F2l Pair Searching, Where do You Look first?

[jskyler91]

Hey guys, I am finding that I am extremely irregular when it comes to searching for f2l pairs. Sometimes I look in the u face first, other times the front right first and then left. Do any on you have an exact method for searching or do you just unfocus your eyes and find pieces. What I mean by this is do you guys actually think, look at u face first followed by front then back or do you just let the pairs jump out at you. I feel like I might have better success, especially when I look for the first f2l pair, if I had a method. Any recommendations?

BTW, my current breakdown is:
Cross 1-3 seconds
F2l- 6-14 seconds (very erratic)
Oll - 1-2.5 Seconds
Pll- 1-2.5

 

[Hazelnut]

I usually find my first pair when I'm doing cross. Then I search for the next pair WHILE trying to insert the first pair. This helps me not to pause during F2L

Also, I usually look at the UF edges and corners first. Then I do moves like U or U' to see if any other easy pair that can be inserted easily

 

[uberCuber]

I usually look for pairs on the 3x3x3 that I am currently solving. If I can't find any, then I proceed to look on other nearby cubes.

 

[RaresB]

I don't concentrate on a certain section, I just keep an overall view. And remember turning slow helps

 

[Selkie]

Indeed. Look ahead is directly proportional to a speed at which you can track.

If your solve style is high tps 'go, pause, go' then try a session of slow solves each day. However you track completely successfully in those slow solves is the same you do it at high tps.

There is a lot to be gained from a lot of untimed, unrushed, constructive solves.

 

[HelpCube]

in the sky.

srs, wherever the pair im working on isnt. so if the pair im working on is UF, ill probably look at UB while inserting UF. If not there I usually can use elimination to figure out which f2l slot(s) my pieces are in.

 

[jskyler91]

in the sky.

srs, wherever the pair im working on isnt. so if the pair im working on is UF, ill probably look at UB while inserting UF. If not there I usually can use elimination to figure out which f2l slot(s) my pieces are in.

Thanks, What do you do if you can't find a pair? I know this sound silly, but I will be searching while I put a piece in and i simply can't find them. Any tips?

 

[cyoubx]

Thanks, What do you do if you can't find a pair? I know this sound silly, but I will be searching while I put a piece in and i simply can't find them. Any tips?

1. Cube rotation or
2. Deduction. If none are in the F or U, you know they're in the back. Proceed with the current angle you have. If you're uncomfortable with pairing things from the B face, do a d2 or y2.

 

[SkaterFly]

Usually there's either a corner or an edge where my current pair is being inserted, so I just find the other piece and work with that. But if there's nothing immediately available, I look in this order: U layer, front slots, back slots. I try to avoid pairs where the corner and the edge are in 2 different slots

 

[jskyler91]

Usually there's either a corner or an edge where my current pair is being inserted, so I just find the other piece and work with that. But if there's nothing immediately available, I look in this order: U layer, front slots, back slots. I try to avoid pairs where the corner and the edge are in 2 different slots

Very helpful, thank you.

 

[Deleted member 12389]

If you can't find a pair while doing cross, do u/u'/u2 instead of a D/D'/D2 to align the cross so that the top layer is moved around so you can look for pairs.

Thank you. So simple and yet I have never tried this...:fp

 

[Forte]

I usually try to find the first one during inspection, and I usually look in the U layer for other pairs.

 

[DaKrazedKyubizt]

I'm trying out something with my F2L. You might wanna try it too.

Try planning out Cross + F2L 1 (or just an X-cross, same difference) during inspection. Practice this by doing it blindfolded, like you would practice doing the cross blindfolded. This is pretty difficult, so make sure you still have the scramble in front of you, in case you don't get it the first time.

After you can do that with some moderate consistency, try to do the same thing again, but end with the F2L pair in the BDL corner (and, of course, cross on bottom). That way, everything you need to find has easier access to the eyes. Then you could improve your times further by also practicing 3-gen RUF solves. Sometimes, restrict the solution of those RUF scrambles to R, U, and F moves to make you think a bit, and sometimes, just go wild and solve it however you want to in order better emulate a real scramble.

Honestly, I don't really know what to do. I'm just trying to be constructively creative. I've barely started doing this. X-cross blindfolded is really hard for me. I only succeed about.... 30-50% of the time. But I'm definitely getting better. And I think it's actually crossing over into my normal solving. I'm starting to see things I didn't see before.

 

[Andreaillest]

Usually after the cross, I go for the first corner I see and fin it's edge. I'm trying to get in the habit of looking for the entire pair during the cross or inspection instead of after it.

 

[chrissyD]

i find my first pair while solving the cross 10% of the time i wont be able to see anything because of a tricky cross and if that happens i find the first corner i see then find its edge this obviously takes longer

 

[Sa967St]

I always do a white cross and I don't bother with planning a pair unless the cross is only a few moves. Right after I do the cross I would see if there are any visible white corner stickers (usually UBR, ULB, FUR, URF, FLU, UFL) then look for its corresponding edge. I don't really look in specific slots first, I just go with whatever white corner I see first.

 

[cmhardw]

I generally try to always use corner bias when looking for pieces during F2L. If I spot an edge I will follow it, but I don't actively look for edges really.

 

[jskyler91]

I always do a white cross and I don't bother with planning a pair unless the cross is only a few moves. Right after I do the cross I would see if there are any visible white corner stickers (usually UBR, ULB, FUR, URF, FLU, UFL) then look for its corresponding edge. I don't really look in specific slots first, I just go with whatever white corner I see first.

THank you dude, may I ask what your times are? I just want to make sure that I am learning from those who are better than me and not picking up bad habits. I hope that doesn't come off as rude, it is just honest.

 

[Deleted member 12389]

THank you dude, may I ask what your times are?

Click on her "WCA profile" below her avatar...awesome times.

 

[Schmidt]

Sometimes I look in the u face first

If you did the cross on bottom, it should be there

When I can't find an edge for the corner I already found, it is usually right next to the corner, but flipped the other way.