[Help Thread] F2L Discussion and Help

I just starting F2L and, of course, my times are drastically higher. I always pause and have to really examine the cube, which is a bit annoying because LBL is second nature and it feels as if I don't even have to think.

I'm also having trouble getting edge pieces to the top that aren't there already without messing any of the other slots up.


Practice tips and other input would be helpful & is greatly appreciated!!
 
Yes the transition is a bit painful, but this will obviously happen a lot during your progress. I'm myself currently in the process of improving my F2L algs and get more consistent at them, also working hard and weird cases. But at the beginning all you can do is play a lot with it. Really try everything, don't time yourself too much until you feel you're getting better at it. You'll find there are a lot of ways to insert or solve a pair.

One thing that I could get quick at the beginning because it made me crazy was the cases where you have a corner with white facing up on the U layer. For this, you want to bring the edge on the top layer if it's not there already, or detach it from the corner if you find an easy way ( but if it's attached there are easyer cases where you can actually flip the corner over the edge and place it opposite to have the RUR' case ). Then you place the edge so that the color on the side matches the face center's color. So if you have green/orange with green on the side, you put this edge on the green face. And then you can just do a R or L move to hide the edge ( so that the empty slot you use is the one you'll solve ), and you turn the U layer until you place the corner with white facing on the top, over your edge, which will form a pair. I always had the problem that the edge and the corner were inverted and the pair had incorrect orientation before. But if you get your edge's side matching the face center, you're sure you'll always have it correctly placed. Now I can do this one with empty slots when they are available, but at the beginning this case totally bugged me.

I'm not quite sure I've been clear enough, to setup the case on FR : ( R U R' U' ) R U' R'. So if you do these moves on a solved cube you should have the case I talked about. Corner with white on top is on BL, edge is on R face, with orange matching its center. Now you can just take the edge down using the empty slot that you'll solve, and bring the corner over it with the reversed moves : R U R', this should form you the pair, which you just need to place ( U ), and insert ( R U' R' ). And this works on every angle, left hand as well. It's just the principle of take the edge on the side to get the corner on top of it. After I got this I found cases with corner and white on top almost the easiest ones for a while, because I was quick at figuring it out.

Best tip I think of right now, but keep practicing, do slow solves to start from, if you're LL is good enough focus really on F2L for a week and you should be back to where you were with LBL or faster. Once you get the processes it's only about optimizing them and executing faster until you get sub30.
 
Need help. I am a beginner.

Hello speedcubers and other cubers too. I have lately learnt to solve the cube using the beginner's method and my best is 44.53 while i average at around 53-55. I recentely learnt intuitive f2l and i struggle to find the pairs which brings down my average to around 1:00-1:15mins. Please give me some ideas on how to get sub 40 averages in like 3 weeks because i have a competition coming up.
P.S I do not solve the cross using the advanced method. I take about 5-6secs for the cross.

Thanks
 
Karan Kowshik said:
Hello speedcubers and other cubers too. I have lately learnt to solve the cube using the beginner's method and my best is 44.53 while i average at around 53-55. I recentely learnt intuitive f2l and i struggle to find the pairs which brings down my average to around 1:00-1:15mins. Please give me some ideas on how to get sub 40 averages in like 3 weeks because i have a competition coming up.
P.S I do not solve the cross using the advanced method. I take about 5-6secs for the cross.

Thanks
Click to expand...

You would be very, very lucky to drop that much time. Honestly, slow down and practice each F2l case as much as possible. More familiarity will mean faster times, but you will not be sub-40 in 3 weeks.
 
Karan Kowshik said:
How much practice do you reccomend per day?
Click to expand...
As much as you have time or motivation for. It's important to practise efficiently and effectively, as well. Just lots of solves is a good idea at your level, but since you know that F2L is your limitation right now, some dedicated F2L practice might be a good idea too. CE pairs usually take about 50% of a solve, so try practising those alone until you can complete them in <20 seconds. There is no harm in setting yourself aggressive targets - best of luck getting sub-40 in 3 weeks, and please let us know how you get on!
 
