Help with improving time to sub 20

[Jowhoof]

I've been doing this sort of thing on and off for about 2 years. In that time I've gotten my average to about 22 seconds using Fridrich, but I want to know how I can really move forward from here.

I've done a theoretical average by taking the average of 12 for every individual step (This includes inspection time before each step)

Cross: 3.70
F2L: 11.01
OLL: 1.86
PLL: 2.99
Theoretical Average: 19.56

My best time is 17.78 (no OLL or PLL skips) but I can't ever expect to get the fastest OLLs and PLLs every time.
I know how to improve my OLL and PLL since I'm still using 2 look on OLL (except for maybe a handful of cases) and I only know 17 of the 21 PLLs

But where do I go with my cross and my F2L? Has anyone got any drills that will be really helpful in improving my times? I get I have to practise, but practise what exactly? And how?

Thanks in advance

 

[ben1996123]

practise, look ahead, metronome.

 

[NaeosPsy]

Metronome isn't so neccesary, just practice turning slower.
Full PLL for sure, and Full OLL slowly.
Do a 10,000 or 4,200 solve a month maraton here in speedsolving, it really helps much.

 

[Hunter]

For me the metronome does not work at all, because I end up doing random moves to try and look for pieces. :fp

IMO, though, the best way to move forward is into Roux. You wont need to learn as many algs so you can practice solving more.

 

[HelpCube]

For me the metronome does not work at all, because I end up doing random moves to try and look for pieces. :fp

Then make the metronome slower.

Your cross is fairly slow, you could definitely work on that. Obviously finish learning PLL, and slowly learn full OLL. Your F2L isn't too bad, just try to focus on the next F2L pair, rather than the one you are currently inserting.

 

[ajayd]

Oh my god, Hunter, stop trying to convert people to Roux as the answer to every problem. It's getting kind of ridiculous.

 

[waffle=ijm]

Oh my god, Hunter, stop trying to convert people to Roux as the answer to every problem. It's getting kind of ridiculous.

it's a roux phase. everyone did it at one point but yeah I agree with you. it's getting stupid

 

[PeelingStickers]

Not inb4 roux posts.


You're about where I am, I'm very nearly sub-20. I know 2-look OLL but whenever I get a 1 look skip I will usually always get a sub-20 time. Which is why I'm recommending myself and you to learn full OLL. Also turn slowly during F2L. I find turning at half speed solves F2L in the same amount of time as fullspeed. t works, and you don't pause so the solve feels good

 

[applemobile]

When doing your time break downs, try getting a time for cross +1 f2l slot as well. Also full last layer. Means a lot more.

 

[userman]

Go for full PLL, and as you learn full OLL you can train F2L. It is super effective!

 

[WBCube]

4 Seconds is a bit slow for a cross, isn't it? Use your 15 seconds of inspection time wisely, know exactly the moves you need to do to form your cross, and don't waste any time when executing them. It's not that difficult to reduce your cross time to around 2 seconds at all!

And if you aren't color neutral, be color neutral.

 

[Jowhoof]

4 seconds for a cross is really good for me. I'd be happy if I could do that every session, but it just happened that these 12 did me quite well.

How would I go about improving my cross? I can't visualise very well in my head how to do the moves. I mean I can't visualise in my head very well in general if I'm honest. Obviously learning oll and pll is important but I want to know what sort of other drills will be really useful for improving F2L, or is just using a metronome to force you to go slow the only way forward?

 

[Akiro]

Your OLL and PLLs are quite good at your speed. So you need to work on the cross and the f2l.

You can improve your cross by placing the pieces so they are relatively correct to the others and also learn to transform "good" edges into "bad" edges.
This video explains these two tricks pretty well :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcacSzrpMg8&feature=plcp

And for the F2L, what really helped me is to do slow turning resolutions to understand more the movement of the pieces.
By stopping right before inserting a pair (before the RUR' or RU'R'), looking at where your next pair pieces (corner + edge) are, and then closing your eyes, trying to predict where the edge and the corner are gonna end after the RUR' / RU'R' moves. Once you have a better understanding of how the pieces move during the F2L, it is a lot easier to track them and your look ahead improves.

 

[BlueDevil]

4 seconds for a cross is really good for me. I'd be happy if I could do that every session, but it just happened that these 12 did me quite well.

How would I go about improving my cross? I can't visualise very well in my head how to do the moves. I mean I can't visualise in my head very well in general if I'm honest. Obviously learning oll and pll is important but I want to know what sort of other drills will be really useful for improving F2L, or is just using a metronome to force you to go slow the only way forward?

Practice cross. Just do a lot of solves, but pay close attention to the way pieces move and try to find more efficient ways to make the cross.
Check out this video for cross as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTydBg21aaw&feature=plcp

Also, your average for PLL should not be 3 seconds. Practice executing them and over time, your fingers will start moving faster.

The more you practice, the more you improve in your ability to be efficient, understand the cube, and move your fingers faster (even if you don't put much conscious effort into it).

 

[ncube]

Force yourself to solve the cross blindfolded, and if you have trouble, you can use Cube Explorer to find the optimal cross for any scramble. This can give you a better understanding about how the cross pieces interact.
For f2l, just practice fluidity. Make it your goal for every solve to turn without pauses. At this point, you only need flow, and not so much speed. Metronoming didn't work for me, but it's good to have an internallized metronome in your head when you're starting to get good at f2l. If you master a slow turn speed without pauses, increase your speed a bit and practice more. repeat. repeat.
OLL: Full OLL, in time, they will become faster
PLL: Full PLL, drill every Pll independently and make them sub-2 for now. After that, time will make them faster.
For both OLL and PLL, if you have any that are ridiculously slow, this is a good point for you to replace them.

 

[peterbone]

Did you write the correct average time for your OLL in your original post? That seems fast compared to your other times especially for 2 look. Also, the breakdown times add up to around 19s, not 22.
Anyway, it seems that you should be able to improve your F2L the most. Do you pause a lot, do you insert from different angles or do you rotate the cube a lot?

 

[applemobile]

Did you write the correct average time for your OLL in your original post? That seems fast compared to your other times especially for 2 look. Also, the breakdown times add up to around 19s, not 22.
Anyway, it seems that you should be able to improve your F2L the most. Do you pause a lot, do you insert from different angles or do you rotate the cube a lot?

Those times were taken individually, I.e with inspection times before. So the 3 seconds that have been gained are his pauses/recognition times.

 

[Jowhoof]

Did you write the correct average time for your OLL in your original post? That seems fast compared to your other times especially for 2 look. Also, the breakdown times add up to around 19s, not 22.
Anyway, it seems that you should be able to improve your F2L the most. Do you pause a lot, do you insert from different angles or do you rotate the cube a lot?

It was a very good session for OLL I'd say, I'm partial 2-look I know maybe close to half OLL cases, certainly not more. I'm trying to cut down the pauses but yeah they are often enough. And for a few cases I'm quite good at not rotating and there are some that are just awkward to do from a reverse angle for example.