Need some F2L help!!

[Bierproever]

Hey,

I have been speedcubing for about a month now, so I'm fairly new.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-4_si4eCUA

this vid says is all ^^
Btw, I use:
-Intuitive F2L (no algorithms al all)
-2-look OLL
-2-look PLL

Thanks

 

[Dene]

I'd say turn faster and spend less time looking at the cube doing nothing .

However the only thing that is going to help you improve on these aspects of your solve is practise.

Sorry to tell you that there is only one way to get better. The silver bullet indeed.

 

[Bierproever]

Haha, thanks ^^, but aren't there like, do's and don't

 

[Kxg]

First of all, look ahead is what brings you down to sub-20's. And you totally lack it. Always try to see where the next corner and edge is. If you can't track both of them down quick enough, start with one only. Say, you find green-red edge while inserting a pair, so you only need to find white-green-red corner when you're done.
Secondly, the way you're inserting F2L pairs seems long and awkward. I'd recommend watching badmephisto's F2L tutorial for intuitive F2L, or, in very worst case, learn algorithms to cut down the move count.

 

[Bierproever]

Thanks, I'll try that !

 

[Dene]

Haha, thanks ^^, but aren't there like, do's and don't

Well, here would be my do's and dont's:

Do: at least 50 solves every day.
Don't: skip the do.

This might sound a bit overwhelming. Certainly at the speed that you are at 50 solves would take a long time. But while you're watching tv at night you could get half of those solves in .

Basically, the key to success, like any activity in life, is to adapt the brain and the hands (in the case of cubing) to do what you want them to do. For example, recognising the pieces you need so that you don't spend so long looking at the cube doing nothing; or training the hands to turn the cube faster so that you can execute your algorithms faster. Unfortunately, this will only come with time. Patience and practise . If you enjoy cubing then this won't be a problem at all!

Perhaps another do:

Do: practise your algorithms, or finger tricks like (R U R' U')*6.

I'll make a bet with you: I bet that if you were to keep practising for a reasonable period of time every day for the next month, you will get to sub30.

Of course you don't want to lose the bet, but by losing the bet you don't get sub30 .

 

[Bierproever]

Haha, thanks ^^, but aren't there like, do's and don't

I'll make a bet with you: I bet that if you were to keep practising for a reasonable period of time every day for the next month, you will get to sub30.

Of course you don't want to lose the bet, but by losing the bet you don't get sub30 .

I'll take that bet

 

[Dene]

Haha it's on!

If you're serious about cubing, sub30 from where you are in one month will be a piece of cake. Sub20 will be a bit harder though

 

[Bierproever]

I'll see what I can do.
Also have to write my bachelorpaper in the next few weeks :s

 

[Hiero]

It took me 4 months to get from where you are to consistent sub-30. At 50 seconds you just gotta keep practicing. You need to build muscle memory so that when you see a case you should be able to put it in pretty quickly. I wouldn't worry about look ahead yet. You can't look ahead until you can insert pairs without looking at them. It seems like you are ok on cube rotations. I remember when I was at 42-43 seconds I still rotated the cube alot and only inserted most pairs from one angle. I also paused a whole lot. When I saw a case though, I knew what to do immediately.


Solve the cube alot slowly. Like Dene said, you should be solving about 50 times a day at least. I'd say that maximum 12-20 should be timed. The rest of the solves you need to go slow and build muscle memory. Also, make sure you are inserting pairs efficiently. Try different things and see which method of insertion uses less moves and is faster for you. I don't think any of the cases really need algorithms at your speed. You can do this while watching t.v. 'cause it's hard to sit in a room and cube for 2 hours straight every night without doing anything else.

A good f2l tutorial was made by Erik Akkersdijk. Forget all the algorithm stuff, but there are some intuitive ways of insertion on common cases that I had totally missed. I'd watch the full 20 min video 2 or 3 times. I think this tutorial is overlooked. It is actually really good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek0dZOK_Law


Also when I started on cubemania I was about your speed and now I average 28-30, so if you want to look me up and see how your progress compares to mine, my username is "Mandanici".


Hope this helps.

 

[dada222]

Yeah just work on your turning speed I guess... sub30 is easy like Dene said with a little bit of practice.

 

[Bierproever]

Thanks for the help everyone, I'll solve each day untill my fingers hurt

Btw, is it possible to get sub-30 av without learning full OLL an PLL???

 

[Kxg]

Thanks for the help everyone, I'll solve each day untill my fingers hurt

Btw, is it possible to get sub-30 av without learning full OLL an PLL???

Most of ~17s averaging people do not know full OLL. It is definitely possible. Personally, I went full PLL when averaging ~33s. Full PPL helped me get sub-30. From then on it was mostly F2L and execution that got me sub-20.

 

[ben1996123]

P*******

 

[Bierproever]

Thanks for the help everyone, I'll solve each day untill my fingers hurt

Btw, is it possible to get sub-30 av without learning full OLL an PLL???

Most of ~17s averaging people do not know full OLL. It is definitely possible. Personally, I went full PLL when averaging ~33s. Full PPL helped me get sub-30. From then on it was mostly F2L and execution that got me sub-20.

What a relief ^^, I'll try to get a sub-40 av and slowly start learning full PLL£.

 

[chris410]

Thanks for the help everyone, I'll solve each day untill my fingers hurt

Btw, is it possible to get sub-30 av without learning full OLL an PLL???

Most of ~17s averaging people do not know full OLL. It is definitely possible. Personally, I went full PLL when averaging ~33s. Full PPL helped me get sub-30. From then on it was mostly F2L and execution that got me sub-20.

What a relief ^^, I'll try to get a sub-40 av and slowly start learning full PLL£.

Full PLL is not very hard to learn, when I get a bit more time I will write up a detailed post on what helped me. Of course, now I am working on improving my recognition/execution with full PLL (it is frustrating because I learned full PLL but have not gotten much time to sit and practice). I think going full OLL depends on your TPS, if you are very fast there's only a 1 to 2 second gain however, if you are like me and have a slow TPS, going full OLL may gain more time.

As far as your F2L, practice, learn how to deal with certain cases, and look into downloading a metronome, this will help with your look ahead. I started back in December and have gotten a few sub 40 averages of 12 however, when my practice was held up I got slower so when people say practice, it is not simply a generic answer, it really is required in order to improve. Then again, there are people here who are just naturally fast and get sub 30 even sub 20 in a few months so just be patient.

 

[Carson]

How fast is your cross? It was hard to tell when you transitioned from cross to f2l in your vid. I like that you took so much time to inspect, that is basically "free" time that you shouldn't be wasting.

 

[Bierproever]

cross took me about 9-10 sec...

 

[richardzhang]

cross took me about 9-10 sec...

Try and solve the cross blindfolded, this will help you reduce your time and allow you to look ahead.

 

[Bierproever]

cross took me about 9-10 sec...

Try and solve the cross blindfolded, this will help you reduce your time and allow you to look ahead.

I'll give it a try