[Member Intro] Aiming for a Sub 30 Average - aged 61

[jdh3000]

Ive just been checking.

So - once I complete my 1st look PLL there are 4 possible 2nd look Algorithms to completely solve the cube (although 2 are mirror images). So I know 3 (or 4 if the mirror image algorithms count as 2) which makes the prospeft of learning full PLL slightly less daunting

It's not as difficult to learn full OLL & PLL as it seems.

IT seems daunting at first but some are mirror cases so it's not too tough. Once it's in your muscle memory, it's not like you are having to keep up with it.
There are only a few cases that don't seem to come up as often as the others so you would probably want to review those.

Subtract the number of algs ypu already know, then it doesn't look like you have as much to learn. Then learn one a day or two a day.

Good luck!

 

[alexiscubing]

Does anybody else use numbers to remember the algorithms?

For my 2 x 2nd look PLL algorithms which involve U & M moves I just remember 11-21-21-122 U’ & 21-22-212 instead of M U M2 U etc....

i used this to remember sune
up left down left up left left down
and other aalgs

 

[Kevin1958]

Not sure if i should be asking here but...

I use a GAN356X and yesterday I slammed it flat on the table in frustration

Today its definitely a bit stiff and something has changed.

Just wondering if its easy to strip down and see whats wrong?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[PetrusQuber]

Open up centre cap, remove GES nut, pull and cube falls to pieces )not sure depending on version)
Or do the old way, turn a layer 45 degrees, then pull on a edge, and twist.

 

[Izaden]

Welcome Kevin!
That improvement is crazy good! I've been cubing for like 2 years and my 3x3 pb is 43.746.
Of course, I'm still learning 2 look OLL and PLL so I have clear improvements to make.
I think that you will be there in no time, your rate of improvement is on a good curve. I just passed a sub 1:10 Ao100 yesterday.

 

[Kevin1958]

Hi everybody,

As its been about 100 days since I last posted here I thought I would tell you how my single solve PB & my goal of a sub 30 - 10 solve average is coming along.

My single solve PB has now reduced from 29.35 to 21.91 & my 10 solve average PB has reduced from 41.35 to 34.81.

My goal of a sub 30 - 10 Solve average still seems light years away because although individual sub 30 solves now turn up fairly regularly they only occur every 70 solves or so although 30 second and 31 second solves now occur fairly regularly.

I do all of my practice solves in batches of 10 and I record my progress on the graph below.



I still use CFOP with 2 look OLL & 2 look PLL so maybe I will have to learn full OLL or PLL to reach my goal although I think I may get there one day with my current method with tons more practice - the one thing I learned from reading lots of posts on this forum is that improvement is ultimately more about practice than anything else.

Finally - I recorded a typical 10 solve sequence earlier today which came out at slightly disappointing 38.14 average although it did include a rare (1 in 70) sub 30 solve (27.57 seconds)

If any of you has the time to watch some of this video and you see anything obvious I can improve on I would very much appreciate it.

Thanks for reading

Kevin

 

[Owen Morrison]

Hi everybody,

As its been about 100 days since I last posted here I thought I would tell you how my single solve PB & my goal of a sub 30 - 10 solve average is coming along.

My single solve PB has now reduced from 29.35 to 21.91 & my 10 solve average PB has reduced from 41.35 to 34.81.

My goal of a sub 30 - 10 Solve average still seems light years away because although individual sub 30 solves now turn up fairly regularly they only occur every 70 solves or so although 30 second and 31 second solves now occur fairly regularly.

I do all of my practice solves in batches of 10 and I record my progress on the graph below.

View attachment 12791

I still use CFOP with 2 look OLL & 2 look PLL so maybe I will have to learn full OLL or PLL to reach my goal although I think I may get there one day with my current method with tons more practice - the one thing I learned from reading lots of posts on this forum is that improvement is ultimately more about practice than anything else.

Finally - I recorded a typical 10 solve sequence earlier today which came out at slightly disappointing 38.14 average although it did include a rare (1 in 70) sub 30 solve (27.57 seconds)

If any of you has the time to watch some of this video and you see anything obvious I can improve on I would very much appreciate it.

Thanks for reading

Kevin

I will give you some feedback on your solves once the video is done processing.

 

[dudefaceguy]

Hi everybody,

As its been about 100 days since I last posted here I thought I would tell you how my single solve PB & my goal of a sub 30 - 10 solve average is coming along.

My single solve PB has now reduced from 29.35 to 21.91 & my 10 solve average PB has reduced from 41.35 to 34.81.

My goal of a sub 30 - 10 Solve average still seems light years away because although individual sub 30 solves now turn up fairly regularly they only occur every 70 solves or so although 30 second and 31 second solves now occur fairly regularly.

I do all of my practice solves in batches of 10 and I record my progress on the graph below.

View attachment 12791

I still use CFOP with 2 look OLL & 2 look PLL so maybe I will have to learn full OLL or PLL to reach my goal although I think I may get there one day with my current method with tons more practice - the one thing I learned from reading lots of posts on this forum is that improvement is ultimately more about practice than anything else.

Finally - I recorded a typical 10 solve sequence earlier today which came out at slightly disappointing 38.14 average although it did include a rare (1 in 70) sub 30 solve (27.57 seconds)

If any of you has the time to watch some of this video and you see anything obvious I can improve on I would very much appreciate it.

Thanks for reading

Kevin

Congratulations! Progress can come in leaps, so you might be closer than you think.

 

[jdh3000]

I may have answered this thread, I don't remember... lol!

Im 53, I hover around 20 seconds. I don't think I could do it if I didn't know full pll/oll.

That coupled with better finger tricks and having algorithms for difficult F2L cases helps a bunch.

