Clock question

[Raffael]

I've experienced that I'm only fast if I stick to exactly the same solving order.
(the one Stefan explains on his site)
every time i could take advantage of an easy case/skip which would require to use diffferent order of wheels/pins i totally mess up.
Seems like the routine is too deep in my muscle memory, because even if i see exactly what i should do different, i'm not able to do it fast and correct.
even if i have skips on the corner clocks i'm not able to really skip but i have to push the pins in order to stay safe.

so here are my questions:
does any of the above sound familiar and what have you done to overcome this?
what do you do if the pins are in a bad starting position?
(e.g. i always start with the down-left pin/wheel, so starting position for pins dUdU is the worst case for me)

 

[Stefan]

Same for me, including pushing pins for nothing. Might be overcome with practicing exactly that, but I never tried.

Bad starting position: You can choose between the two sides without any problem, and choose between four orientations of the puzzle (for example rotate 90 degrees, solve the first side to "3 o'clock" (really 12 o'clock) and the back side to "9 o'clock" (really 12 o'clock)). This gives you eight possible ways to hold the clock, at least one of them is probably good for start pins or lucky start. I tried the four orientations thing but never bothered to really get used to it. If you do, try turning over the puzzle vertically instead of horizontally (x2 instead of y2), that might be faster. Needs a new pin route, though. On the plus side, you could do the second side first turn while still on the first side, that'd mean one less bottom wheel turn (cause it's done while it's still on top).

 

[andyt1992]

@Raffael - what are your clock times like?

 

[Pedro]

yeah, sounds familiar to me
sometimes I'm able to skip a pin, doing the corners, but usually I press them for nothing.

same for the lucky cases...I end up doing slower due to getting confused and stuff.

I never tried really hard to rotate the clock, like Stefan said, and start from a different wheel...maybe it's good, but I can see myself getting confused with having to point the clocks to a different hour (still 12, but not on top anymore)

 

[r_517]

Same problem i can sub 10 using what Stefan and u said, but instead sometimes when i meet with lucky cases i will be in a daze for a short while and that will turn out to be a mess.

Oliver said that he never used the left down wheel, so i think maybe he also solves his clock using the same order (just guessing though)

 

[Raffael]

thanks for your answers, guys.

@Raffael - what are your clock times like?

PB:single 8.5, avg5 9.97, avg12 10.18, avg100 10,76

..Bad starting position: You can choose between the two sides without any problem..,

I allready do this.

..and choose between four orientations of the puzzle..
..try turning over the puzzle vertically instead of horizontally..
(..you could do the second side first turn while still on the first side..)

I'm going to try this.
(i allready do the first turning of the second side while flipping the clock over with a y2.
e.g. set center clocks to 12 o'clock with right index finger then start to flip while doing the first turn of the second side with my right thumb.)

btw, as i read about the orientation thing, i think i remember seeing Dennis Strehlau do this.

i see myself getting confused with this, but maybe it's just a matter of practice. I'll let you know.

 

[Olivér Perge]

Oliver said that he never used the left down wheel, so i think maybe he also solves his clock using the same order (just guessing though)

I'm using the same order for edges, except lucky cases, and for corners I solve what I see first/whatever is the easiest (it means closest clock to the corner I'm doing).

 

[trying-to-speedcube...]

Just try to use the lucky cases. Even if you are slower with it at first, any well-thinking mind should be able to understand that using lucky cases, when mastered, can be faster. Also, because lucky cases occur a lot, it shouldn't be hard to practise on random scrambles.

As for me, I do have a standard order in which I solve the clocks. When I get a lucky case I simply try to orient the clock so I can still use that order, but skip 1 or more steps in that solution.

You can also choose your starting orientation for both sides. Instead of y2, you could also do x2, or flip over the DR-UB axis, et cetera.

Overall: use lucky cases as much as possible. Take advantage of anything you see might shorten your solution. It really helps in the end.

 

[Olivér Perge]

Just try to use the lucky cases. Even if you are slower with it at first, any well-thinking mind should be able to understand that using lucky cases, when mastered, can be faster. Also, because lucky cases occur a lot, it shouldn't be hard to practise on random scrambles.

As for me, I do have a standard order in which I solve the clocks. When I get a lucky case I simply try to orient the clock so I can still use that order, but skip 1 or more steps in that solution.

You can also choose your starting orientation for both sides. Instead of y2, you could also do x2, or flip over the DR-UB axis, et cetera.

Overall: use lucky cases as much as possible. Take advantage of anything you see might shorten your solution. It really helps in the end.

Basically this.

I thought it was very obvious for everyone... If you get used to it, you will use lucky cases with no problem. Why is it hard to believe? :S

 

[Raffael]

after experimenting a bit with adjusting the orientation / altering the solving order of the first side:

Clocks Solved: 60/60
Average: 11.66
Standard Deviation: 1.81
Best Time: 8.56 <-- very close to my PB
Worst Time: 21.52

including:
avg12: 10.46
and a new PB avg5: 9.83

Some new stuff seems to work out.
I'll see what happens if I try to solve corner clocks in a not so fixed order.

 

[trying-to-speedcube...]

Order of the corner clocks don't matter, really.

 

[Raffael]

small update:

-altering between starting with the U or L edge clock on the first side (depending on the pins) seems to work fine, I mostly try to start with the L one though as it's nicer to start with index finger on RU wheel instead of right hand thumb on LD wheel
- adjusting orientation on first side 90° ccw for a lucky start (e.g. U and L edge clocks match, start with RD --> UR wheel) works good
- altering solving order of second side or way of flipping the puzzle doesn't work out for me, except for the "lucky case" described above
- leaving out unnecessary pushing of pins on corner clocks works for the first two (DR & DL)

stay tuned...

 

[DavidWoner]

Basically what Oliver and Maarten said, but I always do y2 or w/e. I always have 12 on top. Just turn really really fast, and you need to trust your hands to do what they're supposed to without looking.