How to be sub 20

[Renslay]

Rather seems to be an amplitude to me, an average is the sum of your solves divided by the amount of solves.

Sorry, it was a typo. I meant 25-30 sec.

 

[GLgamer10]

I average around 30 to 35 with fridrich. I have been trying to slow down with my F2L because I know that is my weak point. My cross isn't much better. Together they add up to an average of 22 sec to solve cross and F2L. My LL depends on if I have and easy OLL case, meaning I don't have to get the cross. I know full PLL and know 12 OLL case out of the 57. I watched BadMephisto's tutorial on the advance cross and it isn't sticking. It takes me about 6-7 seconds to solve the cross when it should be taking 3-4 seconds. I guess I just need to practice just cross for awhile, but I thought it would come with practice. I could use some tips. I wish I could post a video to show you guys, but I cant :-/.

 

[aboeglin]

I average around 30 to 35 with fridrich. I have been trying to slow down with my F2L because I know that is my weak point. My cross isn't much better. Together they add up to an average of 22 sec to solve cross and F2L. My LL depends on if I have and easy OLL case, meaning I don't have to get the cross. I know full PLL and know 12 OLL case out of the 57. I watched BadMephisto's tutorial on the advance cross and it isn't sticking. It takes me about 6-7 seconds to solve the cross when it should be taking 3-4 seconds. I guess I just need to practice just cross for awhile, but I thought it would come with practice. I could use some tips. I wish I could post a video to show you guys, but I cant :-/.

I'm pretty much in your case except my cross is alright for my speed. My real bottleneck is my F2L pair solving. For the cross I've always taken as long as I needed to plan the whole cross, still, I need to look at my cross pieces but I know already how they'll move. Try to place your cross pieces on the same face as other cross pieces as much as possible when you see it'll orient them correctly. Like doing U or D moves for instance before doing any R F L B moves, but still it depends on the case. Also, the best trick I got from badmephisto's video was R'uR'u', I let you do it to see what it does on a solved cube. It's 4 moves to orient one edge, but if you're in this situation u'll need the 4 moves anyway, and these are really fast to perform, so sometimes I know my last edge piece will end up in it's correct spot, but with the wrong orientation, so I sometimes finish my cross with this trigger.

About my F2L I don't really seem to get it much better lately. About a good week ago I realized I was doing a whole lot of cube rotations during pair solving. So I decided to rethink totally my way of doing it. Was really bad for a while, my times jumped back up to 40, but I learned new triggers ( sledgehammer especially ). I then started to do my solves without rotation at all, which helped somehow for look ahead. And now I'm at the step where I practice single F2L cases. I'm just finally getting the case 38 ( from the wiki ) in my muscle memory ( back slots aren't sure moves yet ). So I take a case, set it up, try to find an optimal solution, which is to me, one where I don't need to rotate, which is easy to perform, and somehow makes sense ( I'll probably get into the D, r, l and co shortcuts later on ). And then I repeat the case over and over like I would practice an alg, and I do this for the 4 slots. Then I treat the mirrored case, which usually requires a sledgehammer trigger at some point or a cube rotation if it makes sense. The hard thing I try to figure out now is when is it better to actually rotate, or when is it better to orient the edge. Sometimes rotations are so much faster. But if I need to take an edge out of a slot, and I know doing it with R, U, L moves will make it a bad edge, I just use the sledgehammer to get it out so I'm sure I can then solve it without rotation with R, U, L. I guess the next step now is to go on working on single cases, doing lots of slow solves to try to use the algs I work out on single cases as much as possible in my speed solves, and try to work on look ahead as much as possible. But look ahead means you can solve the pairs in any slots without looking, which I'm not able to do yet as I've been through a lot of changes lately. So for now I try at least to spot one piece for the next pair while inserting. But I'm sure I still loose 3-4sec of pausing while doing my F2L, worst case being after my cross usually. I try to work on following a corner piece and plan it when I plan my cross but I mostly fail.

 

[carbon131]

my tip is learn full oll and pll but learn full pll first and learn full fridrich for f2l use turbo tracking and then use a metronome and go to speed that is comfortable for you for beginners start at 60 bpm and do it without pausing then move it up by 10 each time you feel comfortable. then learn diferent ways to do the f2l then practice till you reach sub 20



sorry if its not the best

 

[GLgamer10]

I'm pretty much in your case except my cross is alright for my speed. My real bottleneck is my F2L pair solving. For the cross I've always taken as long as I needed to plan the whole cross, still, I need to look at my cross pieces but I know already how they'll move. Try to place your cross pieces on the same face as other cross pieces as much as possible when you see it'll orient them correctly. Like doing U or D moves for instance before doing any R F L B moves, but still it depends on the case. Also, the best trick I got from badmephisto's video was R'uR'u', I let you do it to see what it does on a solved cube. It's 4 moves to orient one edge, but if you're in this situation u'll need the 4 moves anyway, and these are really fast to perform, so sometimes I know my last edge piece will end up in it's correct spot, but with the wrong orientation, so I sometimes finish my cross with this trigger.

