[Member Intro] Hello cube family!!!

[Joe Matt]

Hey y'all,

My name is Joe Matt. I'm 42 and my son went to a birthday party and was giving a very small 3x3 cube as a gift. He wanted me to help him solve it. We looked up some Youtube videos and figured it out. That led to an original Rubiks cube which led to a lot of alg writting all over the place which turned into a Yuxin little magic and now a YJ MGC Elite Magnetic 3x3. My PB is 40.426 with top ten between there and 44.867. I just cant' seem to crack 40 which is leading me to try and learn F2L. At this point, while I understand the concept of F2L it slows me down a lot. I'm just taking time out of every day to practice it and still continuing my beginner method. It's super fun and has led me to join the forum here. There is still so much I don't unerstand as far as the terminology and proper way to progress but for now I'm just trying to be smooth and have lots of fun. I can't wait to break 40 seconds and then 35 and then hopefully 30. I usually average around 58 seconds though with flashes of brilliance and moments of embarassment. Thanks for reading and keep practicing.

 

[cuber314159]

Welcome

 

[CodingCuber]

Welcome! If you aren’t sure about F2L, learn 4-look last layer first.

 

[Joe Matt]

I believe that's what I'm doing right now. It definitely takes 4 looks to solve most the time once I've solved the first two layers. Good to know I'm on the right path. Thanks!

 

[PetrusQuber]

F2L slows you down at first, but is worth it long term . Keep practising!
Some tips for sub 30:
4LLL (full PLL if you want)
Fast cross, efficiency around 8 moves, try to plan out before solve (15 secs, but start with more inspection if needed)
Know all F2L cases, optimal algorithms
Work on fingertricks
Try lookahead a bit, pause less slow solving is better than staccato fast solving.

Try other methods too! That is CFOP/Fridrich, and beginner’s I assume is LBL (layer by layer)
Petrus
Roux
ZZ
Keywords to look up

 

[Joe Matt]

F2L slows you down at first, but is worth it long term . Keep practising!
Some tips for sub 30:
4LLL (full PLL if you want)
Fast cross, efficiency around 8 moves, try to plan out before solve (15 secs, but start with more inspection if needed)
Know all F2L cases, optimal algorithms
Work on fingertricks
Try lookahead a bit, pause less slow solving is better than staccato fast solving.

Try other methods too! That is CFOP/Fridrich, and beginner’s I assume is LBL (layer by layer)
Petrus
Roux
ZZ
Keywords to look up

Thanks so much for the tips! I do Layer by layer currently for certain currently. I will look into the other method's too.

I work with the trainer on the J-Perm website to try and get comfortable with more moves.

Trying to be smooth is the key for me. It's hard not to want to go faster sometimes but I recognize the importance. Thanks again.