How can I improve my 4x4 times?

Tac

Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2012
Messages
6
Hey guys. Three days ago I got my first 4x4 and am consistently getting around 5mins, which i think is bad. My cube is an eastsheen and I use 2 pair edging but my centers are really slow, around 1 minute! Any help would be good but center focused would be great.

I have just solved my first 5x5 ¦-).
 
I am stuck at 2:30. But for centers look at stefan pochmann's centers. Basically:
1. D-center
2. Make 2x1 blocks at d
3. Use U face to solve remaining centers

If you want an example solve of this, Ill be happy to, just give me a scramble.
 
I don't mind centres or CFOP stage, it's more the edge pairing for me. MY average is consistently 2 minutes or sub 2, however I can get sub 1:30 solves easily by using 3-2-2-2-3 if the cases work out right (IE: I don't get the "last two edges" case before the last pair or no DP in CFOP), if this does happen I have to manually pair up each edge instead of using the 3-2-2-2-3 method which is extremely annoying. Sometimes I use freeslice but I get roughly the same times.
 
Last edited:
Screw Yau >__>
Use whatever method you think is best for you at the moment. Remember, easier methods are easier to learn, but don't provide as much speed as other methods do. Try looking into different edge-pairing methods.

Centers should just take practice. As a person who sped up on 4x4 immensely because of centers, realize that centers are almost purely intuitive and you need to train your brain to locate them faster.

Also, the 3x3 stage is important as well. Because the puzzle also includes solving a 3x3, you want to make sure your 3x3 times aren't dragging you down.

Learn your parity algorithms by heart. No pauses for remembering the next move while executing them.

Finally, get a decent cube. Shengshou and Dayan cubes are the most popular for 4x4.
 
I am stuck at 2:30. But for centers look at stefan pochmann's centers. Basically:
1. D-center
2. Make 2x1 blocks at d
3. Use U face to solve remaining centers

If you want an example solve of this, Ill be happy to, just give me a scramble.

For centers, I suggest just doing one at a time. I used that method also, but my times for centers got better when I changed to one by one centers (easier to look ahead).
 
Buy a Shengshou because that alone cut off a minute off my times when I got one (previous cube was a Rubik's brand). I am not fast at all with the 4x4 but a good cube can do wonders!
 
try getting a better cube, and also practice heaps, two edge pairing isnt the fast try 4 edge paring or 6 edge pairing it does the edges alot faster and gets you to 3x3 stage alot quicker, also you might want to try some more advanced methods for solving a 4x4 and youtube tutorials also help. The tutorials by robh0629,thrawst and memyselfandpi i found pretty helpful and robh and thrawst have turtorials on 4 or more edge pairing
 
You need more practise and lot of solves. If you do your first Mean of 100/200, Im sure that your times will be better. Eastsheen is good for start (not as fast as SS/Dayan, you can think about lookahead, not speed) but after few weeks I propose to change it, as mostly members :)
For pairs I use system 1-1-1-1 (white pairs), 2-2-2-2, building cross in the same time and I have times about 1 minutes (but it's not good method) so you see that the most important is practise.
 
Learn Yau, learn chain edge pairing, buy a shengshou and gently do the Konsta and Florian mods to it, practice and enjoy the hell out of the thing.
 
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