As a beginner, how do I proceed ?

tuna

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Nov 30, 2014
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Hi.

I've been working with the cube for a few weeks. I have learned to solve the cube with this beginners method : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmnSpUgOvyI

what is this method, just a regular beginner's method ? `can i have any use for it in the future?

I realize that I have to change to a "real" method to obtain times worth talking about.

now I have an average of 3 minutes with this beginner's method, it feels like a waste of time to continue with it when I still have to change method to be quick.

so how do I go from here ? should I learn CFOP ?

Some tips and links on how I can proceed would be greatly appreciated.

Even though I am a beginner, I have been really interested in the cube and thinks it's really funny, now I'm a little worried that I will lose interest if it gets too hard too fast.

Kind regards
Johan
 
This is a really good tutorial:

https://www.speedsolving.com/forum/...-to-Get-Faster-using-the-Fridrich-CFOP-Method

You should also consider learning blind when you get fast(er)

Also: I forgot to say this because I know 1k people will. If you're interested in learning a slower method that wont get you any faster then CFOP. There's methods like Roux and ZZ. I wouldn't try them out, but I guess it's the right thing to say you should.
 
When you learn a better method, you don't need to know the entire thing to start doing solves. You can already solve it, so now you can do as much of the more advanced method as you know, and when you get to a position you don't know the advanced solution for, just do it your normal way. As you learn more of the method you can replace more and more of your beginner-style solution with a more efficient way of solving. A more advanced step may not even save time in the beginning - for instance, the F2L step of CFOP is pretty well known for slowing people down initially. But in the long run, as you get used to the more advanced way of solving, you will find yourself easily getting times that were totally out of reach before.

Even for a beginner method, though, 3 minutes is a lot of time. I'm sure with a good cube, and some practice, you could get down to about a minute without a huge amount of difficulty. That's one thing to understand - it is not all about your method, or the techniques you know, but there is a big component of practice and understanding the cube, and as you put more time into cubing you will find your times getting lower, even if you don't learn anything new. So don't worry about hitting a wall just yet, you have a long way to go :)
 
Like qqwref said, you shoukd be able to get your times to a minute pretty easily. I recommend doing this bevause 1. The beginners method isn't as inneficint as you think. I average about 17.5 with CFOP, but can easily get sub 25 times with the beginners method and 2. It?s best that you become more familiar with the cube before you move on to more advanced things. Although I personally use CFOP, I don't want you to be fooled into thinking it is the fastest method. Just because most fast solvers use it means nothing. Other methkds such as ZZ, Roux, and Petrus are also very fast, but are not as developed as CFOP because they are not as commonly used. Research these methods and choose whichever one fits you. Also, since you are just starting out, are you color neutral? If not, do you want to be? If you ever think down the road that you would ever even consider being color neutral, start now because it is easier now than later.
 
OK, I will continue with my beginner's method for a while in the meantime, I will try to figure out which method suits me best.

probably it will be so that I follow the tutorial that JasonDL13 told me about.

color neutral ?can you please explain a bit more and what are the advantages of being color neutral ?

thanks for all the tips.
 
OK, I will continue with my beginner's method for a while in the meantime, I will try to figure out which method suits me best.

probably it will be so that I follow the tutorial that JasonDL13 told me about.

color neutral ?can you please explain a bit more and what are the advantages of being color neutral ?

thanks for all the tips.

With color neutral you have 6 options as to where you would like to start and find the easiest cross. I am not color central and don't know if I will ever be. I find that I am faster when I focus on just solving the white side first. With that said that does not mean that I wouldn't be faster being color neutral with more practice. I say start being color neutral from the beginning and it will pay off in the end.

On another note. I just started this year and had a hard time memorizing algorithms. Most of the time I founds slow motion videos online or moving .GIFs to help me visualize the cube movements. CrazyBadCuber's slow motion PLL tutorial was a big help for me.
 
Like qqwref said, you shoukd be able to get your times to a minute pretty easily. I recommend doing this bevause 1. The beginners method isn't as inneficint as you think. I average about 17.5 with CFOP, but can easily get sub 25 times with the beginners method and 2. It?s best that you become more familiar with the cube before you move on to more advanced things. Although I personally use CFOP, I don't want you to be fooled into thinking it is the fastest method. Just because most fast solvers use it means nothing. Other methkds such as ZZ, Roux, and Petrus are also very fast, but are not as developed as CFOP because they are not as commonly used. Research these methods and choose whichever one fits you. Also, since you are just starting out, are you color neutral? If not, do you want to be? If you ever think down the road that you would ever even consider being color neutral, start now because it is easier now than later.

How do you manage sub-25 with beginners? I know Ben got sub-20, but that was with a skip.
 
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