[Help Thread] 3x3 Cross Help and Discussion

[blakedacuber]

I heard people say practice before so try that but,


to be constructive.. practice it blind folded also take as long inspection as you need to work out an 8 move solution youll get better and will probably take less than 5 or 6 secs to recognid=se a short cross

 

[collinbxyz]

I was surprised that no one said this yet... it helps a ton

 

[DaijoCube]

I heard the best is to figure out cross and first f2l before starting.
I try to do it when the cross is easy to make

 

[RaresB]

I think the advice already provided is sufficient for the cross but might you consider working on your cross to f2l transition because the difference in times you provided to us would include this so consider it.

 

[tozies24]

Without solving cross, I average like 15 seconds:
Average of 5 with no cross: 15.47
Same scrambles:
Average of 5 with cross: 20.34

I just use like 15 moves to solve it it takes way too long

Why do you need a cross?? It seems from your description that you are trying to force something you don't need. You certainly don't need a cross to solve the cube; just ask any non-cfop solver... In your case, you probably shouldn't worry about it.

 

[n00bcub3r]

Wait what?? I think the op means he already solvedthe cross on the no cross solves

 

[uberCuber]

Do you know what the maximum is for the first block?

9

 

[clifford2704]

im also having difficulty... I avg about 29secs and I get 4-13 second crosses which is wayyyy too long, I dont know why but I do this, I can BLD cross sometimes but sometimes cant find the solution, can someone give me advice? if I do it slowly its about 5-10 moves

 

[Godmil]

im also having difficulty... I avg about 29secs and I get 4-13 second crosses which is wayyyy too long, I dont know why but I do this, I can BLD cross sometimes but sometimes cant find the solution, can someone give me advice? if I do it slowly its about 5-10 moves

Are you rushing it. If you say you're doing it in 5-10 moves slowly, but you average 4-13 seconds... have you tried just trying to do 1 or two turns per second, then you'd be in the faster side of your average.
I think deliberately turning slowly can be a huge advantage (easier look ahead and less lock ups).
Also it's good to look at example solves (like in the accomplishment thread or walkthroughs on youtube) to see how the top guys do it.
There are some cool tricks I picked up watching videos, like if you do this set up R' u R' u you can see the cross is nearly made but one is flipped and it's a D2 away from being solved... reversing the set up R u' R u' flips the edge then saves the having to do the D2 (I would have probably done something else before like (R u' R u) D2
Also be sure to combine cross insertions when it's fingertrick friendly, like this set up F' R U R, then reversing that R' U' R' F is super smooth.

 

[Goktrenks]

How to get better the cross?

Hi,I'm having some problems with my cross,for example,I usually do this:Cross=6 sec
F2l = 14 sec and 2 look oll and Pll =13 sec=33 sec avg.,I think It's normal if I do the cross in 4 sec,I tried badmephisto vid and many other videos about cross but still nothing better:fp.(I read about doing it blindfolded,still anything better)Is there any drill to have a faster cross?

Thanks!!

 

[pdilla]

Besides doing cross+first pair drills, I'm not sure of any particular exercises that would increase your cross time. Perhaps taking as long as you need in inspection time (besides the 15 seconds) and slowly and methodically solve the cross in the most efficient way possible. Intentionally setup your next cross edge as you solve the first one, then as you solve the second one, set up the thrid one, etc. Don't look at the piece that you are solving, look ahead.

I'm sorry if this isn't too specific. Hope it points you in the right direction.

EDIT---

Solving the cross blind is a good exercise to do after you have a good understanding of solving the cross in an efficient manner. It will help you with your look ahead and F2L transition.

 

[somerandomkidmike]

Practice, look ahead, and decrease move count. Be careful about posting excessive new threads. I've already seen a few from you. Some of your questions might go well in the "One Answer Question Thread"

http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?8710-The-One-Answer-Question-Thread

 

[asportking]

Always solve the cross in eight moves or less. Besides that, you can work on improving TPS (sometimes solving the cross on the left helps).

 

[skeletonboy]

You just need to work on your lookahead. If you are comfortable with a fast lookahead, then you already automatically turn faster=TPS.

If you aren't comfortable with your lookahead yet to go fast, then slow down, focus on lookahead and slowly step a bit faster in your TPS just a bit by bit.

 

[iTz Dr Pepper]

Practice the cross blindfolded. You will see results almost instantly (I did at least). If you take over 8 moves you need to find ways to get your move count down.

 

[tozies24]

do lots and lots of crosses. look at how the pieces are moving relative to each other.

 

[Chrisalead]

To get better at the cross, I first looked at the badmephisto tutorial on youtube. Then, when I had a really bad cross, I was looking at the solution CCT proposed me : this helped me finding new ways to solve the cross. Now I have no more problems with the cross (in fact it's my favorite part of the solve).

 

[Ezy Ryder]

Do Pseudo-Crosses (1-Look) and try to look for the first pair while removing the Pseudoness. Unless You've got a easy normal Cross.
Ps.: By pseudo crosses I mean doing crosses that You can solve with one move (turning all the cross pieces so they match their centers).

 

[TheWitcher]

Really need some help with the cross

Hi guys, I started cubing 6 months ago, but I just can't improve my cross.
I've watched badmephisto's tutorials, and I have some problems that I can't fix:
1. Most of the times, I'm unable to recognize a solution with 7 or less moves. I mostly end up with 8, 9, or 10 moves solution.
2. My inspection sucks. I can't plan the whole cross in my head, and execute it blindfolded. I usually remember 2-3 edges and then look for the rest.
3. I'm still solving my cross on the top. Solving it on the bottom is so awkward and horribly slow. I tried to practice it but my time didn't improved.
My average cross time is something like ~5-6 seconds, but sometimes it can get up to 10 seconds.
Please, if you have some tips for me on how and what should I practice, I would appreciate it.

Sorry for my poor English, not my native language.

 

[rubikmaster]

Just practice solving it on the bottom and you'll get it don't worry.For me it just happened,did a few cross on bottom solves and just switched from cross on top to cross on bottom.First switch,then start improving your cross because you don't want to improve the wrong way of doing the cross.As for reducing the number of moves required to solve the cross and memorizing how to solve the whole cross,find some more example solves and tutorials and,now this is very very important,just spend a lot of time very slowly solving the cross and trying to figure out what is the best way you could solve some case.Cross is always solved intuitively and should be practiced by you practicing your mind and figuring it all out.As soon as you reduce your number of moves it should be a lot easier to memorize how to solve it.Just remember that you shouldn't solve your cross edge by edge.When I am solving the cross I can almost always solve 2 or more edges at once instead of solving them one by one.Hope I helped you.:tu