About my F2L I don't really seem to get it much better lately. About a good week ago I realized I was doing a whole lot of cube rotations during pair solving. So I decided to rethink totally my way of doing it. Was really bad for a while, my times jumped back up to 40, but I learned new triggers ( sledgehammer especially ). I then started to do my solves without rotation at all, which helped somehow for look ahead. And now I'm at the step where I practice single F2L cases. I'm just finally getting the case 38 ( from the wiki ) in my muscle memory ( back slots aren't sure moves yet ). So I take a case, set it up, try to find an optimal solution, which is to me, one where I don't need to rotate, which is easy to perform, and somehow makes sense ( I'll probably get into the D, r, l and co shortcuts later on ). And then I repeat the case over and over like I would practice an alg, and I do this for the 4 slots. Then I treat the mirrored case, which usually requires a sledgehammer trigger at some point or a cube rotation if it makes sense. The hard thing I try to figure out now is when is it better to actually rotate, or when is it better to orient the edge. Sometimes rotations are so much faster. But if I need to take an edge out of a slot, and I know doing it with R, U, L moves will make it a bad edge, I just use the sledgehammer to get it out so I'm sure I can then solve it without rotation with R, U, L. I guess the next step now is to go on working on single cases, doing lots of slow solves to try to use the algs I work out on single cases as much as possible in my speed solves, and try to work on look ahead as much as possible. But look ahead means you can solve the pairs in any slots without looking, which I'm not able to do yet as I've been through a lot of changes lately. So for now I try at least to spot one piece for the next pair while inserting. But I'm sure I still loose 3-4sec of pausing while doing my F2L, worst case being after my cross usually. I try to work on following a corner piece and plan it when I plan my cross but I mostly fail.

I can't solve the cross without looking what so ever. Then I have a huge pause on trying to find my first which just ends up killing my times. As for the R' u R' u' trick, I do it as u R u' R. The one you have is much easier to finger trick and I will start using that. As for doing F2L without looking, I can do most cases, but they really aren't move affective. I'm not really sure where I can find F2L cases with which I can practice them at. I basically do all intuitive F2L. I did an average of 5 just now and counted my rotations and I averaged just under 3 rotations per solve just during F2L. I use the sledgehammer when I can and for the back slots I use rotationless insertion if I think it's faster than a cube rotation. For example r' U' R U M'. I just noticed that when I do my PLL that I align to where it needs to go, then I cube rotate so I have it facing me at the correct angle and then I execute it. I never really seem to solve it at a different position, execute, then AUF. I think that could be slowing me down as well.

 

[aboeglin]

I can't solve the cross without looking what so ever. Then I have a huge pause on trying to find my first which just ends up killing my times. As for the R' u R' u' trick, I do it as u R u' R. The one you have is much easier to finger trick and I will start using that. As for doing F2L without looking, I can do most cases, but they really aren't move affective. I'm not really sure where I can find F2L cases with which I can practice them at. I basically do all intuitive F2L. I did an average of 5 just now and counted my rotations and I averaged just under 3 rotations per solve just during F2L. I use the sledgehammer when I can and for the back slots I use rotationless insertion if I think it's faster than a cube rotation. For example r' U' R U M'. I just noticed that when I do my PLL that I align to where it needs to go, then I cube rotate so I have it facing me at the correct angle and then I execute it. I never really seem to solve it at a different position, execute, then AUF. I think that could be slowing me down as well.

Definitely for PLL, except it's a y or y' I always AUF instead, but I used to rotate, y2 would definitely be a killer. I also do it intuitive, and come with my own algs for F2L. But I just take a case and work it out on its own. Trying to find the way of solving it that works the best for me. But I also go on the wiki or here : http://www.opticubes.com/cubing/f2l/ to see if there are algs that might suit me better. But most of the time I come with one that is on a list somewhere.

 

[GLgamer10]

Definitely for PLL, except it's a y or y' I always AUF instead, but I used to rotate, y2 would definitely be a killer. I also do it intuitive, and come with my own algs for F2L. But I just take a case and work it out on its own. Trying to find the way of solving it that works the best for me. But I also go on the wiki or here : http://www.opticubes.com/cubing/f2l/ to see if there are algs that might suit me better. But most of the time I come with one that is on a list somewhere.

That website is perfect! Thank you so much for that. I hope you get your times down and thanks for the great tips. I really have been in a rut for a while with my times.

 

[aboeglin]

I hope I could help a little, but I'm no better than you, I just think I figured a few things out lately and I have a little idea on how I'll practice for the coming weeks. I wish you to get your times down too !

 

[Ultimate Cuber]

Go a little slower and practice looking ahead. Do that for a few days and then go back to regular speed. You should have a much better look ahead by then. I did this and after about a week I went from sub 25 to sub 20.

