Holding the cube while solving

[chris410]

Does anyone have a tutorial or advice on how to hold the cube while solving? I have tried various ways however, I have not found a good way to hold the cube to help reduce lock-ups. I have not given up and I am always experimenting however, I wanted to know if anyone had tips on ways to improve.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[cmhardw]

Allow the R and U layers to turn without having to reposition your grip hand (reflect this if you're lefty). If you're locking up still then try tightening your grip, also try doing the moves with your other hand less forcefully. This kind of thing, getting used to not locking up, is sadly a practice kind of situation. But try some of these and see if they help, at least a bit.

Chris

 

[nigtv]

I believe there's a piece of advice from the fridrich site which says "cube lighly". Wherever I read that, is was extremely helpful, it's easy to hold on to the cube way too tightly when you are doing 2 gens, for instance.

 

[chris410]

I will try a tighter grip, that does make sense because I notice that I tend to hold the cube with a couple of fingers. For instance, at times when I am making a F turn, I will place my middle left finger on top with left thumb on bottom then turn the F face with my right index finger, when I try to make an R or D movement, that's when I get a lock up. Of course, there are other times as well. When I watch some of the videos, they are too fast to study the hand movement hence, why I am asking this. It seems trivial however, more and more I see this costing me time because on just about every solve I lock (my fault not my cube) and have to adjust, at times this leads to errors or pauses which throw my timing off.

Again, thank you for the input!

 

[tlm1992]

When i saw the title of this thread, my first thought was: "Yeah, that would be smart," I agree with Chris, though.

 

[chris410]

I know it seems like a very trivial question however, as I am improving, I realize that turning the cube smoothly is a lot more challenging than it appears to be. I will make sure and compile the tips and information and put together a tutorial once I have acquired enough information to help myself and others.

Again, any input is greatly appreciated!

 

[cmhardw]

For instance, at times when I am making a F turn, I will place my middle left finger on top with left thumb on bottom then turn the F face with my right index finger, when I try to make an R or D movement, that's when I get a lock up.

This is one thing that stood out to me. If I had to do F followed by D, so my alg included an F D I would do it this way.

My left hand is still in "standard grip". So My thumb is on the lower left 2x2 of stickers on the F face, and my left middle and ring fingers are on the 2x2 of stickers on the B face behind the one where my thumb is. Before starting the trigger though you would "twist" your hand into what I call "half-grip" or "high-grip". Basically your left thumb touches only the F center and the F sticker of FL. Your left middle finger touches only the B center and the B sticker of BL. So make sure you are in "high-grip".

To do the F turn I would simply loosen the grip with my left hand thumb to about half pressure, then pull the F face by pressing my right index finger down on the U sticker of UFR. Your thumb never leaves the F face, and the face simply spins underneath your thumb. Make sure your thumb is holding loosely enough to allow this to happen. Now pull the D layer using your left hand ring finger by pulling on the B sticker of BDL.

For F D' do the F turn the same, but push on the L sticker of BDL using your left ring finger, or pull on the B sticker of BDR using your right ring finger.

Just some ideas. There is no need at all for a cube regrip for turns involding F followed by turns involving D. See if this helps maybe?

Chris

 

[chris410]

This helps quite a bit and is very interesting as far as the technique of allowing the cube to turn VS removing my finger from the face, fortunately, I have a cube in office so I was able to try this out.

What you just pointed out keeps my fingers in position where before, I had to re-grip the cube hence, adding at least half to a full second for that movement alone. Also, I just grabbed the cube and noticed that I was holding the cube with the thumb on the lower left F 2x2 however, on the back I was holding with the index and middle finger so a U' would require a re-grip. I think I just stumbled upon a completely new aspect of cubing that with some practice should help.

So, if I understand correctly, the "standard" position begins with both hands holding the cube with the front left thumb on the lower F 2x2 and left middle/ring finger on the bottom B 2x2. On the right side, the mirror, front right thumb on the lower right 2x2 and middle/ring finger on the B lower right 2x2.