Practice practice practice. The quickest way to get better at recognition is repetition. Also you start to pick up a sort of process of elimination, where you know where the pieces are without fully seeing and identifying it. So scramble the cube, practice just F2L, and then re-scramble the cube and rinse and repeat.
If algorithms are your problem, you should be practicing a few algorithms at a time, DON'T JUST KEEP SOLVING THE WHOLE CUBE OVER AND OVER. You need to practice each step and each algorithm separately. You should work on your cross slowly, it's not as much speed as it is finding the smallest moves possible.
Again solving the full cube over and over might get you a little faster in each area, but you can significantly drop your times by practicing on area at a time. (F2L, cross, 2OLL, 2PLL)
 
I checked my practice log. When I was 65 seconds, I realised F2L was my biggest weakness. It was full of pauses. So I spent 2 weeks practising F2L alone. My time for CE pairs came done from 27 to 20 seconds. I then went back to full solves for 1 week. My solves dropped from 65 to 45 and I cut my CE pairs further to 18 seconds. That's in 3 weeks total. I progress slowly, so I'm sure with targeted practice you should be able to meet your 40 second goal. Go for it.
 
don't worry, Its natural to slow down after anything (a new alg, a new method, or in your case, f2l)
just practice solving around the house or on your way to school or work (Don't cube while driving :))
 
Intermediate / Advanced Method Tutorial

Hi! I'm pretty new to cubing and I've been using a beginner's CFOP with an intuitive cross, but I'm trying to move away from the beginner's method into an intermediate/advanced CFOP. I've searched a lot on Google, and most sites are pretty confusing. I'm basically trying to find a place with basically every step and every case with what to do for each. I know there's a "Request an Alg" thread and help thread for the cross and F2L, but I'm basically looking for a website or something with algorithms for that walks you through the solve that basically spits out algorithms.
 
Jont828 said:
Hi! I'm pretty new to cubing and I've been using a beginner's CFOP with an intuitive cross, but I'm trying to move away from the beginner's method into an intermediate/advanced CFOP. I've searched a lot on Google, and most sites are pretty confusing. I'm basically trying to find a place with basically every step and every case with what to do for each. I know there's a "Request an Alg" thread and help thread for the cross and F2L, but I'm basically looking for a website or something with algorithms for that walks you through the solve that basically spits out algorithms.
Click to expand...

http://badmephisto.com/
 
practice practice practice. changing to 4 Look last layer would help too. As far as F2L finding the pieces can be done very fast. Just focus on one at a time. so find a corner then immediately look for its edge locking everything else out. The more and more you do it the faster and faster you'll get. the more you familiarize yourself with each case, the easier it is to execute your intuition. Practice and Practice.
 
Sub Minute F2L Help?

I currently get 1:20 on the begginer's method. My cube isn't too fast, but it turns very nice and I have a Shuang Ren V2 almost here. Are they any specifc F2L algorithms I should learn or a good tutorial. I don't want to learn OLL or PLL yet just F2L. Any tips will also be greatly thanked for. I'd just like to get my time down from 1:20ish to 1:00-
 
I would recommend you to learn f2l, 2 look OLL, and 2 look PLL. There aren't many algorithms, just like 10 and they are pretty easy and this is what I did
I started that way the speed cube method, and in 7 days I was under a minute. It's pretty easy
Then when I was under 35 I learnt full PLL. Now I'm 25 secs and it's has been only 3 months since I started speedcubing, so... Come on!!!
 
Seryague said:
I would recommend you to learn f2l, 2 look OLL, and 2 look PLL. There aren't many algorithms, just like 10 and they are pretty easy and this is what I did
I started that way the speed cube method, and in 7 days I was under a minute. It's pretty easy
Then when I was under 35 I learnt full PLL. Now I'm 25 secs and it's has been only 3 months since I started speedcubing, so... Come on!!!
Click to expand...

Thanks alot! I've already learned a few F2L cases by memory and I really think I'l get my time down soon! I don't plan on learning OLL or PLL quite yet though. :)
 
Learn 2-look OLL and 2-look PLL before F2L. Also, learn F2L intuitively, not using algorithms. And finally, search before making new threads. A lot of the information you need is already on the forums/wiki/other places on the internet.
 
How do you guys find your pairs in F2L. I am awful at it. I tend to find a corner on the top layer then spend an age looking for the matching edge. I'm averaging about 1:12 with a PB of 47s but would love to get to sub 30s. I've been cubing for nearly 7 weeks and F2L is by far my biggest weakness (unless you could age and stiff fingers).
 
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