Competition Times

[Jont828]

Hey! I've been cubing for about a few months now, and I'm interested in getting interested in going to a competition. My current 3x3 average is around 42 seconds, and my best is 26. How much further do I have to lower my average to have a decent shot at competing? Also, I am using a Dayan Zhanchi since I heard a lot about it when I was doing research on getting my first speedcube.

 

[Lazy Einstein]

Depends on the comp. But I'd say 20 seconds plus and you can expect to not past a first round. So 20 sec ave min to have a good chance.

You can always look at past competitions here. https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/results/competitions.php

Go anyway. They are fun. Compete with yourself; don't worry about others yet. When you get good enough you can start paying attention to other people's times.

 

[Phillip1847]

when I read times, I thought it was some newspaper or something. haha

Sub 10 minutes is recommended to go to a competition.
A decent shot at competing? Well, depending on the competition, you could average around 20 seconds and get into the second round. Sometimes you should average 15. Depends.
I wouldn't worry about competing for times, but the experience.

Also, if you are talking about winning, sub 10 averages normally win a comp.

 

[Rocky0701]

I haven't been to a competition yet, but i can tell you, 42 seconds is perfectly fine for a competition. I have heard of people that go that average over a minute and have a great time. Most people don't actually go to a competition to compete. They go so that they can meet other cubers, and talk to people. Your Zhanchi should be great to use! As far as actually having a great shot at "competing" as in beating other people and placing good, it really will just depend on how many people are going to be at the comp. and how fast they are. Just practice and you should be able to get to around 35 average in a few weeks if you are really motivated. Good luck!

 

[Jont828]

Alright, thanks! So I guess I'll sit tight for now shoot for a sub20-30 average! Also, sorry if this is a stupid question, but how do competitions work? You guys kept mentioning stuff about "rounds." BTW I live in a place with very few cubers so any competitions I go to will probably be on a relatively small scale.

@Rocky

Haha, yeah that makes the competitions sound a lot more relaxed and easygoing than my SC All State Band Auditions where everyone's relentlessly trying to fight each other for a spot. But where I live I'll probably have to drive a few hours to get to a competition, so I wont be able to go very often and I wanted to be sure I wouldn't be far behind everybody else.

 

[Rocky0701]

Alright, thanks! So I guess I'll sit tight for now shoot for a sub20-30 average! Also, sorry if this is a stupid question, but how do competitions work? You guys kept mentioning stuff about "rounds." BTW I live in a place with very few cubers so any competitions I go to will probably be on a relatively small scale.

As far as rounds, it just means like if there are 20 cubers and 3 rounds, then everyone will compete in an average of 5 (5 solves are done, the fastest and slowest are removed and the remaining 3 are averaged) in the first round and some of the people that are slower will get eliminated, for example 8 are eliminated, so then the 12 faster cubers will compete in round 2 where maybe 7 are knocked out, and then the 5 that are left in the 3rd round compete, and whoever is fastest wins. Also, a tip would be don't try to cram a bunch of algs right before a comp. so that you can get faster, for example, don't try to learn full PLL or OLL 3 days before a comp, because then you will end up with the timer going during a solve and take 10 seconds to try to recognize or remember and algorithm.

 

[kcl]

You can go to a comp with whatever times you like. Generally the max I've seen make a second round is 20ish, I usually see 15-18 being the cutoff. Just go. Have fun.

 

[Jont828]

I haven't been to a competition yet, but i can tell you, 42 seconds is perfectly fine for a competition. I have heard of people that go that average over a minute and have a great time. Most people don't actually go to a competition to compete. They go so that they can meet other cubers, and talk to people. Your Zhanchi should be great to use! As far as actually having a great shot at "competing" as in beating other people and placing good, it really will just depend on how many people are going to be at the comp. and how fast they are. Just practice and you should be able to get to around 35 average in a few weeks if you are really motivated. Good luck!

Haha, thanks a lot, man! I've been practicing a lot lately and I've gotten my average down to around 33-38 seconds, but I do sometimes go over 40 if I don't do a good job of keeping track of the F2L pairs. I've learned 2 Look OLL and some PLL algorithms, and I think my next move will be to get comfortable with them and learn the full PLL algorithms. Again, thanks!

 

[Christmas]

Haha, thanks a lot, man! I've been practicing a lot lately and I've gotten my average down to around 33-38 seconds, but I do sometimes go over 40 if I don't do a good job of keeping track of the F2L pairs. I've learned 2 Look OLL and some PLL algorithms, and I think my next move will be to get comfortable with them and learn the full PLL algorithms. Again, thanks!

That was the same with me, infact my first competition I was averaging around 33 seconds and I believe I had a bad solve that was 40+. If there is a competition near you definitely go, it's a lot of fun and you might be able to get some tips from fellow cubers!

 

[newtonbase]

I'm slower than you and I'm going to a competition as soon as there is one I can get to. Oxford would be good but my wife is giving birth around that date and I don't think she'd be too happy if I missed it. My target is to come "not last" but it's a tall order.

 

[cubingawsumness]

Really, just go if you can. There may be lots of people faster than you, but it's not like people are going to make fun of you for being slow. Go to meet people, talk to people, just to get some official times, and to have fun. At Berkeley Spring 2014, 107 people competed in 3x3 Round 1, and only 29 got sub-20 averages in the first round. Sub-20 is definitely not what you have to be to go to a competition.

 

[SPCOxion]

I coincidentally came here to ask the exact same question, haha.
It's my city's first competition, and I think I'm gonna go.
I average 45 seconds, and my best is 31.
I don't plan to go to state or national, I just want to compete, really.
Do you guys think that's fast enough for a city's first competition?

 

[Rocky0701]

I coincidentally came here to ask the exact same question, haha.
It's my city's first competition, and I think I'm gonna go.
I average 45 seconds, and my best is 31.
I don't plan to go to state or national, I just want to compete, really.
Do you guys think that's fast enough for a city's first competition?

That is definitely fast enough! Comps. are mostly just to meet other cubers, trade tips/puzzles and just have fun. Just go!

 

[Kit Clement]

I coincidentally came here to ask the exact same question, haha.
It's my city's first competition, and I think I'm gonna go.
I average 45 seconds, and my best is 31.
I don't plan to go to state or national, I just want to compete, really.
Do you guys think that's fast enough for a city's first competition?

Yes, go, and have fun!