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Forgetting PLL / OLL algs??

abr71310

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I'm learning full PLL right now (from 2-look --> 1-look) and I recently forgot (literally) how to perform a Z-perm when it came up on a solve...

I was stunned, obviously -- When I practiced my Z-perm when I first started cubing I was getting times of sub-3 on it!!! -- I can't REMEMBER it now?!?!?!

I just had to spend 20 minutes RELEARNING THAT STUPID ALG because i dunno, something might be wrong with my head...
But has this happened to anybody else?

How might I guarantee full remembrance of all the algs I currently know and later algs, so when I get to a contest I don't choke and epicly fail at life? :\\

EDIT:
It's quite notable that I actually took the DNF because I was at 30.33 and I was like... SERIOUSLY THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN SUB-35 (angry face).

EDIT 2:
I just got another sub-3 on my Z-perm... finally... HOPEFULLY I WONT FORGET IT NOW.
 
Last edited:

Kieran

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Constant practise.. Will happen all the time.. You may practise an algorithm 200 times, and then use it 200 times and 1 day you might not have used it for a couple of weeks and totally forget it.

There is no set way to gurantee full rememberance.. Every person is different, one person might need 20 times of doing it to remember it, others 2,000 times. I suggest learning all of them, then writing down all the inverses, performing it and then seeing if you can remember all of them.
 

teller

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This happens, don't sweat it. That frustration is actually part of the process of getting it stuck into long-term memory. You need to reach for it and not find it a few times in order for your brain to fully "care" about filing it permanently. When I was learning the OLL's, I welcomed such a Fail because it was a sign of an alg's "adolescence" so to speak, a necessary milestone on its way to permanence.

Of course your mileage may vary...some algs are just easy and some are just bastards.

It helps to have cues...look at what the first few moves do to the OLL or PLL pattern--what kind of damage do they do? This gives a supporting memory structure.

For the E-Perm, for example, it helps to associate its highly symmetrical pattern with the fact that it's alg is also very symmetrical--it pushes in all directions: Up-right, up-left, down-left, down-right. And really, once you start cranking on it your muscles will remember and finish it for you.
 

blgentry

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This definitely has happened to me quite a few times. I find two things are at work for me:

First, if I try to think about the exact moves involved in an alg, I can very rarely do it. Because my brain has internalized the moves, and just does them "on autopilot" when I tell it to. Trying to think of the exact moves confuses that part of the brain, and *poof* the alg is gone.

Second, for algs that I don't feel super comfortable with, this can happen much more easily. What other people have said about watching the blocks and/or individual pieces during a solve can really help. If you start to get confused, knowing which way the blocks are going to move can rescue the algorithm from failure. At least it works for me; especially on the R perms.

All I've written above is primarily about botching an alg during a solve, rather than actually forgetting one. But that's happened to me too. I forgot one of my OLLs and a few of my PLLs while trying to execute them, and had to do numerous trials to remember. It's a funny thing about the subconscious brain and things like this...

Brian.
 

Spyyder

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I was doing OH and got a G perm and I couldn't remember it, turns out that I forgot 3 of the G perms. So now if i dont see a PLL case for a while ill practice it some so i wont forget it.
 

JustinJ

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When I was memorizing the PLLs I forgot one of the corner cycles, which was really weird, because I was using it for my 2-look PLL for a while too.

I still bluff my way through the G's, and mess up on them maybe 5% of the time.
 

ImNOTnoob

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I rarely forget algs, now that i have memorised most of them.

Messing up on G perms are not really forgetting algs. It is just confusing.

The irritating thing is, the algs dont come out very often, so it is hard to practice them.
 

Sa967St

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The RU Z perm actually took me the longest to learn out of all the PLLs. I forgot it a lot too after I switched from the MU one to the RU one. I think it took me a few days to get used to using it in a solve without stopping to think about how it goes, so don't worry.
 

abr71310

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Ehh, I never used the M one, surprisingly enough; I found one on Dan Knight's sight that used BUR turns, then looked on Cube Explorer and found the fingertrick-friendly RU one, and I've been glued to that one ever since...

Strangely enough I practiced this Z perm like EVERY DAY for 4 hours (walking around my house, at school, EVERYWHERE!!!)... but i still forgot it! (Note that this is me learning full PLL too, so more algs to remember)...

Is there some sort of "capacity" as to how much CERTAIN minds can hold (as opposed to those brilliant speedcubers who can come up with commutators on the spot)??
 

blah

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I found one on Dan Knight's sight that used BUR turns, then looked on Cube Explorer and found the fingertrick-friendly RU one, and I've been glued to that one ever since...

This somehow suggests that Dan Knights' Z perm is not fingertrick-friendly.

I can easily sub-2 with Dan Knights' Z perm. So can loads of people.
 

cookingfat

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I recently forgot about the V-perm. I mean I forgot it existed and thought it was an A-Perm. I then realised that one of my A-perms always turned into a J-Perm, then I was like, "OH, the V-perm, I forgot about it !!"

When doing PLL attacks I mess up my G-perms, but I always get them right when solving, just doing the 4 in a row confuses me a lot.

I use the MU Z and H perms, so they are hard to forget as they are so easy.
 

holypasta

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I recently forgot (literally) how to perform a Z-perm

my mnemonic for Z-perm (assuming this is the one you use...)

M2 U M2 U M' U2 M2 U2 M' U2

it is clear that the alg is comprised of alternating M's and U's. So you just need to remember how many of each there are.

[(2 1) (2 1)] [1 2 (2 2) 1 2]
 
Last edited:

Thieflordz5

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This thread is so old!!! -- I practice the 2-gen R U Z-perm so much now that I can do it sleeping.

xD

I keep forgetting what each N-perm and R-perm does, but I figure it out JUST as I solve it ... xD

I just do a double-J N-perm, it's pretty easy... and I do it LH... not TOO much difference from my right hand, but I think I can get it faster.
 

JustinJ

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This thread is so old!!! -- I practice the 2-gen R U Z-perm so much now that I can do it sleeping.

xD

I keep forgetting what each N-perm and R-perm does, but I figure it out JUST as I solve it ... xD

I just do a double-J N-perm, it's pretty easy... and I do it LH... not TOO much difference from my right hand, but I think I can get it faster.

Wait, do you mean you do two J perms instead of an N perm?
 

Ellis

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This thread is so old!!! -- I practice the 2-gen R U Z-perm so much now that I can do it sleeping.

xD

I keep forgetting what each N-perm and R-perm does, but I figure it out JUST as I solve it ... xD

I just do a double-J N-perm, it's pretty easy... and I do it LH... not TOO much difference from my right hand, but I think I can get it faster.

Wait, do you mean you do two J perms instead of an N perm?

Sounds like J-perm U2 J-perm... but I duno, I'll let them answer that.
 
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