Caleb Valenzuela
Legend
I didn’t really see many threads on how to be sub-10 on this forums, and most of them are outdated so I made one. Make sure you know the following:
Make Crosses efficiently
Know and be comfortable with advanced F2L
Know Full PLL
Know Full OLL
Be Sub-12
This is the revised version. It will be more sophisticated and comprehensive.
Cross
Make sure you solve the cross in 8 moves or less and can make basic x-crosses. Also be sure to not insert each cross edge one by one and influence other cross edges to insert. Watch some recons or walkthrough solves of top cubers like Yiheng or Matty (both have quick and efficient crosses). Once you plan cross, make sure you don’t have to think about it after.
A drill you can do is to plan cross, close your eyes then solve it as fast as possible. Do it until you are confident with cross every time
Cross+1
Here’s how i do cross+1:
Step 1: Plan cross.
Step 2: Look for your first F2L pair. It’s best if it’s in the top or if one of the pieces are on top. You don’t want both F2L pieces to be in two seperate slots because that’s just inefficient.
Step 3: Figure out where the corner of your first F2L pair is. You should be able to imagine it moving around the cube as you do the cross. You could even use your fingers to point where it would be after each move of the cross.
Step 4: Figure out the orientation of the corner of your first F2L pair. Find out what color on that corner will be on top and where the white color will be. (Doesn’t have to be white, just find out where the cross color will be but i will just call it white for simplicity.)
Step 5: Figure out where the edge of your first F2L will be. Track it the same way as the corner. Then, determine the EO (edge orientation) of that edge. Also figure out what color on that edge will be on top.
Step 6: Find out what F2L case it is and solve. Treat cross+1 as one step and not two individual steps.
A drill you can do is to plan cross+1 using the steps above, then close your eyes and solve as fast as possible. Keep repeating until you can solve it confidently and can plan it easily. It will take some time but you can do it!
F2L
Know how to solve most F2L cases from any angle. Make sure that most algs you use are 8 moves or less. Experiment with key-hole and pseudo-slotting. Know your F2L cases really well and try to avoid rotations. Avoid using “filler moves” like U U or U2 U2 just to find a piece when it is just better to pause and look. Every F2L case should be solved in just 2-3 triggers. Triggers mean moves like R U R’ or R U’ R’. This rule will help with efficiency and can help with experimenting. It will also help with memorizing cases.
Lookahead
Very crucial for sub-10 and beyond. There are three steps to having good lookahead (used by many cubers such as Feliks Zemdegs and Toby Seufert). Spotting, Tracking, and Knowing.
1. Spotting
This basically means to spot an F2L pair and solve it, then proceed to “spot” the next F2L pair and solve it.
2. Tracking
In this step of lookahead, you “spot” the next piece of your second F2L and track where it will be after solving your first pair.
3. Knowing
The third and final step of lookahead. You spot and track both of your F2L pairs, so you “know” exactly how to solve each one and how they move. When you “know” what you are going to do for the next 1-2 F2L pairs, you can do it even without looking!
How to improve at each step
Now that you know the steps to good lookahead, let’s figure out how to improve.
1. Spotting is quite simple to improve at. Just know your F2L cases well. This comes with practice and repetition. A drill you can do is to solve the cross, “spot” and F2L pair and solve it with your eyes closed. Then spot the next F2L, and so on.
2. Tracking is a bit more complex, but still easy once you know your F2L pairs. A drill you can do here is to solve the cross, look for your first F2L pair and determine the moves needed to solve it, then look for your second F2L pair and track the pieces as you solve the first F2L pair. Repeat for the rest of the cube.
3. Knowing is the most advanced step. A drill you can do is to solve the cross, find and plan your first F2L pair, then try to visualize what your next F2L pair will be. Solve your solution with your eyes closed.
One more drill is slow solves. Basically you do your solve as usual but turn a bit slower. Make sure you aren’t looking at the pair you are solving and focus on tracking your next few F2L pairs.
With enough solves, your mind will start to see patterns and you will be able to see how pieces move around the cube.
Last Layer
Be able to solve 80% of your PLLs and OLLs in less than a second. Know the best fingertricks and algs. To reduce lock ups, follow these steps:
Find an OLL/PLL that you lock up a lot on.
Do the algorithm but turn by turn. Make sure you are doing each turn accurately.
Increase speed gradually.
Last Drill for the Overall solve
Step 1: Plan cross/cross+1 then solve while closing your eyes
Step 2: plan next 2-3 F2L pairs and “know” exactly where each piece will be and how you will solve it. Do it with your eyes closed.
