[Help Thread] Am I Competition Ready?

[Rocky0701]

And then Chuck Norris walks up to Lin Chen with Oskar's 17x17

And then the earth implodes.

 

[LyrikTech]

What should I average before going to FIRST competition

Hi,
I just wanted to know what is a good average to have before entering a competition (As long as I'm not last place in the first round its okay) Right now my PB is 1 minute 10 seconds (I just now want to start speedcubing)
Thanks!

 

[JasonDL13]

Usually sub 10 minutes is good.

Really: Just go to a competition anyway, and just do your best to beat your personal bests. Hold worry about how bad you'll be, if everyone did that Zemdegs would be the only person at competitions.

 

[obelisk477]

If you literally wont go to a competition without some sort of reasonable guarantee that you'll not get last, then I'd say a ~35 second average should ensure that. But you should go now anyway. They're so much fun!

 

[Genesis]

Sub 10 minutes or below the cutoff?

 

[Rocky0701]

It doesn't matter what you average, just go to the comp and have fun meeting other cubers. If you want to guarantee that you aren't last though, I would say be like sub 40.

 

[TraciAG]

Honestly it doesn't matter, cubing competitions are social events as well as competitive ones. Even if you averages three minutes or something you should still go. No one will judge you based on your times. Have fun!

 

[Kesava Kirupa]

It does not matter how fast you are at your first competition, It's more like a socializing event. It'll definitely give you more interest and make you know about SpeedCubing much more better.

 

[EvilGnome6]

I can totally understand the desire not to be last at your first competition. I thought I might be at my first because I barely had a 1 minute average on a good day. It turned out that a few people took twice as long as that and everybody was very supportive. Just being able to solve a cube makes you part of the group.

If you want to get a good feel of what it would take not to be last, look at the upcoming competitions on cubingusa.com and pull up the psych sheet for the event.

 

[mDiPalma]

literally nobody will care if you get a 10 minute solve for every single solve in your average (except maybe the judge, if you get the same judge 5 times in a row!).

people are too busy worrying about their own solves and the event schedule to care about the random kid in the third seat from the left, I promise.

 

[EvilGnome6]

people are too busy worrying about their own solves and the event schedule to care about the random kid in the third seat from the left, I promise.

Seconded. The only ones who pay attention to your time will be the judge and whatever friends and family you brought with you.

Personally, all 3 times I competed, I came away inspired with a significant jump in performance afterwards.

 

[Chree]

Completely understandable, but I wouldn't worry about it. At my first comp, for OH, I came in 2nd to last... right ahead of someone who DNF'd their average. But I had only started doing OH a few weeks before. That made it very easy to beat my official average at my 2nd comp! And let me tell you... beating your old records is a really good feeling.

So I say go... no matter what you average. And it'll give you a target to improve on at your next comp!

 

[LyrikTech]

Thanks guys! Now that I know this I'm pretty sure I'll go to the upcoming competition in portland!

 

[EvilGnome6]

Thanks guys! Now that I know this I'm pretty sure I'll go to the upcoming competition in portland!

Good luck! I just checked out the psych sheet for the upcoming Portland event and there's one person already registered who has a greater than 1 minute average. More importantly, it looks like half the people registered haven't competed before so you won't be the only newbie.

You also have more than a month to practice and now you'll have some good motivation to nail down those algorithms and improve your F2L skills.

 

[antech101]

When are you ready for competitions?

So, a question that I've been wondering for a long time is when do you know you're ready for competitions? Now i know for a fact that i'm not ready, but when should i start going? Like what average times should i have?

 

[AlphaSheep]

You're ready for a competition as soon as you're confident that you can solve the cube every time without a cheat sheet.

 

[biscuit]

Now. As long as you can solve the cube in under 10 minutes, go if there's one near you!

 

[rishirs321]

So, a question that I've been wondering for a long time is when do you know you're ready for competitions? Now i know for a fact that i'm not ready, but when should i start going? Like what average times should i have?

I agree with AlphaSheep. You can go to a competition regardless of your times. You get to meet like-minded people and have fun!! But if you are going to get first, second or third places then you have to get really good times.. But isn't it supposed to be fun?

 

[henrysavich]

around halfway through a competition usually.

 

[biscuit]

around halfway through a competition usually.

Lololol