F2L and lookahead guide - example solves - not a video.

[Weston]

I've been trying some Rowany stuff :3

F D' R' B' F' U B2 L2 F B R' L2 U F' U' F D2 L B F' U' R F2 U2 F'

Cross: F U' R U' R2 U ' x2
First F2L pair + pairing up second: U [R] L U L' [U R']
Insert second pair: U' R U2 R' Insert second pair.
Last two pairs: y U L U' R U R' U L'
25 moves

 

[Escher]

Very nice, pretty much exactly what I would have first thought to do

My solution, in order to get out a few fun tricks:

F D' R' B' F' U B2 L2 F B R' L2 U F' U' F D2 L B F' U' R F2 U2 F'

x-cross: z2 R2 F' D R' y' u L' u' (7)
1st pair: R U' R' (10)
2nd pair: u U L U' L' u' (16)
Kinda intuitive ZB: U2 L U y' R U' R' U F' (24)

 

[Toad]

I just had a great read through all the examples in this thread then was inspired to turn to qqtimer and give it a go myself. This is what I came up with:

Would really appreciate opinions as I think it's really nice.

B D L U2 R2 U F2 U L' F U D' L D2 F2 U R2 L U' F' U F2 B2 R B2

y' D' L2 D' U' R L' // The U' connects the pair, I then notice a great possibility of a double xcross while still preserving the pair:
L' U L2 U' L' y' R U' R' D2 // Now I see that I can setup a 3 mover for the next case with a simple pre-move before inserting this one:
B R U' R' // insert last pair with edges oriented:
y U R' U' y L' U L // Anti-sune to R perm, not a bad LL.

F2L, when cancelling the L' L' for the xcross, is 23 moves.

 

[rishidoshi]

This was good stuff Rowan! i liked it.. btw i feel that text description shudnt be discontinued if ur making videos. ur stuff can become like a "handbook of tricks". I printed this and "spent quality time" looking fwd to more solves.
Cheers!

 

[Pachonk]

Just can't seem to get F2L lookahead

I've been cubing for many years, but I just started getting serious about August.

No matter how much I try, I just can't seem to get lookahead at all. I get it only when I move really extremely slow.

I have read/watched just about every tutorial I've been able to find and just can't get it.

Am I missing something? What's the best way to practice look ahead when I just can't get it?

I average about 45 seconds, 30-35 seconds is Cross+F2L. The rest is 2-Look OLL and 2-Look PLL.

Thank you,
Pachonk

 

[uyneb2000]

practice moar. That's really all I can say, honestly. It may take a while until you get the hang of it. Don't time your solves, just analyze how you solve it.

 

[ScottyDoesntCube]

It's something I've been working on for a few months now myself and I'm just now starting to get good solves where I don't, or rarely, pause during F2L. Usually my downfall is a lack of focus or I'm turning too quickly to look ahead. Going a bit slower and making smoother transitions between pairs will help reduce your time and eventually you can speed it up a bit.

 

[Bunyanderman]

I don't think looking ahead is important at your solving times, if you try to solve the cube with fast moves/better fingertricks than you can improve to 18-22 seconds with out needing to look ahead. When you have a high move count for a F2L case look on the wiki for the lowest move count(an algorithm,) to solve that case and many others. There are 42 different F2L cases (standard cases) and i bet you 30 of the cases could definitely be improved. Just try to improve recognition of each case and finger tricks/lower move count to solve them, and when you are in the low 20's then you can improve on look ahead.

 

[TheOneOnTheLeft]

Practise at that extremely slow speed, making sure you can consistently solve F2L without pausing, and then slowly speed up from there, always making sure you don't have to pause during F2L before increasing your turning speed.

Also, I gather most people don't start working on lookahead until at least sub-30, so maybe what you need is the familiarity with F2L cases that more practice brings. Try solving cross, and then finding your first corner and edge, then trying to pair and insert those two pieces with your eyes closed. If you can't do that for all F2L cases, I'd recommend just starting to learn full PLL instead. Once you're done with that, you should be more familiar with your F2L cases, and starting to look ahead should be easier.

 

[applemobile]

IMO don't bother untill you are faster. You an only look ahead once you can do each F2l case without thinking about it, and I would suggest that you are not at that point yet.
When you are ready, I would suggest you don't look at individual pieces, rather almost starte through the cube, not concentrating on one part, at some point you will be able to see all the pieces rather than just the one you are staring at. I am much better at looking ahead when I am tired, because my brain doesn't try to focus on one part if the cube.

 

[Bhargav777]

<3