Overall I think that you should focus, but not have to FORCE yourself to focus. Warmed up hands can really help too.
Focus must be better. I might just be that when you are focused you turn too fast and lock up. when you aren't focused, you turn slow and don't lock up. Try focusing and not lock up.
Would you say it's good training for more than just doing well in competitions? I would rather create an enviornment that's perfect for getting my absolute best times, even if it leaves me unprepared for bad solving environments. Perhaps it's a training technique that benefits BLD more than sighted solves, and that's why I've never run into an instance where it's useful? I can imagine that with BLD, you would still run into significant distractions even in perfect environments.I also believe very strongly in distraction training. I tell people who are in the room with me to never be quiet while I am cubing (even BLD) and instead to try to distract me. When I was still fast, my Dad would distract me during my solves but I could still focus on cubing. Try setting your alarm clock to go off 4-5 minutes into your AO12 and then don't turn it off until your average is done. That's very annoying but is good training.
Would you say it's good training for more than just doing well in competitions? I would rather create an enviornment that's perfect for getting my absolute best times, even if it leaves me unprepared for bad solving environments. Perhaps it's a training technique that benefits BLD more than sighted solves, and that's why I've never run into an instance where it's useful? I can imagine that with BLD, you would still run into significant distractions even in perfect environments.
my post will only be about solving at home in practice sessions; as i am far away of finding out how to get consistently good solves in competitions.
i find that talking about "focus"is the wrong approach here. this is what i have noticed:
when i have slept 10+ hours in the night and i am at my highest potential of thinking (quickly), it quite often happens to me that i think too much about the things i have to do well/the things i should avoid/my goals concerning cubing OR even completely different things.
whenever my thoughts wander to something important, my times get noticeably worse and i lose focus on the solve because my thoughts block my "flow" while solving. the reason why this happens is in my opinion that a perfectly preformance-capable mind just isn't needed at all to do proper solves. you only need a fraction of your thinking capacity for good lookahead. so when i sleep my average 7-8 hours and i worked at the day, solving in the evening while listening to chilled music, i tend to think about "nothing" and that is when the "flow" kicks in and i get my best times.
can anyone share this experience?