How can I practise the 7x7x7 without completely solving it?

[Muesli]

I suck at the 7x7x7.

I average around 15 minutes with it, hence I was wondering if there was a good way of practising without having to set out 20 minutes for every solve.

The main reason is that I don't have the time, and the second is that I honestly cannot be bothered to sit there for 20 minutes and concentrate on one thing.

 

[Edward]

Maybe have a session where you solve centers, scramble, solve centers, scramble. do that for all sterps of the cube.

 

[(X)]

Do 5x5

 

[Muesli]

Do 5x5

I don't have a 5x5x5

 

[pjk]

I suck at the 7x7x7.

I average around 15 minutes with it, hence I was wondering if there was a good way of practising without having to set out 20 minutes for every solve.

The main reason is that I don't have the time, and the second is that I honestly cannot be bothered to sit there for 20 minutes and concentrate on one thing.

That means you aren't interested in it, isn't it? Do it because you like to, not because it is "cool" or makes you look better.

You could just solve centers and then scramble and do it again. Or practice one center, and scramble it and try again.

 

[luke1984]

Do 5x5

I don't have a 5x5x5

Sell Rubik's 360, buy 5x5x5.

 

[LNZ]

Do a 7x7 solve in stages with a time gap between stages.

My PB for the 7x7 is 28:30 with an average of 37:00. So I do most 7x7 fun solving in stages with a gap in between stages.

 

[Muesli]

I suck at the 7x7x7.

I average around 15 minutes with it, hence I was wondering if there was a good way of practising without having to set out 20 minutes for every solve.

The main reason is that I don't have the time, and the second is that I honestly cannot be bothered to sit there for 20 minutes and concentrate on one thing.

That means you aren't interested in it, isn't it? Do it because you like to, not because it is "cool" or makes you look better.

You could just solve centers and then scramble and do it again. Or practice one center, and scramble it and try again.

It's not that I'm not interested. It's the fact that staring at a cube for 20 minutes completely puts me out for the rest of the evening. It throws off any other averages by about 10%. Also, if I was quicker I might do it more, therefore enjoying it more.

Do 5x5

I don't have a 5x5x5

Sell Rubik's 360, buy 5x5x5.

NEVAR!

 

[Omniscient]

I avg with 7x7x7 8 min. and I have it 2 months mebe 5 solves per day.
I make 1X5 roves for the centers and for the edges try slowing down and optimizing moves, all insertions can be 3 or 4 moves!

 

[cmhardw]

Do 5x5

I don't have a 5x5x5

Yes you do. You have a 7x7x7, therefore you have a 5x5x5.

Chris

 

[Muesli]

Do 5x5

I don't have a 5x5x5

Yes you do. You have a 7x7x7, therefore you have a 5x5x5.

Chris

Yeah, but not really. It's not the same.

 

[Mike Hughey]

Do 5x5

I don't have a 5x5x5

Yes you do. You have a 7x7x7, therefore you have a 5x5x5.

Chris

Yeah, but not really. It's not the same.

It's not the same, but you asked about how to practice, and it is good practice.

I remember Jon Choi (back when he was so awesome at 5x5x5 - remember when he and Dan were about the same speed?) said he practiced 3x3x3 solves all the time on his 5x5x5. I'm guessing you could get a lot of useful practice out of doing 5x5x5 solves on your 7x7x7.

 

[rjohnson_8ball]

My 7x7 solves are as slow as yours and I also find 20 minutes is a long stretch of time to concentrate. My favorite big cubes are Vcube 5, because they have most of the issues of 7x7 but are quicker to solve. I can also turn them quicker without worrying about possible pops. The edge solving is somewhat similar. To improve center solving, you might still need to use the 7x7 because 5x5 is relatively easy.

 

[James Ludlow]

It's not that I'm not interested. It's the fact that staring at a cube for 20 minutes completely puts me out for the rest of the evening. It throws off any other averages by about 10%. Also, if I was quicker I might do it more, therefore enjoying it more.

If it throws you out, just do a solve at the end of your session.

I've had my V7 for nearly a year, and only in the last couple of months gone sub10. I used to find it a bit of an epic, but with time, and patience, your time WILL drop, even with just a few solves a week. I actually really enjoy the big cubes now, they are long enough to be able to scramble/solve/scramble/solve in rapid succesion (I don't like scrambling - hence I'm constantly trying to coerce the girlfriend into doing it for me), but not to long to lose concentration

 

[qqwref]

I don't think it's really useful to do a ton of 7x7 practice at this stage. You'd be much better off practicing 5x5 (buy one, or use the outer two layers of your 7x7, or (gasp!) use a computer cube to practice with) because the skills you get from being good at 5x5 (mainly fast recognition of centers and edges) will transfer over. If you can get down under 2:30 or so for 5x5, then assuming your 7x7 isn't terrible I don't think you'll find it all that hard to break the 10 minute barrier with a little extra practice on it.

 

[JLarsen]

Either solve 5x5, or how about this; only solve half the cube at a time. Solve up to centers, and then take a break. Come back to it and finish it of when you feel like it. Also, how many solves have you done? It took me around 50 to get my times below 10 minutes (with a 2 min 5x5 average), so if you're not willing to solve the whole thing, chances are 7x7 isn't for you.

 

[KwS Pall]

Actually I did sub 9 on 7x7 be4 I have broken sub 3 minutes on 5x5. Lube your cube, practice outers.

 

[Muesli]

It's not that I can't solve it, it's that I don't want to have to power through every solve for 16 minutes just to practise. It seems a bit of a drag having to go through the entire sequence.

 

[JLarsen]

It's not that I can't solve it, it's that I don't want to have to power through every solve for 16 minutes just to practise. It seems a bit of a drag having to go through the entire sequence.

7x7 is a bit of a drag. Either you like it, and have the focus for it, or you don't, and you curl up in the corner of the room staring at it.

 

[V-te]

Do 6x6! when you get good at that, the skills transfer over.

From practice, my 6x6 times went from 15 mins--->9 mins

and without practicing 7x7, my times went from 30 mins---> 19 mins.

So that was a big improvement.