[Help Thread] How to increase Execution Speed?

[Morley]

Lately I have been feeling that the speed at which I execute algs is too slow. My average is around 30 seconds with my LL being about 8-12 seconds providing i don't mess up.

I use a 2-4 look last layer. What I do is make a cross on top which I normally do with vhf2l then I do a COLL then PLL. I don't know the COLL cases for sune and anti-sune so sometimes I have to do 2 PLL's since I don't know all of them.

anyway, I was just curious as to wether or not my execution is up to par for my average. a sune takes me 1-2 seconds and other algs take me up to 6 seconds.

While I'm making a new thread I also wanted to ask how fast my cross should be. I think my cross is around 5 seconds, which seems horrible.

 

[Crzyazn]

Practice....find more finger shortcuts. And sometimes you just have to accept that some algorithms are inconvenient. You might also be taking too long to recognize certain cases (thus slowing down the overall time)

 

[Cubie Newbie]

Yeah, recognizing cases (especially in the PLL) can be a nightmare until you get used to it. Maybe this is what is slowing you down?

 

[jonny guitar]

If some of the algos are taking 6 seconds I think the problem is your hands don't know them on their own yet and your brain is walking them through the moves. Practice will eventually give your fingers the ability to just do the algos on their own while your brain looks for the next move. The speed will come when the fingers develope the confidence to do the moves on their own.

 

[TheWitcher]

PLL execution

Hi, I learned one look PLL about two months ago, and I feel pretty comfortable with all of them(some more than others). But the thing is, although I can turn pretty fast during the execution, it's still 2-3 and even 4 seconds with most of them.
The problem is that I have regrips and minor pauses during the execution.
for example: In the T perm, I do R U R' U' *regrip* R' F R2 U' R' U' *regrip* R U R' F'.
I can turn pretty fast, but the result is most of the time 2-2.5 seconds. And it's the same thing with all my PLLs.
I couldn't find a better and "regripingless" way to execute my PLL algorithms.

Any tips?
Are there any videos about fast PLL execution?

Thanks.

 

[Ickenicke]

Felik's video

 

[MWilson]

Quarter re-grips are perfectly fine as long as your other hand is both gripping the cube solidly and making a move. Sounds like I do my T perm the same as you, and I do it consistently in 1 to 1.2 seconds. Just make sure you're not rushing it and making unnecessary movement and pauses. If high execution speed is your end goal, your immediate goal should be clean execution with constant turning, minimal movement, and a solid grip throughout.

 

[jeff081692]

Well you should know that sometimes you can have the right fingertricks and still not be very fast at an algorithm because of the cube tension or your tps is not quite there yet. I improved my PLL by trying to imitate faster cubers and it worked to a point. Eventually with practice you can improve your execution speed with whatever fingertricks you are currently using but it will not happen instantly. I am pretty sure we do our T perms the same way from your description and my best time is 1.55 and I know I can improve that. But then again I like to drill the same alg over and over again until I can consistently get the results I want which right now is sub 2 avg of 12 since sub 1 still is beyond me.

What ends up happening to me is I will hit a wall with each algorithm where it is very hard and probably impossible for me to get any faster at an alg that day. Since I record the times for each alg if I ever take a break and come back in a week I often find I can beat my personal bests on multiple algs and this is because my tps improved a little and I was more familiar with the execution without necessarily learning a different way of performing the alg.

Sometimes I find that slowing down and being more precise can get you the same if not better results when executing an alg too.

And about videos, I watched as many PLL videos I could find and even slowed down their actual solves to make sure that they executed the alg exactly as portrayed in the PLL videos and compared different cubers until I found what I like best for me. So there are a lot of good resources out there on youtube if you feel you want to execute algs in a new way.

 

[pdilla]

In my experience, if you try to turn as fast as you can right off the bat, you're bound to turn sloppily and lock up/pop more often than not, and gain bad habits.

Instead, for a whole week (at least), intentionally turn slowly and cleanly. Once that muscle memory really sets in, the speed will come naturally.

Then again, I'm not exactly the fastest turner around, so...

 

[TheNextFeliks]

How to get faster at algorithms?

Basically as the title suggests I need help executing algorithms (OLL and PLL's) faster. My LL times are between 5 and 10 seconds depending on the cases. I want to improve these times to help my overall times. I obviously don't plan on getting every pll sub-1 yet but sub-3 would be nice. Do you have any tips? Don't just say practice. Elaborate.

 

[waffle=ijm]

1) find good fingertrick friendly algs and start out slowly until you get used to them
2) do them really fast a lot
3) repeat step 2 a lot
4) repeat step 3 a lot
5) achieve results.

 

[sneaklyfox]

Practice triggers. Or any small sets of moves. Gradually move to the full algorithm.

For example, take H-perm. M2 U M2 U2 M2 U M2 (I actually use U' instead of U but whatever...)
Practice:
1. M2
2. M2 U
3. M2 U M2
4. M2 U2 M2
5. full alg

Each step try to go as fast as possible. First aim to execute it 100 times good. Then aim to execute it 10 times in a row good.
"Good" meaning no lock ups, mistakes, finger missing the cube, etc.

You can practice bigger chunks at a time, but I find it more effective to start with a smaller piece and work your way up. Make sure you work on all the transitions between triggers too. Like for OLL that goes (R U R' U') (R' F R F'), you could consider just working on ...R' U') (R' F...

Also, if you're working on small chunks in the middle to work on smoothly executing one move to the next, make sure you take note where your fingers are when you start that section of the execution.

 

[god of rubic 2]

Drill them each day. Think of your own finger tricks.

Use badmephistos OLL and PLL random generator timers.

 

[googlebleh]

Are those LL times including recognition time or just execution?

If they're just execution, then I'd suggest either drilling algs, or trying other ones that are more finger-tricky for you specifically. Just because you use all of Fazzy's algs doesn't mean that they are the best for you (e.g. his R(a) alg is {R, U, D} whereas I prefer {R, U, F}).

 

[Smiles]

practice different types of finger tricks as well, for example F turns without regripping, or awkward U turns without regripping.
for example, R U R U R' F, if you can do that all with the right hand and without regripping, then you know the tricks.

 

[Zarxrax]

I think some people are just slower at turning than others. You can see my join date here. I am still just about as slow as you are at the last layer. Now matter how much I practice the algorithms, they don't get any quicker at this point for me.
And I have done pretty much everything, from trying out lots of different algorithms, to watching many videos about finger tricks and how to do the algorithms quickly and so on. My fingers just don't go that fast.

Even if I plan out a full solve so I am not having to really look for pieces or anything, I can struggle to be sub-20.

 

[Johnnyman318]

Drill them a lot. But don't just mindlessly repeat the algorithms all day, you have to consciously think of the fingertricks and try to move at a faster speed than what you are doing now. Eventually, moving much faster will feel more natural and you'll get faster times.

 

[radmin]

I've learned all my best alg execution from other cubers.
I like to see what works best for others and use that. People think up things I'd never consider.

 

[ben1996123]

Don't make so many threads complaining and use that time to practise instead.

 

[speedpicker]

practice different types of finger tricks as well, for example F turns without regripping, or awkward U turns without regripping.
for example, R U R U R' F, if you can do that all with the right hand and without regripping, then you know the tricks.

I've got to ask, how do you execute that without regrips, I tried it and failed. Does initially regripping the cube so my fingers are on top and thumb on the bottom prior to execution count as a regrip? Even if it doesn't I still don't get it. Please enlighten me with fingertricky wisdom.