Hi, need a couple of pointers

[m1r0]

Hi, I just started doing rubiks cubes, and am using a beginner method. I have times of around 2:20, and don't make the cross on the bottom, don't use f2l, PLL, or OLL. Could someone give me somewhere to go to start improving my time? All the tutorials I see say you must have times of 1:10, but none say how to get there. Should I just practice beginner until I get good enough?

 

[jiggy]

If you want to stick with CFOP (Cross, First two layers, Orientation of the last layer, Permutation of the last later), why not dive straight into F2L? These are the best video tutorials out there:

Part 1
Part 2

However, you'd be missing out if you didn't play around with other methods as well, to get a feel for which one is right for you. CFOP (Fridrich), Roux and Petrus as the big three [EDIT: And ZZ, before I get told off for ignoring it again! =p]. I advise you to have a read around the wiki to see if they take your fancy.

One more thing: You may come across arbitrary time boundaries such as "you must have times of 1:10". Ignore them, they are meaningless. Learn what you want, when you want. Good luck! =)

 

[Cubenovice]

Instead of telling what you don't do...tell us what you do do ;-)

You are never too slow to start with a more advanced method. Just don't expect that switching methods will immediately reduce your times.

There are tons of great tutorials out there. A good place to start is Badmephisto's site>

 

[m1r0]

Ninja'd?

 

[Cubenovice]

Ninja'd?

When after posting your reply you find out that someone already has given the same answer while you were still typing...

 

[m1r0]

In badmephisto's tutorial, my corner cube is oriented in a different way than his is, and nothing he does works. Hmm, I'll have to figure that out.

 

[jiggy]

Have you watched the entire tutorial? He covers all the basic cases in it. No worries, just keep playing around with it. F2L is an intuitive process and the more you experiment with it, the better grasp you will have of it. If you find you do need specific help with something, you can always post a picture here and someone will help you out. =)

 

[freshcuber]

How long have you been solving? At 2:20 grasping how intuitive F2L works is gonna be pretty tricky. I had to watch the video three times when I started and my times were half yours. I would say practice beginners method. Although those times are pretty much arbitrary I feel as though switching to Fridrich isn't the best option. Just use your beginner's method until you can do it efficiently and without too many pauses. My beginners method was daisy->white cross->white corners->F2L edges->orient edges->orient corners->permute corners->permute edges. I averaged just sub-60 before I switched. Im not saying you're too slow to switch but if I were you I'd just practice beginners method until I was around 1:30 because by then you have a small understanding abouthow pieces move around the cube and what ends up where after certain moves.


Also, do you use wristy turns? Watch a video on finger tricks and it should help. Going from a wristy U to a finger flick U can substantially change times when applied throughout the solve and not fingertricking through F2L is a mistake. My friend learned F2L before fingertricks and now she's having pretty hard time adjusting.

 

[ArcticxWolf]

Just solve. You'll get better extremely quickly if you just practice.

 

[freshcuber]

Exactly what Arctic said. Just solving over and over is all you need. I went from my firsttme ever solving to ~1:15 in a week so once you're faster start learning new things but right now all you need to do is slave over and over.

 

[splinteh]

I'd say stick with the method you're using now until you're around 1:30

 

[Hiero]

Put a video up so we can see what method you are using. There may be some shortcuts with the method you are using that you don't know about.

 

[Rpotts]

[wiki]keyhole[/wiki]
[wiki]f2l[/wiki]

How to be sub20 thread

practice. Learn keyhole (maybe) then f2l, PLL then OLL if you want to continue using layer by layer.
If not -

[wiki]roux[/wiki]
[wiki]petrus[/wiki]
[wiki]mgls[/wiki]
[wiki]zz[/wiki]

 

[m1r0]

Ok, thanks. I've watched the tutorial on fridrich f2l, and I get it, but my times go up a minute when I try it. BTW: I just got a score below 2:00! YAY! Thanks everyone for your help. Oh, and I already knew a bout keyhole, just don't use it much.

 

[abctoshiro]

My friend averages sub-25 using beginner's F2L and 4LLL. He can sometimes sub-20, and his PB was 12.01 (I saw him and it was EPLL skip). He's fast, with full, fluid F2L (sub-15) and LL (sub-5 sometimes).

The only point I'm trying to get across is you don't need much to be fast. It's just practice that matters.

 

[Innocence]

0x4F3B
0x5D1A

Spoiler

A little slow, but couldn't resist.