<FU> or cube rotation + <RU>?

[Carson]

I am just starting to work on utilizing free slots in solving f2l and also in inserting corner edge pairs from various angles. I am having some issues with figuring out when cube rotations are ok and when they should be avoided. I "resurrected" this thread because it already has some info on this and was hoping that a few of you could jump in and give me some tips.

Previously, I had learned algorithms for all f2l cases... yes, I learned them ALL. This was back before I understood the concept of intuitive f2l. I later quit cubing for quite some time and forgot most of those f2l algorithms during my "vacation." This turned out to be a blessing in disguise however, as it provided me with the opportunity to finally go back and learn intuitive f2l. The problem I had there though was that I didn't truly learn it intuitively. I really just figured out all the cases and came up with my own algorithms. This worked ok for awhile, but I am to the point now that this is really slowing me down. I have tons and tons of cube rotations because I always insert the corner edge pair with the target slot either in the RF or LF position. This require me to rotate the cube until the slot is in the correct position and additionally to AUF until the edge and corner are where I want them to be. The amount of cube rotations involved really makes it hard to look ahead, so I also find myself searching for cubies that I had already found a few seconds earlier.

For the last couple of days I have been working on using NO cube rotations at all. I know that this is not really practical, as there are many times that cube rotations are both faster and easier than odd regrips and awkward fingertricks, but I wanted to develop the understanding to be able to do it even if it made things very slow.

I would now like to develop an understanding of when it truly does make sense to do a rotation and when it is faster to find a way to insert from the current angle. This, at first, seemed that it would be common sense... just do a rotation to avoid things like U B U' B' and U' B' U B. Now that I am solving slowly and thinking about each insertion carefully however, I am seeing that roughly half of my insertions would appear to be much easier and faster if I were to simply do rotations. I have watched many youtube videos and have watched plenty of fast cubers in person, and it appears to me that they don't do anywhere near that many rotations in the typical solve.

I am kind of at a loss as to where to go from here. Can anyone provide with some tips on avoiding rotations or some clarification as to when they are generally more acceptable?

 

[Zubon]

For this case, I use a few methods.

If the corner piece is above an empty slot, I use the empty slot to break up the pair and insert normally.

In the case where the corner is over the slot I want to insert in, I use 2 ways.

If it is the last F2L pair: (R U R' U2) (R U' R' U) (R U' R') FAST!

If there are other yet to be solved: y' (R' U R) U2 y' (L U L')

The second cube rotation is a y' which means that the pair will end up in the BL slot and I can go on to solve the front slots.

If the BL slot is filled, I know that there are no F2L pieces hiding there so it helps with the rest of the solve.

I don't like doing things such as R2 in F2L as it wrecks my lookahead.

 

[stiwi griffin]

d, d' or d2

 

[rubiknewbie]

d, d' or d2

I use d moves often but in this case it won't work for the normal algorithm.

 

[rubiknewbie]

I am just starting to work on utilizing free slots in solving f2l and also in inserting corner edge pairs from various angles. I am having some issues with figuring out when cube rotations are ok and when they should be avoided. I "resurrected" this thread because it already has some info on this and was hoping that a few of you could jump in and give me some tips.

Previously, I had learned algorithms for all f2l cases... yes, I learned them ALL. This was back before I understood the concept of intuitive f2l. I later quit cubing for quite some time and forgot most of those f2l algorithms during my "vacation." This turned out to be a blessing in disguise however, as it provided me with the opportunity to finally go back and learn intuitive f2l. The problem I had there though was that I didn't truly learn it intuitively. I really just figured out all the cases and came up with my own algorithms. This worked ok for awhile, but I am to the point now that this is really slowing me down. I have tons and tons of cube rotations because I always insert the corner edge pair with the target slot either in the RF or LF position. This require me to rotate the cube until the slot is in the correct position and additionally to AUF until the edge and corner are where I want them to be. The amount of cube rotations involved really makes it hard to look ahead, so I also find myself searching for cubies that I had already found a few seconds earlier.

For the last couple of days I have been working on using NO cube rotations at all. I know that this is not really practical, as there are many times that cube rotations are both faster and easier than odd regrips and awkward fingertricks, but I wanted to develop the understanding to be able to do it even if it made things very slow.

I would now like to develop an understanding of when it truly does make sense to do a rotation and when it is faster to find a way to insert from the current angle. This, at first, seemed that it would be common sense... just do a rotation to avoid things like U B U' B' and U' B' U B. Now that I am solving slowly and thinking about each insertion carefully however, I am seeing that roughly half of my insertions would appear to be much easier and faster if I were to simply do rotations. I have watched many youtube videos and have watched plenty of fast cubers in person, and it appears to me that they don't do anywhere near that many rotations in the typical solve.

I am kind of at a loss as to where to go from here. Can anyone provide with some tips on avoiding rotations or some clarification as to when they are generally more acceptable?

In theory, I know that when the pair is connected, you can ALWAYS avoid cube rotation (including d turns) by doing RF or RB type moves (eg R'FRF'). However I have no idea how to avoid cube rotation when the pair is disconnected in some cases depending on angles.

In speedsolving, however, it is much more difficult to avoid cube rotation. I always do it instinctively which results in a lot of cube rotations. It is difficult to do in speed what I know in theory.