Step 3: repeat.
hope this helped! If you are still struggling with improving, reply to this thread: https://www.speedsolving.com/threads/sub-8-solver-willing-to-help-you-get-faster.94366/
Make Crosses efficiently
Know and be comfortable with advanced F2L
Know Full PLL
Know Full OLL
Be Sub-12
This is the revised version. It will be more sophisticated and comprehensive.
Cross
Make sure you solve the cross in 8 moves or less and can make basic x-crosses. Also be sure to not insert each cross edge one by one and influence other cross edges to insert. Watch some recons or walkthrough solves of top cubers like Yiheng or Matty (both have quick and efficient crosses). Once you plan cross, make sure you don’t have to think about it after.
A drill you can do is to plan cross, close your eyes then solve it as fast as possible. Do it until you are confident with cross every time
Cross+1
Here’s how i do cross+1:
Step 1: Plan cross.
Step 2: Look for your first F2L pair. It’s best if it’s in the top or if one of the pieces are on top. You don’t want both F2L pieces to be in two seperate slots because that’s just inefficient.
Step 3: Figure out where the corner of your first F2L pair is. You should be able to imagine it moving around the cube as you do the cross. You could even use your fingers to point where it would be after each move of the cross.
Step 4: Figure out the orientation of the corner of your first F2L pair. Find out what color on that corner will be on top and where the white color will be. (Doesn’t have to be white, just find out where the cross color will be but i will just call it white for simplicity.)
Step 5: Figure out where the edge of your first F2L will be. Track it the same way as the corner. Then, determine the EO (edge orientation) of that edge. Also figure out what color on that edge will be on top.
Step 6: Find out what F2L case it is and solve. Treat cross+1 as one step and not two individual steps.
A drill you can do is to plan cross+1 using the steps above, then close your eyes and solve as fast as possible. Keep repeating until you can solve it confidently and can plan it easily. It will take some time but you can do it!
F2L
Know how to solve most F2L cases from any angle. Make sure that most algs you use are 8 moves or less. Experiment with key-hole and pseudo-slotting. Know your F2L cases really well and try to avoid rotations. Avoid using “filler moves” like U U or U2 U2 just to find a piece when it is just better to pause and look. Every F2L case should be solved in just 2-3 triggers. Triggers mean moves like R U R’ or R U’ R’. This rule will help with efficiency and can help with experimenting. It will also help with memorizing cases.
Lookahead
Very crucial for sub-10 and beyond. There are three steps to having good lookahead (used by many cubers such as Feliks Zemdegs and Toby Seufert). Spotting, Tracking, and Knowing.
1. Spotting
This basically means to spot an F2L pair and solve it, then proceed to “spot” the next F2L pair and solve it.
2. Tracking
In this step of lookahead, you “spot” the next piece of your second F2L and track where it will be after solving your first pair.
3. Knowing
The third and final step of lookahead. You spot and track both of your F2L pairs, so you “know” exactly how to solve each one and how they move. When you “know” what you are going to do for the next 1-2 F2L pairs, you can do it even without looking!
How to improve at each step
Now that you know the steps to good lookahead, let’s figure out how to improve.
1. Spotting is quite simple to improve at. Just know your F2L cases well. This comes with practice and repetition. A drill you can do is to solve the cross, “spot” and F2L pair and solve it with your eyes closed. Then spot the next F2L, and so on.
2. Tracking is a bit more complex, but still easy once you know your F2L pairs. A drill you can do here is to solve the cross, look for your first F2L pair and determine the moves needed to solve it, then look for your second F2L pair and track the pieces as you solve the first F2L pair. Repeat for the rest of the cube.
3. Knowing is the most advanced step. A drill you can do is to solve the cross, find and plan your first F2L pair, then try to visualize what your next F2L pair will be. Solve your solution with your eyes closed.
One more drill is slow solves. Basically you do your solve as usual but turn a bit slower. Make sure you aren’t looking at the pair you are solving and focus on tracking your next few F2L pairs.
With enough solves, your mind will start to see patterns and you will be able to see how pieces move around the cube.
Last Layer
Be able to solve 80% of your PLLs and OLLs in less than a second. Know the best fingertricks and algs. To reduce lock ups, follow these steps:
Find an OLL/PLL that you lock up a lot on.
Do the algorithm but turn by turn. Make sure you are doing each turn accurately.
Increase speed gradually.
Last Drill for the Overall solve
Step 1: Plan cross/cross+1 then solve while closing your eyes
Step 2: plan next 2-3 F2L pairs and “know” exactly where each piece will be and how you will solve it. Do it with your eyes closed.
