How should I get into big cubes and BLD solving, as well as getting into (non-BLD) big twisty puzzles (megaminx and others)?

[White KB]

I want to know how to get sub-6 minutes on 6x6, but when I try to, my 3x3 times get worse (usually it's sub-30, it gets to times in the 30s and 40s). Am I going about this the wrong way?Currently I'm getting times in the 10s, 11s and 12s, and on 4x 4 I'm sub-3 minutes, and on 5x5 I'm getting times in the 5s, 6s and 7s. Also my megaminx solving is usually in the 4s-6s.
Also, I'm having a hard time getting into BLD, as every time I do an attempt, I get discouraged, as I usually get DNFs. I don't practice too often on 3BLD, doing only about 1 attempt a month, but I have done a few solves on the other events I'm trying to get into/ improve recently. 6x 6 I have done ~15 times in the past few days, on 5x 5 I have done about 4 solves, and on 4x 4 I've done about ~20 solves. On megaminx I've done about 2 solves, and I want to get sub-5 minutes (I only have 2 solves under 5 minutes, one of them being in the last two, both sub-5 solves are PBs). If you are reading this and have experience in any of these events/ puzzles (4x4, 5x5, 6x6, 3BLD, and megaminx) please comment.

 

[xyzzy]

For big cubes and megaminx, the key thing to work on as a beginner is efficiency. Spamming timed solves won't help you there; you're just wasting a lot of time doing a lot of unnecessary moves. Try to figure out how to solve each step (e.g. an F2L pair, or a centre bar, etc.) with as few moves as possible. If that means taking half an hour for a full solve, so be it.

For BLD, you just have to practise. A lot. I'm in pretty much the same situation as you, actually: I occasionally try 3BLD in the weekly comp, but I almost never bother to actually practise, so I'm pretty bad at it. I hear it gets much easier to practise as you get faster, so it's really all about getting over the initial hurdle of not-completely-sucking at 3BLD.

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4×4×4

- Use the Yau method.
- If you're colour neutral on 333, be colour neutral with Yau too. (If you're dual CN, be dual CN, etc.)
- Always plan the full first centre, and try to track at least two pieces for the opposite centre.
- Drill the parity algs until you can execute them from start to end without pausing, without looking at the cube. If you're using a mnemonic to remember (e.g.) the OLL parity alg, it's time to stop using it and go entirely muscle memory. (This won't make you much faster, but it'll make practising less frustrating.)

5×5×5, 6×6×6

- Check out the beginner section of Kevin Hays's Tuesday Tips playlist (roughly the first ten episodes).
- If, for whatever reason, you're using Yau on 6×6×6, stop and just use plain reduction instead. (Yau on 5 is acceptable.)
- Use the freeslice method for pairing the first eight edges. For 5, usually there will be an edge with two pieces already available in the slice; for 6, this is almost always the case.
- Make sure you're using the right parity algs for edge parity. (See CubeSkills.) I've seen a whole bunch of people use the OLL parity alg for 4×4×4, but with an extra U2 M at the end; don't do this.

Megaminx

- Focus on efficiency, as mentioned above.
- Use Westlund or YDH S2L. (See CubeSkills.) Don't use Balint, definitely don't use layer-by-layer.
- Do a few hundred solves.

 

[White KB]

Thanks for the tips. I'll probably work more on efficiency on megaminx, and I've already started transitioning to full Yau (not just 3-2-3 edge pairing) and using freeslice on 6x6, but it certainly helps to hear that again. I'll stick around for more of the Tuesday Tips videos and probably learn what YDH S2L is. I only sort of have a basic knowledge of S2L, so I'll look at it again. Thank you.