19 Days Left to Lower My F2L Times... BLEH

[dChan]

I want to get my solving average below 20 seconds before my next competition. The trouble is that it is 19 days away. That is plenty of time if I didn't have school to worry about but I do. I just finished learning the last 38 algorithms of OLL(which i forced myself to do in four days) but I don't think that OLL is my problem. Sure, now I can consitently average 3 seconds for my OLL step but my main problem is F2L. I use all kinds of advanced tricks for it such as extended cross, empty slots, Petrus + Fridrich F2L, etc.(of course, what I use exactly depends on the solve) but I can never get my cross + F2L steps to consistently go below 14 seconds. I need those two steps together below 14 seconds because it takes me an average of 3 seconds for OLL and 3 seconds for PLL which means I'll get a 20 second + solving time unless my F2L is faster. Any ideas about how I should get my F2L time down? The only thing I can think of is "Practice, practice, practice," ahnd that is what I am doing right now, every single day but is there anything else? Tips, tricks, etc.?

Thanks,
-dChan

 

[shelley]

I use all kinds of advanced tricks for it such as extended cross, empty slots, Petrus + Fridrich F2L, etc.

Sounds like you're already covered in the tricks department.

Seriously, there aren't any tricks that will suddenly get your F2L under x seconds. It's all about practice. Practice and looking ahead.

Hehe, Monty Python moment:
It's all about one thing: Practice. Practice and looking ahea.. Two things: Practice and looking ahead. And smooth movemen... Three things! Practice, looking ahead, smooth movement, and no pauses... Four things!

No one expects the F2L Inquisition!

Sorry, I'll come in again.

 

[Swordsman Kirby]

I use all kinds of advanced tricks for it such as extended cross, empty slots, Petrus + Fridrich F2L, etc.

Sounds like you're already covered in the tricks department.

Seriously, there aren't any tricks that will suddenly get your F2L under x seconds. It's all about practice. Practice and looking ahead.

Hehe, Monty Python moment:
It's all about one thing: Practice. Practice and looking ahea.. Two things: Practice and looking ahead. And smooth movemen... Three things! Practice, looking ahead, smooth movement, and no pauses... Four things!

No one expects the F2L Inquisition!

Sorry, I'll come in again.

Yeah, it's all practice, like Shelley said. I wouldn't say smooth movement is absolutely necessary for fast F2L: I certainly don't have it. If you want some inspiration go watch some of Joel van Noort's 3x3 avg videos on youtube. THOSE are smooth F2Ls.

Force yourself to lookahead! In competition, I have a tendency of just sitting there focusing on going fast rather than keeping it steady.

 

[Dene]

Yea I'd say lookahead is all you need. I don't really do any tricks, and I probably average 12 second F2L.

 

[pjk]

Whats your F2L movecount at? Get that down. If you can get it to around 35 avg, if you do 3 moves a second, you are around 10 second F2L. I'd do an avg of 100 F2L's if I were you, and make sure you make the best of every situation. Go over example solves. Search this forum for the F2L study: lots of people posted example F2L's that were sub-30-35. Good luck.

 

[Lofty]

Among our weaponry are such diverse elements as Petrus, extended cross and empty lots and a fanatical devotion to the pope...
I'll go back out and do it again...
I love Monty Python moments I'm going to have another one in a different thread.

 

[dChan]

lol, okay Lofty. Don't go Monty Python everywhere.

Well my F2L move count is usually between 30-35 but I have no idea if that is consistent with when I go at normal speed and don't count my moves. Which means that I might not really be averaging 30-35 moves - but I really don't know because there is noway to count your moves properly when you speedcube.

I tried a slow-turning/looking ahead solve and got 16 seconds so I assume if I were going at full speed that would probably be way lower if I looked ahead. Right now my fast F2L is 7 seconds but my fastest F2L + Cross is probably like 11 seconds(start with cross and go right into F2L without pausing). Yesterday I was doing some F2L practice and I even sometimes got Cross + F2L times that were upwards of 18 or even 20 seconds! Obviously I have a problem maintaing consistency.

Maybe the key to that is doing all my Cross + F2Ls slow and steady for a while that way I can look ahead and then gradually increasing the speed? I really don't have a problem doing the F2L step by itself but I think when I add in the Cross step, it screws me up or something so maybe the solution is just going through the slow turning method.

I'll check out some examples to PJK. For now, thanks for the advice. If anyone has any more please post because I seriously want to get a sub-20 average in my next competition. Time to practice, practice, practice...

 

[jtjogobonito]

Yea in addition to what everyone else said maybe visit a few websites of top cubers (cubingtechniques.com jmbaum.110.mb.com) and check their F2L algorithms.

P.S. how did you memorize 38 algorithms in 4 days?

 

[dChan]

Eh, it is not as hard as everyone thinks it is. Ever since I started cubing I always used a piece/color based pattern memorization which is way easier than using a straight forward "remember what the algorithm is" memorization. I guess I'll explain it a little bit... If I do R U on a cube for a certain case I will note where the right-front corner-edge pair goes. Then I'll think of the algorithm as a way to remove the corner edge pair then put it back in it's slot. Just for the sake of an example, let's say the algorithm is R U U' R'. I will note where the RF slot goes and then remember how to bring it back using whatever algorithm. It is kind of hard to explain but I think some people have actually gone through the trouble of explaining this fully on their sites so it shouldn't be too hard to find someone with a better explanation then me.

I use that kind of memorization, plus "key color" memorization(my cross color is green so if an algorithm brings a Green piece into view I'll remember how it gets put back or something like that) and whatever other fancy named memorization techniques there are. If you learn algorithms this way then you can easily mirror/reflect or reverse algorithms therefore allowing you to learn multiple cases in pairs(e.g. an A-perm and reverse A-perm case can be learned at virtually the same time) or in the case of OLLs, sometimes in quadruplets.

Is "quadruplets" a word?

I'm going to check out some of those F2L algorithms on other sites. I use Peter's Magic Finger Trick F2Ls(with some variations such as ZBF2L algs for when you get a lucky edge oriented U layer and want to preserve it) so I might not find anything but it is worth a shot. I'll do pretty much anything to get my F2L time down.