[Help Thread] Advice and Tips for Competitions

[n00bcubix]

Hi guys, I'm going to Discovery 2008 if my parents can drive me but most importantly, should i take what i think is my main speedcube or 2 cubes? im having a hard time deciding what to do
Thanks

 

[Brian Le]

I bring tons of puzzles =P. You should have seen me at Stanford...

Anyway, bring as many puzzles as you like (not too many though) and on the car ride there, warm up. Use all your cubes. See which one you like best. Once you arrive, find somewhere to sit and warm up. Make your hands warm. Do practice solves. When they call you up, try not to be nervous. Just try your best and you will be fine.

 

[ExoCorsair]

When they call you up, try not to be nervous. Just try your best and you will be fine.

Being nervous is okay; I've set some pretty good times on the 5x5 while nervous.

Bringing a few puzzles is okay, but don't bring more than you can keep track of.

 

[alexc]

Like everyone else said, bring lots of puzzles. I also honestly don't understand why everyone says a comp is nerve racking. I went to one and I wasn't really nervous at all during my solves. I think it was because there were many people besides me solving at the same time, so I didn't feel like all the attention was just on me. If I had been the only one up there, then yeah, I probably would have been more nervous.

 

[tim]

Just try your best and you will be fine.

I prefer not caring about my results at all. That's how i got my first sub-20 in a competition. Unfortunately i cared about the next 4 solves... :/.

 

[n00bcubix]

Okay thanks guys?
btw did anyone hear about the cube thief? he stole cubes in like princeton
He had like a yellow backpack or something

 

[n00bcubix]

oops i meant "thanks guys!"

 

[pcwiz]

oops i meant "thanks guys!"

You could use the edit button on the bottom right corner of your post. There you can change your text in your post.

About what cubes to bring - sorry I can't give you any advice because I only have one cube and I've never been to a competition

 

[n00bcubix]

oh thanks pcwiz

 

[Hadley4000]

I was in my first tournament last weekend. I brought 5 3x3x3s, and there were people with tons more than me.

Don't bring all of yours though, it can be kind of easy to get them mixed up with other peoples.

 

[n00bcubix]

okay thanks Hadley's
btw i only have 2 3x3's

 

[Hadley4000]

Well then might as well bring them both.
Sometimes day to day I do better with different cubes. It usually takes me a few solves to figure out which one, though. So I'm sure I'm not the only one.

 

[hooboork]

How to fight against nervousness?

Hi all,
how do you fight against nervousness?
My first half of average is quite ok, but the second half is often horrible because of nervousess. My last avg. of 10 (and SO TYPICALLY) for 2x2:

4,25
(3,6)
4,27
4,53
3,79 -LC
3,96
5,92
4,78
(6,72)
5,56
5,19
4,62

avg. is 4,69 but I´m totally sure that I can do less then 4,50 if I stayed calm. Any suggestion? Thanks for yours opinions.

 

[kickinwing2112]

you need some nervousness. the trick is tonot think about doing bad but still keep an edge

 

[Sg.Speedcuber]

How to calm nervousness during competition??????

I had this during the unofficial Rubik's cube competition.During my third solve,I could feel my legs shaking and my heart beating very fast.This cost me a 52.31 solve and an OLL mistake.I lost to my friend (in school)also because I was too nervous and my heart was pounding(hard).Since the Singapore Open is about a fortnight away and I need expert help to calm myself or else I'll get slow times.

 

[Winston]

Try not to think/bother about the people watching you and you should be able to focus better on the solve. Also, don't get too anxious about your timings, it'll just make you more nervous, which might actually result in slower solves. Perhaps practicing with friends more often will help you get used to cubing under pressure. I've not taken part in any competitions as of now and am certainly not an "expert" but still, I hope that helps

 

[edwardtimliu]

this works for me:
1) Don't EVER look down to see your time while solving
2) Don't think about who you are racing with, you are trying to beat your own record and that is what you are going to do.
3) This works when I'm playing basketball , think yourself as the best cuber out there, it helps a lot, for me at least.
4) Don't over warm-up!!!!, at Caltech 08 i just kept on solving cubes over and over again, and when i got up to an actual solve, with my hands set on the timer, you can see my them twitching, and i was not even using any strength, it was basically starting to cramp up.

hope that helps

 

[Sg.Speedcuber]

Perhaps practicing with friends more often will help you get used to cubing under pressure.

I started a weekly challenge in school.
Monday:free practice
Tuesday:4x4 speed
Wednesday:3x3 speed
Thursday:Team blindfold
Friday:3x3 one hand

In this challenges I try to calm myself down because losing to my friend destroys my reputation!

 

[JLarsen]

I never get nervous around people that have seen me do it before, and I feel comfortable. However yes cubing in front of lots of people who've never seen it before is one of the few things that can make me shake.

What I'm going to do is basically use it in public areas, like my bus and such, maybe even my lunch table :0. Meh, that might be a bit much. I'm hoping that calms me down.

 

[blah]

In this challenges I try to calm myself down because losing to my friend destroys my reputation!

Epic kiasuism.