This is great, I think I need to break down the movements and identify each instance where I run into lockups. Typically, I only have problems when forming the cross and executing the OLL/PLL cases since I try to execute them quickly. I will take some time over lunch to run through some solves and ask some more detailed advice. Yet again, thank you!

 

[chris410]

I performed a few solves with an old store bought cube which turns horribly, I figured this would be an excellent candidate to test out the different methods. The F and F' turns with the thumb made a big difference, instead of having to re-grip the cube I was able to perform them quickly. I will need to practice with the Fw and Fw' turns however, I see the idea of making the move with minimal re-grip positions, I will work on this with the metronome training I have been doing lately. I will also study some of the videos and see if I can capture the various other hand positions as well.

 

[iSpinz]

F' with index.

 

[chris410]

F' with index.

Apologies, I was referencing Chris's suggestion of holding the cube such that the left thumb is in the left lower 2x2 and the ring middle left on the back lower 2x2, when turning the F and F' positioning the left thumb on the front center and allowing pressure so that the turn say, F can be executed with the right index finger. Prior to this, I was moving my entire hand to hold the left top/back 2x2 and bottom back 2x2 so that simple move required me to completely move my hand, now thanks to Chris's suggestion, I can execute the move without having to reposition my hand.

I am working on taking those concepts and improving my turning and hopefully, eventually reducing the amount of lock ups I have. I think if I ever hope to improve my times to below 30 or high/mid 20's that my turning methods will need to become far more efficient than they are now.

 

[iSpinz]

I'll make a tut.

 

[chris410]

I'll make a tut.

Excellent...it would be greatly appreciated!

 

[iSpinz]

Here you go. I just did some slow algs and fingertricks for demonstration.
]

 

[chris410]

Thank you!....I am downloading it now...and breaking out the note book to make some notes so that I can begin modifying the way I currently hold the cube...which is horrible!

Very well done thank you! I hope the other beginners who are serious about getting faster times take the time to watch this.

 

[Kian]

Thank you!....I am downloading it now...and breaking out the note book to make some notes so that I can begin modifying the way I currently hold the cube...which is horrible!

Very well done thank you! I hope the other beginners who are serious about getting faster times take the time to watch this.

If I recall correctly you were one of the people in the DC Open thread. Since you're going to be there, I would suggest you ask some questions about this to some of the cubers there. Watching might also help, but it may be less helpful than a slow explanation.

And if you don't feel like asking people without knowing them, feel free to ask me anything you'd like there. Not that I'm super fast like some of the people going, but if I can be of any help I would be happy to answer your questions.

 

[chris410]

Thank you!....I am downloading it now...and breaking out the note book to make some notes so that I can begin modifying the way I currently hold the cube...which is horrible!

Very well done thank you! I hope the other beginners who are serious about getting faster times take the time to watch this.

If I recall correctly you were one of the people in the DC Open thread. Since you're going to be there, I would suggest you ask some questions about this to some of the cubers there. Watching might also help, but it may be less helpful than a slow explanation.

And if you don't feel like asking people without knowing them, feel free to ask me anything you'd like there. Not that I'm super fast like some of the people going, but if I can be of any help I would be happy to answer your questions.

I appreciate your offer and will certainly take you up on it! One of the main reasons I am going is to meet other cubers and watch the fast people solve, I look forward to it. I am pretty out going so I am hoping to meet a lot of you and learn as much as I can as well. I am looking forward to this!

 

[Edward]

Here you go. I just did some slow algs and fingertricks for demonstration.
(Video)

We do our algs so differently wow.

 

[iSpinz]

Here you go. I just did some slow algs and fingertricks for demonstration.
(Video)

We do our algs so differently wow.

You use the same ones?

 

[chris410]

Update: I changed up the way I hold the cube, of course I am very slow since it feels awkward and I am still learning however, the execution is already much smoother. I think with some practice the simple act of turning and executing algorithms will help a great deal. I also notice that it helps with looking ahead, I am not focused as much on my hands so I am able to spend that focus on looking ahead. All that being said, I can see that I will need to work on this, not as easy as you experts make it look!