Beginner's Guide to Choosing a Speedsolving Method

OliverTwist said:
Hi,
I am at a cross roads in cubing.
I want to get around 10 seconds in any way,
My question is will fridrich or roux get me down to around 10 seconds faster?
I know fridrich can be like sub 7, but that takes ages with so many algs to learn!.
I want to know like how easy it is to learn roux down to around ten seconds compared to fridrich? Which is faster/easier?
Also if you learnt either method, let me know how long you took took get below 20 seconds with you method.
Thanks Fellow cubers.
Click to expand...

I am not sub 20, but I average around 23 seconds with CFOP. Don't call CFOP Fridrich as it wasn't invented by Jessica Fridrich. I learnt CFOP 2 1/2 months ago. I know Roux too and I like it(I might even switch to it). Roux can be sub 7 too. Roux and CFOP are pretty much the same speed, but I would say CFOP is a luckier method(In terms of PLL and OLL skips). CFOP is easier to learn and a easier step up from LBL. Don't look down on Roux though, it is very quick too. The thing about CFOP that I like more than Roux is that you don't have to look at the bottom in F2L most of the times. In Roux, you need good look ahead because you have to search around the cube a lot for pieces. I think go for CFOP is you are going to solve bigger cubes.
 
OliverTwist said:
Hi,
I am at a cross roads in cubing.
I want to get around 10 seconds in any way,
My question is will fridrich or roux get me down to around 10 seconds faster?
I know fridrich can be like sub 7, but that takes ages with so many algs to learn!.
I want to know like how easy it is to learn roux down to around ten seconds compared to fridrich? Which is faster/easier?
Also if you learnt either method, let me know how long you took took get below 20 seconds with you method.
Thanks Fellow cubers.
Click to expand...
Your Answer!
GuRoux said:
the main three are ROUX, fridrich and zz. Most people start with fridrich. Many of them switch to ROUX or zz. None from ROUX or zz ever switch to fridrich.
Click to expand...
Rous may be faster than CFOP as to low move count and you dont need high tps to be fast so your look ahead will be better. But CFOP and Roux are mostly the same with CFOP being purely algs while in roux you have to use a little bit brain!
 
PJKCuber said:
The thing about CFOP that I like more than Roux is that you don't have to look at the bottom in F2L most of the times. In Roux, you need good look ahead because you have to search around the cube a lot for pieces. I think go for CFOP is you are going to solve bigger cubes.
Click to expand...
I think if you've practised with Roux then lookahead isn't a problem, just like if you practise CFOP you won't need to rotate to look for pieces. You can use Roux on 3x3 and another method for bigcubes; quite a few people do that. But you are right, Roux isn't great for bigcubes, especially as they get larger.
CriticalCubing said:
Rous may be faster than CFOP as to low move count and you dont need high tps to be fast so your look ahead will be better. But CFOP and Roux are mostly the same with CFOP being purely algs while in roux you have to use a little bit brain!
Click to expand...
This post confuses me. What you're saying here is Roux is better than CFOP, but Roux is similar to CFOP, but they're actually completely different...
 
PJKCuber said:
Don't call CFOP Fridrich as it wasn't invented by Jessica Fridrich.
Click to expand...
Perhaps not, but she definitely helped to develop it, and also documented and popularised it, so I think people can call it Fridrich if they want :P
(especially seeing as people are successfully attaching their name to subsets/LS 'methods' requiring a lot less effort and development nowadays...)
 
I personally think that to ask you to choose now what method you are going to use on the long journey of getting sub 10 is a hard thing to do. You will only really know what you're truly better at and what suits you better when you are much much closer to that stage than you are now. Plus, the practice required to get sub 20 with any method will make you more skilled in that area than any talent cubing wise that you were born with.

When it comes down to it, CFOP has the most resources out there to help you with. But in the end, it's just the fundamental techniques that matter when it comes to becoming faster with certain methods, like lookahead or recognition or TPS (even though you'll develop the TPS to be sub 20 long before you actually are sub 20).

So for now, just pick what sounds the best to you. Don't listen to the roux elitists (kidding of course) and don't listen to people that tell you to pick certain methods. Obviously it will be pretty hard to get sub 10 with something like a corners first method or maybe Petrus, since no one has done it before, but between ZZ, Roux, and CFOP, pick whatever. It probably won't make a ton of difference.
 
Last edited:
The problem with cfop is that while fast it is pretty much brain dead. Algorithms are memorized more by how they feel than any sort of intellectual process.
Thinking is slow so this is a good way to do speed solving but it's defeats the purpose if the puzzle is intended to be a tool to sharpen your brain.
 
RobertFontaine said:
The problem with cfop is that while fast it is pretty much brain dead. Algorithms are memorized more by how they feel than any sort of intellectual process.
Thinking is slow so this is a good way to do speed solving but it's defeats the purpose if the puzzle is intended to be a tool to sharpen your brain.
Click to expand...

You can always look into multi-slotting and more advanced F2L techniques
 
StanleyCuber said:
Could someone explain the ZZ variants in a bit more detail? Are all of them useful to try out?
Click to expand...

For now, no. Don't even try messing with ZZ variants until you're at least sub-25 with ZZ. It's a complicated enough method to get your head around at first, so focus on learning the EOLine step for now if youre gonna try some ZZ
 
obelisk477 said:
For now, no. Don't even try messing with ZZ variants until you're at least sub-25 with ZZ. It's a complicated enough method to get your head around at first, so focus on learning the EOLine step for now if youre gonna try some ZZ
Click to expand...

I agree - someone should definitely make "Beginner's Guide to Choosing a ZZ Variant" thread though :P
 
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