Memorization techniques

Failure

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Oct 22, 2007
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I've been using petrus for a long time now, but recently I've learned that you will hit a "wall" and can't get any faster. Now I feel bad since it seems as though as I used that time for nothing.

So now I'm going to switch to Fridrich, but according to her website you have to memorize a minimum of 53 algorithms. :eek:

Is there some trick you use to memorize all this madness, or is it just going down the list one by one?
 
10 OLL
21 PLL
3 F2L (intuitive)

Am I missing any?

PLLs can be learned with just executing algorithms repeatedly, the main OLLs same thing, F2L just needs a lot of practice.
 
There are a few good speedcubers who are very fast at Petrus. If you are persistent you will not hit a wall. Johannes is very very fast with Petrus.
Allthough it can't hurt to learn the PLL's and OLL to complement your Petrus either.
 
F2L is mainly intuitive, i found that by just looking at various alg's for different F2L cases that it just became quite intuitive.

I just finished learning PLL as well so id say its not so much memorization but more muscle memory. I would learn 1 or 2 similar cases and do them over and over, sometimes when i would get them confused id come up with something to help me remember which alg.

Dont try to rememebr the notation but rather try to remember it with your hands and eyes...

I only know 30 alg's, 21 pll's, 7 OLL's (+2 to orient edges)
 
recently I've learned that you will hit a "wall" and can't get any faster.
I've heard that way too many times. Blaming the method is ridiculous. How many moves do you use for each step? How fast are you? How long have you been cubing?

Now I feel bad since it seems as though as I used that time for nothing.
So you don't actually enjoy cubing at all? You just want to get fast (to impress people?)? In that case Fridrich might indeed be a good choice for you.
 
Don't worry at all because I was in the same shoes as you. I started speedcubing using the Petrus method with PLL (meaning layer by layer -> Petrus upgrade) because my friend said solving a 2x2 block and expanding out would be faster then LBL. I then hit an invisible barrier which was around 35s on average.

Switching to Fridrich F2L was hard as my timings shot back up to almost 50s on average which was quite demoralising. However, I just continued practicing my Fridrich F2L until it got faster than my Petrus one. All I can say is, to me, Fridrich F2L has more potential than Petrus F2L because of the ease by which finger tricks can be applied. As of now, I'm currently doing a Fridrich F2L + 3LLL. I plan to upgrade to 2LLL (which involves the memorisation of 53 OLLs) once I get reasonably fast averages.
 
What is this about Petrus not using finger tricks?

[sarcasm]Anyway it is true, and Petrus user cannot get past 35s. The actual method does not allow solves faster than 35s.[/sarcasm]
 
What is this about Petrus not using finger tricks?
Good question. Petrus is full of finger tricks.

Step 1: Similar to cross: you shouldn't go too fast (but it's possible if you want to).
Step 2: {U,F,R}
Step 3: Just a combination of triggers (R U R', R' F' R, L' U2 L, etc.).
Step 4: {U,R}
LL: Easier than in Fridrich.
 
I've heard that way too many times. Blaming the method is ridiculous. How many moves do you use for each step? How fast are you? How long have you been cubing?

I'm not blaming the method. I did a quick search in the forum using the word petrus, and according to other users they hit a wall at a certain point. Like around 35 seconds. I use about 90 moves for the entire process and my best was 45 seconds. It took me 4 months. I'm not good, but what can I say?

I'm just switching to Fridrich because from what I've read on the forum, it has received much praise.

So you don't actually enjoy cubing at all? You just want to get fast (to impress people?)? In that case Fridrich might indeed be a good choice for you.

I do enjoy cubing. I do want to get faster also.
 
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F2L is mainly intuitive, i found that by just looking at various alg's for different F2L cases that it just became quite intuitive.

I just finished learning PLL as well so id say its not so much memorization but more muscle memory. I would learn 1 or 2 similar cases and do them over and over, sometimes when i would get them confused id come up with something to help me remember which alg.

Dont try to rememebr the notation but rather try to remember it with your hands and eyes...

I only know 30 alg's, 21 pll's, 7 OLL's (+2 to orient edges)
__________________
3x3x3 Single Solve: 20.64 (Non-Lucky)
3x3x3 Ave (10/12): 28.80
2x2x2 Single Solve: 8.70

4x4x4 Single Solve: 4:35.52
Todd, I am trying to do the same thing as you, learn the 21 PLLs, Learn the 9 OLLs(including the edges) and do the F2L intuitive, I am going to try and do that until I get 25ish averages.
Then, I will learn all the F2L algs, then the OLLs..
 
The first thing you should do is adjust your nickname, from failure to.. something more positive. Why would you call yourself that?

I just want to create the irony that when you see the word failure you think of success... One day... When I become faster at cubing.

----

Well, I read around, and I think my plan will just be to do the Petrus F2L and do the rest with Fridrich. It'll probably reduce some algorithms to be memorized.

Thanks for the help.
 
Stop thinking of it as 'memorizing'... It really isnt that hard to read an algorithm, do it a few times and then you should be able to do it.
 
Yeah, many have said that they "hit a wall" and "can't improve". But those are just excuses.

I use about 90 moves for the entire process
You have lots of room for improvement there, it's possible to average below 50 moves with Petrus.

Well, I read around, and I think my plan will just be to do the Petrus F2L and do the rest with Fridrich. It'll probably reduce some algorithms to be memorized.
Many Petrus cubers do LL that way, orient LL corners and then PLL. You only need 7 algs (instead of 57) for OLL because edges are already oriented.
 
Actually using of finger tricks in the Petrus method is not impossible though unfortunately that's the idea some have. However, I think it's more of the repetitiveness of Fridrich F2L that gives it its edge. It's human nature to excel more easily given a repetitive task, take for example, specialisation of manufacturing of products will increase comparative advantage which shows how repeating the same process always seem to yield more desirable results. Of course with practice, everything can be ironed out, but some not as easily as others.
 
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