29 10:54:25

OLL parity bruh

 

[gsingh]

3x3:
Sub 7 ao200
Sub 6.5 Official Average (Comp on August 2nd)

Generated By csTimer on 2025-08-01
avg of 200: 6.99

Time List:
7.60, 6.94, 6.63, 8.34, 7.17, 6.49, (10.60), 7.33, (8.92), 7.21, 7.63, 7.13, 7.69, 6.71, 7.57, 6.20, 6.60, 6.35, (8.93), 6.04, 6.85, 6.72, 6.40, 6.61, 7.54, (9.52), 5.96, 7.35, 7.61, (8.92), 7.48, 6.10, 7.67, (5.38), 7.03, 7.16, 7.24, 7.63, 6.86, 7.27, 6.33, 8.15, 6.88, 7.10, 6.67, (5.32), 8.59, 5.96, 6.72, 7.59, 7.81, 6.45, 7.42, 6.65, 6.60, 7.54, 6.22, 6.50, 6.36, 6.56, 5.95, 6.95, 7.53, 5.82, 8.33, 5.96, 7.02, 7.47, 6.82, 8.31, 5.84, 7.71, 7.28, 7.34, 5.63, 7.24, 7.60, (5.40), 7.39, (9.24), 6.93, 7.44, 6.67, 7.28, 5.79, 6.27, 6.19, 8.04, 6.20, 6.78, 6.53, 6.93, 7.52, 8.62, 7.10, 7.12, 7.13, 7.41, 5.80, 7.76, 8.44, 7.21, 7.95, 6.39, 7.08, 8.68, 6.43, 7.34, (5.09), 7.20, (4.95), 7.20, 8.87, (9.17), 6.22, 8.19, 6.36, 6.57, 6.60, 6.25, 7.26, 6.60, (9.05), 5.94, 6.67, (9.36), (5.25), 7.25, 8.42, 7.74, 7.21, 7.57, 6.42, 6.82, (5.21), 7.18, 6.19, 7.26, 6.51, 5.93, 6.55, (5.29), 5.67, (5.31), 6.54, 6.90, 7.53, (10.30), 7.24, 6.75, 8.43, 8.23, 6.04, 7.87, 6.39, 6.91, 6.69, 6.51, 6.21, 7.42, 7.02, 6.27, 8.52, 8.75, 6.80, 7.04, 7.57, 6.83, 6.42, 7.96, 7.45, 5.76, 6.31, 7.43, 7.68, 7.77, 7.23, 6.62, 5.96, 6.49, 6.58, (4.91), 6.45, 5.93, 6.89, 6.46, 6.72, 6.87, 6.54, 6.98, 7.23, 7.00, 6.59, 7.44, 6.13, 6.84, 5.62, 7.44, 6.81, 7.09
Some really stupid stretches of consistency here lmao, but feels great to finally get it. Was solving really well today, and I got my session best (post worlds) ao5 (5.64), ao12 (6.21), ao25 (6.67), ao50 (6.81), ao100 (6.92), and ao200 (6.99).
Comp tommorow!

 

[gsingh]

Nice performance yesterday, 7.25 mo3r, which is great (and close to my global). Mid first round with a counting 8.55, but I was able to get a nice 7.03 average in round 2 (PR3 at the time), which was cool. I thought it was sub 7 at first, but 7.03 is still decent. Def could've been better because of the counting 7.92, but I'm probably just coping.
Started off finals with a 15, and I thought "there's no way I can handle my nerves now with this pressure". But ig my nerve control came through, and I got a 6 and two 7's on solves 2-4. The last solve was probably the most nervous I had felt in a while, with the pressure of potentially winning/having a 15. I managed to clutch out with a 6.08 though (10+ TPS I think), giving me a 6.97 PR3 average and the win!

I also got 2x2 PR average (I don't own usable 2x2, had to borrow one). The 5x5 average was not great, but it's still PR ig, and I'll have more chances to beat it soon. Also happy to get another sub 1 single. Great comp!

 

[gsingh]

July Goals:

3x3:
Sub 7 ao200
Sub 6.5 Official Average (Comp on August 2nd)

4x4:
Sub 30 ao100

5x5:
1:00 - 1:05 Global
Sub 1:05 Official Average (Comp on August 2nd)

3x3:
Got the sub 7 ao200 which was nice. Unfortunately did not get the sub 6.5 official average, but that was probably too much to expect considering I only had three rounds, and I definitely do not global close to 6.5.