I was reluctant to learn algs for F2L, feeling at intuitive would get me there, but it is essential I believe for progression.

Also gettung your cross as efficient as posible helps tremendously. We don't realize how much time we spend on the cross until we work on it. It needs to be like a one quick move.
You can't really have an alg for the cross, but you can have a method for making up a solution on the fly. I personally find my first 2 opposites, then the 3rd piece, where it goes in relation to those, then I know where the 4th piece goes. I solve the cross out of place most of the time then on the last move put it in its place.

Note the lunk below.
This guy helped me immensely. I recommend watching all of his videos

. https://www.youtube.com/user/MrGanglez

 

[Kevin1958]

Sorry for the VERY late reply but thanks for the tip above. Ive been working hard on my cross with the help of that video and Ive improved it massively. I now challenge myself to beat my average solve time over 1000 solves (100 x sets of 10) and my current average is 31.81 which hardly changes any more - maybe 0.1 seconds up or down over 1000 solves.

 

[ScorpioBoi7308]

Welcome to the forums, Kevin.

 

[guelda]

Nice post and stories guys, congrats for your progression Kevin, be sure that you'll make it!
I can't wait to attend my first comp as well, even if I'll be amongst the older guys (43) and the kids will crush us

 

[abunickabhi]

Hi guys - my name is Kevin, I'm 61 years old and I live in Bristol, England.

I completely missed out on the Rubik's cube craze in the 80's but I'm making up for it now I remember a few friends back then having cubes but I never tried one. Fast forward a few decades and my 39 year old daughter buys me a Rubik's brand cube for Christmas 2018 which stays in its box until she opens it and solves it herself in May 2019 after many hours of studying the enclosed instructions.

So that was it! I couldn't let her beat me, so I secretly spent the next few weeks studying loads of YouTube videos to memorise the beginners method and in June demonstrated my new skills to her with a time of 2 minutes 43 seconds which I've been obsessively trying to lower ever since.

I now use a GAN356X with CFOP (2 look OLL and 2 look PLL) and my current single solve PB is 29.35 although I concentrate on lowering my 10 consecutive solves average PB which currently stands at 41.35

My next goal is to capture a single sub 30 on video but having only managed that once in over 20,000 attempts that could take a while. My ultimate goal is a sub 30 average for 10 consecutive solves.

I know these times will be ridiculously easy for many of you - and I don't want to make excuses - BUT - age definitely takes its toll. For instance, I can't run or play squash (or do pretty much anything) like I used to. My 61 year old brain is nowhere near as sharp as it was and these fingers don't move anything like they used to but I'm sure another single sub 30 will come along one day and maybe that sub 30 average for 10 consecutive solves wont be far behind?

This chart shows my single solve PB progression to date:

View attachment 11515

Thanks for reading.

Kevin

Wow a nice PB progression graph.

Welcome to the forums.

I hope you find speedcubing enjoyable.

 

[qwr]

Love the progression graph. If you use cstimer, I plan on in the future to develop a tool that can turn cstimer saves into progression graphs. Someone remind me in a few months to get on it.

 

[hellocubers]

Nice, Welcome!

 

[Bruno Rosa]

Welcome from Italy. 57 years old!

 

[OtterCuber]

Welcome to the forums! I'm another old solver at age 34, but like you, I'm keeping track of my progression and hoping to get sub-30 as well:



Keep us updated on your progress. Perhaps sooner than later you will change your goal to sub-20 average?

 

[povlhp]

53 y.o. here. You seems to have way more time than me on your hands.
I started in December, so only a few thousand solves, and I switched to Roux before 1000 solves I think, shortly after I felt I was pretty good at CFOP 4LL + F2L.
Most days I do less than 20 solves, and there are days between timed solves. And I have drifted off to try other cubes as well. 2x2-7x7, mastermorphix, Square-1 etc. And tried blind-solving (corners only).
I am below 50 seconds Ao100, and 30.xx PB. And slowly getting faster. I know I am turning slow, and I need to plan more in the start, and my second block in Roux is 5-10 moves too slow.

Inspired by you I will try and collect my times from cstimer and cubeast, and see if I can pick and plot a progression graph the same style (PB, Ao5, Ao12 and maybe Ao100 PB). My problem is that I solve in different "sets".
One set for the iCarry bluetooth cube, and for cstimer I used to have a fast session to keep a good Ao100, but my relaxed solving is now getting most times, and are often fast times.

 

[GodCubing]

Because of your age your tps will be slower so I recommend a more efficient method such as roux, petrus or lmcf. Especially around 30 seconds make sure your f2l solutions are efficient and that you know how to solve them from a couple different angles.

 

[Mike Hughey]

... maybe I will have to learn full OLL or PLL to reach my goal although I think I may get there one day with my current method with tons more practice - the one thing I learned from reading lots of posts on this forum is that improvement is ultimately more about practice than anything else.

Full PLL doesn't take nearly as much effort to learn as full OLL. I suspect if you're still using 2-look PLL, switching to full PLL will probably be enough to get you sub-30. But it will take quite a few months (especially at your age) to get really good at full PLL (because it takes time to get good at recognizing the cases quickly and to develop the muscle memory for the algorithms, and that sort of thing seems to come slower as we age), so it might not be the most efficient way to get there. To give you an idea of what to expect, I learned full PLL in about 2 months when I was 45 years old. It shaved about 15% off my solving time, I would guess.

Full OLL is a much harder task, and pays less benefits. I'm still glad I learned it, because it cut about 2 seconds off my times. When I forget full OLL, my times go back up about 2 seconds (which has happened several times to me; currently there are about 4 OLL algs which I have once again forgotten, hence my recent bad times in 3x3x3 in the Weekly Competition).