Step 3: repeat.
hope this helped! If you are still struggling with improving, reply to this thread: https://www.speedsolving.com/threads/sub-8-solver-willing-to-help-you-get-faster.94366/
Tip 1: Cross
Make sure you can do X-Crosses and make efficient crosses (8 moves or less). Try the replacement technique from JPerm and be sure that you can do crosses without thinking. Example Solves from top solvers are great for this as well as JPerm’s cross boot camp and CubeHead’s cross videos. Cross+1 will help a lot but is not absolutely necessary unless you cannot lookahead after cross. JPerm and BrodyTheCuber have really nice videos of this.
Tip 2: F2L
Here is where a lot of your focus should be. Advanced F2L from multiple angles will be incredibly helpful in Cross+1 and lookahead. Keyhole and pseudo-slotting will be very useful in making your F2L more efficiently.
Tip 3: Look-Ahead
Lookahead is CRUCIAL in making you sub-10. There are multiple ways to practice this technique and put it in your solves. One way of doing this is by doing slow solves. But don’t just turn slow, make sure to look AWAY from the pair you are currently doing. For example, you are inserting a red-blue pair into the front, don’t look at that pair because you should already know what to do for that pair which is why it is so important to know you F2L cases and to be creative with your solutions.
Another way to practice lookahead is to solve the cross, plan as many F2L pair as you can, then solve those F2L pairs. It may be hard at first, but with enough practice, you can definitely do this easy.
Tip 3: Last Layer
This is not really a big part of becoming sub-10 unless you execute it at 1.5-2 secs. Make sure you can execute MOST PLLs and OLLs in around 0.8-1.4 secs. Fast, efficient, last layer algorithms are the ones you want to go for.
Optional Tip: Cross+1
There are three ways to do this. Tracking, Planning, and Predicting are the three main ways to do cross+1. Tracking is the easiest of the three. In Tracking, it is exactly as it implies, you track the F2L pieces you want to solve, then track them to where they will be after your cross. In Planning, you basically plan where you want your pieces to be, which is hard if you are new to cross+1. Lastly, Predicting is basically predicting where your F2L pieces are. So basically, all these are what they imply from the name. Why is this optional? Because I became sub-10 without it. But if you really can’t look ahead after your cross, this will be especially helpful.
The most important tip I have to give you is to enjoy the experience and don’t be in a rush to get better quickly. After solves and solves, it will eventually click in your head and you will be able to achieve your goals. Hope this helped.
“Don’t think, Just Solve” - Max Park
Make sure you can do X-Crosses and make efficient crosses (8 moves or less). Try the replacement technique from JPerm and be sure that you can do crosses without thinking. Example Solves from top solvers are great for this as well as JPerm’s cross boot camp and CubeHead’s cross videos. Cross+1 will help a lot but is not absolutely necessary unless you cannot lookahead after cross. JPerm and BrodyTheCuber have really nice videos of this.
Tip 2: F2L
Here is where a lot of your focus should be. Advanced F2L from multiple angles will be incredibly helpful in Cross+1 and lookahead. Keyhole and pseudo-slotting will be very useful in making your F2L more efficiently.
Tip 3: Look-Ahead
Lookahead is CRUCIAL in making you sub-10. There are multiple ways to practice this technique and put it in your solves. One way of doing this is by doing slow solves. But don’t just turn slow, make sure to look AWAY from the pair you are currently doing. For example, you are inserting a red-blue pair into the front, don’t look at that pair because you should already know what to do for that pair which is why it is so important to know you F2L cases and to be creative with your solutions.
Another way to practice lookahead is to solve the cross, plan as many F2L pair as you can, then solve those F2L pairs. It may be hard at first, but with enough practice, you can definitely do this easy.
Tip 3: Last Layer
This is not really a big part of becoming sub-10 unless you execute it at 1.5-2 secs. Make sure you can execute MOST PLLs and OLLs in around 0.8-1.4 secs. Fast, efficient, last layer algorithms are the ones you want to go for.
Optional Tip: Cross+1
There are three ways to do this. Tracking, Planning, and Predicting are the three main ways to do cross+1. Tracking is the easiest of the three. In Tracking, it is exactly as it implies, you track the F2L pieces you want to solve, then track them to where they will be after your cross. In Planning, you basically plan where you want your pieces to be, which is hard if you are new to cross+1. Lastly, Predicting is basically predicting where your F2L pieces are. So basically, all these are what they imply from the name. Why is this optional? Because I became sub-10 without it. But if you really can’t look ahead after your cross, this will be especially helpful.
The most important tip I have to give you is to enjoy the experience and don’t be in a rush to get better quickly. After solves and solves, it will eventually click in your head and you will be able to achieve your goals. Hope this helped.
“Don’t think, Just Solve” - Max Park
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