Age of speedcubing participants?

[AvGalen]

If speedcubing grows and , I would love to see a category <12 Years
12 until 50 and 50 +

Why, cubers between 12 until 50 can still compete on the highest level

12 seems a bit arbitrary to me. (Not that 50 isn't also arbitrary - I'm just stating specifically that 12 is.) After all, can you imagine how fast Yu Da-Hyun will be when she's 11, if she keeps cubing between now and then?

Of course, that's probably just due to the pink pajamas; maybe we should instead have categories of "with pink pajamas" and "without pink pajamas" - it might make more sense than age categories.

Does any cube-shop already sell pink pajamas? It makes no sense that I practice and learn algs when I simply should be buying pink pajamas

More seriously: Is there any OH-solver older and faster than I am (sup 32 age, sub 40 average). For OH handsize and dexterity seems to matter and those are more related to age

 

[Mike Hughey]

More seriously: Is there any OH-solver older and faster than I am (sup 32 age, sub 40 average). For OH handsize and dexterity seems to matter and those are more related to age

I find it hard to believe that dexterity really becomes a big problem at older ages. After all, some of the finest pianists in the world are quite old; Horowitz was still an excellent pianist in his seventies, and not bad even in his early eighties. If you can play piano well into your seventies, surely you can do OH cubing even into your seventies.

I'm pretty reasonable at OH when compared to my 2H speed (I'm around 50 seconds OH, around 27 seconds 2H), and I practice OH a total of 5 solves per week. (Although admittedly I've done a fair amount of OH BLD practice, although I haven't done much of that lately.)

 

[qqwref]

I find it hard to believe that dexterity really becomes a big problem at older ages. After all, some of the finest pianists in the world are quite old; Horowitz was still an excellent pianist in his seventies, and not bad even in his early eighties. If you can play piano well into your seventies, surely you can do OH cubing even into your seventies.

I am glad to hear this opinion! Far too often I hear "I'm too old to ever do this quickly," especially when the person saying it clearly isn't. Anyone who's got the dexterity to type can solve a Rubik's Cube, with two hands or one.

On the other hand - and I don't have any experience with this so please feel free to prove me wrong - I think it might be more difficult to learn to be good at OH cubing if you are older. That is, I don't at all doubt that someone who has been doing OH cubing for many years (as I assume Horowitz had been playing piano for decades before he reached 70 years old) could do it at age 70 without trouble, but I'm not sure as to whether a 70-year-old could get their hand used to OH cubing without ever having tried it before.

 

[Mike Hughey]

I find it hard to believe that dexterity really becomes a big problem at older ages. After all, some of the finest pianists in the world are quite old; Horowitz was still an excellent pianist in his seventies, and not bad even in his early eighties. If you can play piano well into your seventies, surely you can do OH cubing even into your seventies.

I am glad to hear this opinion! Far too often I hear "I'm too old to ever do this quickly," especially when the person saying it clearly isn't. Anyone who's got the dexterity to type can solve a Rubik's Cube, with two hands or one.

On the other hand - and I don't have any experience with this so please feel free to prove me wrong - I think it might be more difficult to learn to be good at OH cubing if you are older. That is, I don't at all doubt that someone who has been doing OH cubing for many years (as I assume Horowitz had been playing piano for decades before he reached 70 years old) could do it at age 70 without trouble, but I'm not sure as to whether a 70-year-old could get their hand used to OH cubing without ever having tried it before.

I guess I still think it's more likely to be an issue with overall dexterity than anything else. Certainly many older people have problems with their joints - arthritis, etc. - which can make it more difficult. But for those who do not have those problems, and who have already done things that involve great dexterity with their fingers (such as playing piano, or perhaps juggling), I really doubt that it would be all that hard for them to learn to get fairly fast at OH. Perhaps there is an issue for getting really good (sub-20 and such), but it seems like some speed success should be possible for older folks with a lot of dexterity. I can't imagine it would have been that hard for Horowitz to have learned at age 70, as long as he was actually interested in doing it (which would have undoubtedly been the real problem).

I know that Ton and I are really not all that old (even if we are ancient compared to most cubers), but I certainly haven't had any noticeable trouble with OH solving. I'm about as good as you would expect someone to be with my 2H speed and the amount of practice I've put into it (which is not very much). I would think I could get sub-30 pretty quickly if I really tried (and take that old OH-er title from Arnaud ). Then again, I play piano and juggle, which may help a lot with that. I notice that Ton has a bigger discrepancy between OH and 2H than I do. But then again, Ton is actually fast at 2H, and I'm very much not.

 

[Aub227]

Ton said it right. I'm 40, with arthritis, and I'm much faster than I was 2 years ago. Two years ago, I would have never thought I'd get a sub 20 solve and a sub 2 minute bld solve. Current avg at home is about 18-19 secs, pb 12.47 secs. OK, I've only been to 1 competition, but I feel my next one will show that 40+ cubers can still compete with the young "gunslingers", as I like to call them. As of today, I'd say my best chance of ranking in the top 20 in the world would be in 3x3 bld (pb 1:12.xx, avg 1:50 .... successful solves only, approx 60% success rate ), but that's another thread. Yes, Ron and Ton would kick all our butts if there was ever a 40+ comp, but it's all about fun though isn't it?

 

[TMOY]

More seriously: Is there any OH-solver older and faster than I am (sup 32 age, sub 40 average). For OH handsize and dexterity seems to matter and those are more related to age

Gilles Roux is older and faster than you are.
Handsize doesn't decrease with age And IMHO dexterity should not really be a problem, at least if you already got it from other activites befor starting OH cubing.

 

[Ron]

Average date-of-birth of all WCA members (until November 2008, we do not have all dates-of-birth) is: 1988-01-12
That is an average age of 21 years.

 

[Bob]

Average date-of-birth of all WCA members (until November 2008, we do not have all dates-of-birth) is: 1988-01-12
That is an average age of 21 years.

I'm willing to bet the average in the USA is significantly lower. I have a feeling the median is also much lower.

 

[Ron]

I'm willing to bet the average in the USA is significantly lower. I have a feeling the median is also much lower.

USA: 1988-12-01
Median: 1990-07-12
(same limitations as above)

 

[Bob]

I'm willing to bet the average in the USA is significantly lower. I have a feeling the median is also much lower.

USA: 1988-12-01
Median: 1990-07-12
(same limitations as above)

Okay, so the mean wasn't significantly lower, just about a year...but the median was as I expected (still a bit high, but not too much). At most competitions I attend, I am in the top 5 oldest (and I am only 24).

 

[Pedro]

I'm willing to bet the average in the USA is significantly lower. I have a feeling the median is also much lower.

USA: 1988-12-01
Median: 1990-07-12
(same limitations as above)

Okay, so the mean wasn't significantly lower, just about a year...but the median was as I expected (still a bit high, but not too much). At most competitions I attend, I am in the top 5 oldest (and I am only 24).

yeah, right...