[Help Thread] Need help with my 3x3 times

[Exodus]

Hi all! I find that my 3x3 times have not been improving at all as of late, so I am looking for any assistance and advice on how I should go about practicing and how can I start improving my times.
I use CFOP with Full PLL and 2-look OLL, and FYI, my times are in my signature.

My average breakdown is like so:
-Cross: ~3 seconds
-F2L: ~9 seconds
-OLL: ~4-5 seconds
-PLL: ~5 seconds

Would really appreciate any advice on how to improve my times! And should I start learning 1-look OLL, or work on my F2L first?

 

[shadowslice e]

I'll leave the final verdict until later but I think that your PLL should definitely be faster if you use 1-look. It wouldn't hurt to start learning full OLL.

Also, can you solve cross BLD (ie plan out what to do in inspection then solve)? You F2L seems pretty good for your speed (my CFOP is around 14-15 but i still only do Cross+F2L in 9 so that seems quite good)

 

[Exodus]

I can plan 3 edges of the cross most of the time, but i often have trouble tracking the last one. I also do cross on top for now.

 

[gateway cuber]

yeah, your cross is decent but you should still solve it on bottom.
Look ahead is key, there are tutorials on look ahead but it's kind of something you master on your own.
go ahead and learn 1 look OLL it will cut you oll times in half.
I don't know if you use full PLL but if not you should learn it, because a 5 second PLL isn't good.

 

[Exodus]

yeah, your cross is decent but you should still solve it on bottom.
Look ahead is key, there are tutorials on look ahead but it's kind of something you master on your own.
go ahead and learn 1 look OLL it will cut you oll times in half.
I don't know if you use full PLL but if not you should learn it, because a 5 second PLL isn't good.

gonna start learning full oll, wondering if you have any good websites with good algs to recommend me?

 

[gateway cuber]

badmephisto's cubing site has lot's of good algs and algdb.net is a great place too

 

[Exodus]

badmephisto's cubing site has lot's of good algs and algdb.net is a great place too

Thanks a lot, I'll visit these sites soon. Too bad I've got exams coming and I won't be finish learning many algs

 

[Malkom]

Badmephisto's site is kinda outdated AlgDB is much better.

 

[Chree]

Badmephisto's site is kinda outdated AlgDB is much better.

Seconded. Although, badmephisto's way of teaching his alg-set is really good for a beginner. Ordering things by triggers is helpful, so it's at least a good place to start. But yeah, algdb.net, ftw.

Also, @Exodus, you should start to plan all 4 cross edges during inspection. Maybe you're having a hard time fitting that into 15 seconds, so you don't try as often. Many people recommend "doing solves with unlimited inspection time" as a practice technique. Even some really fast people say they still do that every now and again. Once you're able to plan your entire cross in inspection with ease, then you can practice planning out your first pair, as well.

 

[Exodus]

Badmephisto's site is kinda outdated AlgDB is much better.

Seconded. Although, badmephisto's way of teaching his alg-set is really good for a beginner. Ordering things by triggers is helpful, so it's at least a good place to start. But yeah, algdb.net, ftw.

Also, @Exodus, you should start to plan all 4 cross edges during inspection. Maybe you're having a hard time fitting that into 15 seconds, so you don't try as often. Many people recommend "doing solves with unlimited inspection time" as a practice technique. Even some really fast people say they still do that every now and again. Once you're able to plan your entire cross in inspection with ease, then you can practice planning out your first pair, as well.

Got it, will visit algdb.net soon! As for the cross, I'll try doing what you suggested. Also, would doing slow turning solves help my lookahead?

 

[Chree]

Got it, will visit algdb.net soon! As for the cross, I'll try doing what you suggested. Also, would doing slow turning solves help my lookahead?

Yeah.

 

[Ethan Donecoff]

Got it, will visit algdb.net soon! As for the cross, I'll try doing what you suggested. Also, would doing slow turning solves help my lookahead?

First off, I don't believe in inspection time. I don't use inspection features on timer and have never really used them. You should use as much inspection as you need to plan out your cross and eventually try to plan out an F2L pair. Don't worry about using the 15 seconds in competition, eventually you will cut it to under 15 seconds. And if you are inspecting in comp and aren't finished when they say 8 seconds, finish up and just solve.

Slow solves also help a lot. I improved by over 1 second by doing slow solves for about a week, simply because before my solves were so choppy and had little look ahead. You should always let your look ahead determine your TPS, not the other way around.

 

[Exodus]

First off, I don't believe in inspection time. I don't use inspection features on timer and have never really used them. You should use as much inspection as you need to plan out your cross and eventually try to plan out an F2L pair. Don't worry about using the 15 seconds in competition, eventually you will cut it to under 15 seconds. And if you are inspecting in comp and aren't finished when they say 8 seconds, finish up and just solve.

Slow solves also help a lot. I improved by over 1 second by doing slow solves for about a week, simply because before my solves were so choppy and had little look ahead. You should always let your look ahead determine your TPS, not the other way around.

Makes sense, I'll try doing untimed solves for a few weeks.