F2L order

[chris410]

I searched around and did not see my question below specifically addressed so if it was, please post the link and accept my apology in advance. If not, here is my question.

When transitioning from the cross (bottom) to F2L, would be be helpful to work on a particular set of corners? I find that my speed suffers from tracking the solved corners and at times I feel that if I solved them in order or at least started with a particular corner or pair of corners that it might help. I wanted to get some insight from those who are more advanced than me as to whether or not this is worth working on. I am practicing look ahead however, I wanted to get some feedback on this idea.

Thanks in advance!

 

[iSpinz]

No. If you could not find answers, chance is no one uses it.

 

[Zarxrax]

Just go for whichever pair you see first. If you don't see a pair, then just choose a piece, and then find its matching piece.

 

[Hyprul 9-ty2]

Nope, just track a random corner/edge during cross making and start from there.
Sometimes the corner you always start with could be in a really bad situation

 

[chris410]

Thanks, I played around with it for a bit and it did not work very well however, I wanted to get input from those who are at a more advanced level. I will continue working on the look ahead and solving with minimal cube rotations.

Again, thanks everyone!

 

[kickinwing2112]

In my opinion, cross to F2l transition is the most important and difficult look ahead. I think it can dictate the flow of your solve more easily than any other factor. Any thoughts?

 

[chris410]

In my opinion, cross to F2l transition is the most important and difficult look ahead. I think it can dictate the flow of your solve more easily than any other factor. Any thoughts?

I try to track a corner while planning or solving the cross, that seems to help. My problem is continuing the look ahead through the entire F2L.

I am sure the experts will have some good advice!

 

[rubiknewbie]

I searched around and did not see my question below specifically addressed so if it was, please post the link and accept my apology in advance. If not, here is my question.

When transitioning from the cross (bottom) to F2L, would be be helpful to work on a particular set of corners? I find that my speed suffers from tracking the solved corners and at times I feel that if I solved them in order or at least started with a particular corner or pair of corners that it might help. I wanted to get some insight from those who are more advanced than me as to whether or not this is worth working on. I am practicing look ahead however, I wanted to get some feedback on this idea.

Thanks in advance!

I don't practice it (cos I am not advanced enough) but I know very fast people who do that like Rowan (Escher) and Breandan Vallance I think they always do BL slot 1st then BR or something. Take note these are very advanced solvers.

For normal people, we just find ANY solvable pair and be happy with it.

 

[rubiknewbie]

In my opinion, cross to F2l transition is the most important and difficult look ahead. I think it can dictate the flow of your solve more easily than any other factor. Any thoughts?

Yes it is extremely important and often the bottleneck.

 

[blah]

To my knowledge, Breandan Vallance (go look him up if you don't already know his significance) does his F2L slots in a "slightly fixed" order.

 

[chris410]

I watched the "look ahead" videos posted in a different thread and it had a lot of good advice. I can see where specifying a pair may not be the most efficient method. As a beginner, I think I need to take a step back and focus on slowing down, when I spot a pair, I can place it quickly however, in doing so I am getting ahead of my look ahead which causes me to pause which in turn is adding probably a good 10 seconds if not more to my F2L. I've also noticed that my fastest solves happened when I slowed down on my F2L. I think I need to focus on the basics before getting ahead of myself. Thanks everyone...your insights have been extremely helpful!

 

[joey]

Breandan always does the BL slot first, then BR then FL or FR.

(nearly always)

 

[brunson]

I don't practice it (cos I am not advanced enough) but I know very fast people who do that like Rowan (Escher) and Breandan Vallance I think they always do BL slot 1st then BR or something. Take note these are very advanced solvers.

For normal people, we just find ANY solvable pair and be happy with it.

Learning to slot in the back is a great skill to develop. It allows you to solve with fewer cube rotations and maintains better visibility of the unsolved corners in front.

 

[Toad]

Breandan always does the BL slot first, then BR then FL or FR.

(nearly always)

I did not know this.

 

[chris410]

I don't practice it (cos I am not advanced enough) but I know very fast people who do that like Rowan (Escher) and Breandan Vallance I think they always do BL slot 1st then BR or something. Take note these are very advanced solvers.

For normal people, we just find ANY solvable pair and be happy with it.

Learning to slot in the back is a great skill to develop. It allows you to solve with fewer cube rotations and maintains better visibility of the unsolved corners in front.

Interesting, my thought was to form a pattern for F2L to develop a method of structure similar to the cross and OLL/PLL. Currently, my cross is OK and my OLL/PLL (2-look) are my strong points, the F2L is my weak point and I believe is what currently holds me back from better times. To address this, I have started to work on the look-ahead so I am taking a step back to slow down and develop that skill. I think once I improve I will return to this and experiment, I feel that if I can consistently solve two sets of F2L it will help with edge/corner tracking since the pieces will either reside on the U layer or either of the unsolved 2L locations. As far as the bad pairs, I think that having 3 areas free would allow for greater manipulation of the corner/edge pairs.

For now, I will continue to work on look-ahead to hopefully bring my times down. The video I watched made an excellent point about solving two edges quickly however, not tracking the other pairs caused me to pause which continually added time and forced me to address the corner/edge each time so basically I have been working against myself. Of course, thanks to the input here I know what direction to go.