 

[SarahG]

Ok so I'm a little slower than you but I am speeding up after a bit of a plateau. So first I made the decision to practice smarter. I thought my F2l was petty bad too and decided that's what I would work on. So I looked at everyone's advise, you know, slow down, look ahead, think more. Great. So I know what to do . And have no idea how to do it.
So these were my ideas.
Task; slow down. Problem; I'm so busy trying to force myself to slow down after always trying to "race" (quite often with other people) that it becomes all I can think about! There goes the solve. Solution ; 3x3x3 stage on big cubes (I use 5x5x5) I simply cannot turn as fast.
Task; look ahead. Problem : just..... What? To where ? I'm kinda bust enough as it is! Solution ; see slow down. Again big cube is excellent. Much more for me to see quite simply and I think something about the big centres kinda separating everything out helps too. And because it takes me longer to insert an F2L I have plenty of space to look ahead.
Task; think more. Problem; I actually find this counterproductive . The harder I try to think the more I think about thinking about it and urgh! Brain fog. Solution; I explore more. I physically try seemly stupid moves and combinations of moves to see what happens, what I like and what I can store for use later. Also doing untimed solves with little goals like not using regular patterns for execution that I would normally use and finding something different or inefficient or out right wierd just to get a different view or understanding or a particular move set.
Anyway I hope my odd musings are remotely helpful.

 

[BossiniCuber]

I have been stuck in the 22-23 avg stage for almost 6 months.Now i am getting sub 20 solves but not avg.i think the problem is in F2L as i take almost 15 secs for it.How do i increase my speed?

Ok, I was at your stage for about 5 weeks, I suggest you watch cyoubyx's tutorial for look ahead ._. Or, just learn f2l algorithms, right now I my avg is 20 secs

 

[UB]

Hello, I do the cross in about 5 -7 sec and do F2L in 15 - 20 sec. How can I improve on these two?

 

[GLgamer10]

Hello, I do the cross in about 5 -7 sec and do F2L in 15 - 20 sec. How can I improve on these two?

Do you have a pause between your transition from you cross into your first F2L pair? Practice look ahead a lot. You can do this multiple ways by doing slow solves, a metronome can work out, for the F2L cases that you are unsure about maybe do algorithmic F2L for that case. For cross I would recommend BadMephisto's advanced cross tutorial. He talks about how the cross can always be done in less than 9 moves, a flipping edge trick for the bad edge cases, and some other stuff. I can't really give you a lot about how to improve because I'm right there with you. I just more focusing on F2L stage at the moment. Hope this helped a little.

 

[carbon131]

About 4 weeks ago I wa at 40 secs now im around 22 or 20 I do about 10 solves a day. Also watch cyoubx look ahead vid helped a lot!!!

 

[UB]

About 4 weeks ago I wa at 40 secs now im around 22 or 20 I do about 10 solves a day. Also watch cyoubx look ahead vid helped a lot!!!

Do you have a pause between your transition from you cross into your first F2L pair? Practice look ahead a lot. You can do this multiple ways by doing slow solves, a metronome can work out, for the F2L cases that you are unsure about maybe do algorithmic F2L for that case. For cross I would recommend BadMephisto's advanced cross tutorial. He talks about how the cross can always be done in less than 9 moves, a flipping edge trick for the bad edge cases, and some other stuff. I can't really give you a lot about how to improve because I'm right there with you. I just more focusing on F2L stage at the moment. Hope this helped a little.

Thank You Guys. I think I will do a little better now and yeah I dont look ahead and my cross to f2l transition is crappy so now I have to focus on that

 

[RubiksJake12]

Thank You Guys. I think I will do a little better now and yeah I dont look ahead and my cross to f2l transition is crappy so now I have to focus on that

I had the same problem. Improving my cross time (even though I only went from 5 to like 2-3 seconds, lowered my average from about 22 seconds to 20 or sometimes sub 20.

The way I improved was literally just solved the cross over and over. I would solve it, scramble, and repeat 100+ times. I would force myself to do it with my eyes closed too once I had recognized each edge and where it needed to go. Doing it with you eyes closed will help your improve your transition from Cross to F2L because if you don't have to look at the pieces while you're solving the cross, then you can spend that time to look at the F2L pairs and where they will be when the cross is finished.

 

[UB]

I am practising it doing blind but dont get it in the end... Maybe some more practice..

 

[carbon131]

how many solve do you do a day for me i practace in the week.eg. on my school bus public transit on the train so i have it every where even when im on the cpu even now! pn the weekends is when i time myself to see if my practacing payed off and its th samy every week u should try it. hope i helped.

 

[Arti]

how many solve do you do a day for me i practace in the week.eg. on my school bus public transit on the train so i have it every where even when im on the cpu even now! pn the weekends is when i time myself to see if my practacing payed off and its th samy every week u should try it. hope i helped.

Obsession is a good way to get better! Cube EVERYWHERE!

 

[CriticalCubing]

While practicing, go slow trying to look ahead. Speed comes naturally and like Arti said "Obsession is good" but till some extent. Dont hamper your studies like I did and it is a very good thing that you are timing after a week, that way you will know how much you improved Practice HARD! Go PRO! or rather GO SUB 10

how many solve do you do a day for me i practace in the week.eg. on my school bus public transit on the train so i have it every where even when im on the cpu even now! pn the weekends is when i time myself to see if my practacing payed off and its th samy every week u should try it. hope i helped.