4x4:
Did not get this (didn't even come close, my best ao100 was like 31). Lesson learned about setting over optimistic goals

5x5:
I did bring my global down to what I wanted to. Unfortunately, I only had one round of 5x5, and I ended up messing up a little bit to get a 1:07 average. Pretty disappointing, but it's alright. My next rounds won't be until October, hopefully I get a much better average there (sub 1 at least).

August Goals:

3x3:
Sub 7 ao1k
More low/sub 7 averages in comp, maybe PR

4x4:
Sub 30 ao100 (for real this time)

5x5:
1:01 - 1:02 global

I only have one comp left this month (two rounds, weekday comp). Not expecting much, I'll be happy with two decent averages.

 

[Caleb Valenzuela]

3x3:
Got the sub 7 ao200 which was nice. Unfortunately did not get the sub 6.5 official average, but that was probably too much to expect considering I only had three rounds, and I definitely do not global close to 6.5.

4x4:
Did not get this (didn't even come close, my best ao100 was like 31). Lesson learned about setting over optimistic goals

5x5:
I did bring my global down to what I wanted to. Unfortunately, I only had one round of 5x5, and I ended up messing up a little bit to get a 1:07 average. Pretty disappointing, but it's alright. My next rounds won't be until October, hopefully I get a much better average there (sub 1 at least).

August Goals:

3x3:
Sub 7 ao1k
More low/sub 7 averages in comp, maybe PR

4x4:
Sub 30 ao100 (for real this time)

5x5:
1:01 - 1:02 global

I only have one comp left this month (two rounds, weekday comp). Not expecting much, I'll be happy with two decent averages.

yeah don’t expect much it will give you great results (don’ expect though

 

[gsingh]

Peak consistency
Happy to be getting more regular sub 7 averages now though. My rolling mo3r from round 1 of this comp and finals/r2 of my last comp is 6.99, which is good. Imo scrambles in finals here were pretty bad, and it was at like 9 PM so I was pretty tired. I also had some ZB recog mistakes (I'm so washed at U ZBLL) and a plus 2 lol. I don't care too much though, mostly just happy about the 6.98 average in round 1.

 

[gsingh]

I'm almost sub 7 on 3x3 now

Ok idk wtf I was on when I said this I was definitely not even close back then (maybe 7.7 global lmao). I think I just had a decent mid 7 session so I managed to convince myself that I was faster than I actually was lmao. Also I think I used to delete all my solves over 9 so .

anyway I started practicing less (still practicing though) when school started, but I've been cubing quite a bit for the last week or so now that I'm more used to my schedule. I don't really do any 5x5 anymore since I don't have enough time to manage three events, but I'm doing a lot of 3x3 (hopefully sub 6.5 official average soon). I did some 4x4 when school first started, but since then I've mostly just been prioritizing 3x3. This week though, I've really figured out how to manage my time better, and I'm practicing both events quite a bit now, which is good. I have a bunch of comps coming, up, hopefully I'll get some good results. My first one with 4x4 is on the 28th of this month, and I want to consistently average 28 by then.

 

[gsingh]

Generated By csTimer on 2025-09-12
avg of 500: 6.99

 

[gsingh]

I sprained my ankle while playing soccer the day before this so it was 50/50 whether I would go to this comp or not, but yeah I ended up going. I got there late though (start of lunch) because I was taking the SAT that morning. The organizers let me compete at lunch though.
anyway my cube was feeling bad and I got 0 warmup, so my round 1 average was pretty bad. I lubed it before round two though, and I got a very solid 7.16 average (PR6). The first solve was nice, 5.58 PR single with 2.4 F2L. Unfortunately I messed up the OLL, but if I had gotten either an OLL or PLL skip it could've been a a mid-high 3 or at least a low 4, hopefully I'll get a good single soon.
The scrambles in finals were pretty bad, and I started off with a 7.62 +2 which I really did not want to count. Still got a nice 7.16 average with the poor scrambles though, and I think the 5.96 is my TPS PR (I think it's well over 10)
Overall happy with the 7.1 averages on poor scramble sets, shows that I'm definitely performing at a much higher level now. Next comp is this Friday.