Next step in optimizing ortega?

[stufkan]

Hello fellow cubers!

I have just been a week in Russia, and a lot of transportation meant a lot of 2x2 practice.. I have improved, but I am not sure how to improve further from now on.

I did an average before I went to Russia and after.

Before: 8,83
After : 8,14

That's a nice upgrade in a week (i think), but I have a hard time finding out how to optimize my times from now on.. Of course I need to practice over and over, but I thought that there could be some fixes to the method.. Currently i use plain ortega with color neutrality and foresee of bar/no bar in first layer during inspect...


Any suggestions?

 

[trying-to-speedcube...]

1. Learn 2x2-optimised algs.
2. Learn to do PBL's from all angles.
3. Learn a bit of EG if possible.
4. PRACTISE.

 

[sru]

1. i'm sure you can do 1st face faster
2. look ahead before PLL for finishing cube with U or U' or U2 (helped me a lot)

+ you must know, that you need a loooot solves for example sub-6

(i'm 6.5s avg100 at the moment )

 

[MistArts]

Inspect first layer and permutation during inspection. Inspect OLL if you have time.

 

[stufkan]

Thanks for the quick answer!

1. I can do all the ones mentioned on Erik's site, are the other, shorter algs?
2. What step is PBL?
3. Sounds a bit brutal to learn with a 8 sec avg, i think? Which cases do I have to look at in you opinion?
4. I am

Edit:

2. look ahead before PLL for finishing cube with U or U' or U2 (helped me a lot)

I'm not sure i understand what you mean? I have to know if it is a U U' or U2 after the Pll before i execute it? Is it what you mean?

+ you must know, that you need a loooot solves for example sub-6

I sure know, but knowing those small tricks will make me commit myself more to practise more!

Inspect first layer and permutation during inspection. Inspect OLL if you have time.

I have a hard time inspecting the oll, is there a nice trick?

 

[sru]

I'm not sure i understand what you mean? I have to know if it is a U U' or U2 after the Pll before i execute it? Is it what you mean?

yes yes for every pll learn looking ahead (it's easy and you won't lose 0.5s or 1.0s at the end no more)

edit: i remembered one more "trick" now. you must know how many bars you have on your first face, that you won't search for them after OLL and preparing for PLL.

 

[brunson]

Learn Guimond.

 

[stufkan]

Learn Guimond.

I have considered that one, but is it worth it?

 

[Carrot]

Learn Guimond.

I have considered that one, but is it worth it?

I'm not sure xD My average with ortega is 7-8 my guimond is 4-6 xD

 

[brunson]

Learn Guimond.

I have considered that one, but is it worth it?

I'm not sure xD My average with ortega is 7-8 my guimond is 4-6 xD

Granted I am particularly slow at 2x2, but I'm reliably slow. I went from ~14 seconds avg with Ortega to ~9 seconds with Guimond in three weeks. My fastest solve in practice with G. is 4.63 seconds.

 

[StachuK1992]

Just learn CLL.
42 algs, and they're pretty much all easy.

Rowe Hessler uses CLL, and he's decent.

 

[blah]

Currently i use plain ortega with color neutrality and foresee of bar/no bar in first layer during inspect...

I use exactly that. I subbed-10 in a night (did 300+ solves that night, still remember ). Average of 100 sub-6 within a month or two, and I think that's just "normal" progress.

I believe most Japanese use that too. And they can probably sub-5 or maybe even sub-4 with that. Stick to it and see how it turns out.

 

[Edmund]

CLL isn't too much at all. It's less than all the OLLs and the algs are short. It's 40 some and they are what makes you fast. Watch Rowe Hessler's videos on it.

 

[Escher]

I average around 4.5 with Ortega:

- lookahead to the next step so that there are no/few pauses

- turn faster

- try to predict OLL type, if you can't predict OLL. It's not that hard to work out whether you'll have none, one or two corners correctly oriented, and whether the two corners will be together (T or U cases) or apart (bow-tie)

- learn more optimal OLL algs if you haven't already

- use T permutations instead of A permutations for PLL if you aren't already

- learn the more optimal Y perm (R U' R' U' F2 U' R U R' U F2). Add an R2 before the last F2 and now you know it on bottom too for if you get a PLL skip. I don't like it for Y on top (i just use the common alg) but the Y on bottom was useful before I learnt CLL.

- like others have said, learn to predict AUF (Adjust U Face). This is easier than it sounds, mess around with doing U turns, and then a PBL, and looking at the difference between different U pre-turns. You'll work it out.

- learn what case each of your OLLs solves (to get a PLL skip) and learn a different one so that you don't get a nasty PLL on bottom and have to rotate (chances are you'll have a T, not the Y you just learnt...)

- Learn some more PBLs. I'll list all of the ones I know or am learning here (I generated many of these, so no stealing without credit ). The F/R/B/L denotes where the bar/s is/are.

Single bar on U
F: R F' R F2 R' F R'
B: R' U R' F2 R F' R
R: (just AUF)
L: F' R U' R2 U R' F

Single bar on D
F: R' U F' R2 F R' F
B: R' F U' R2 U F' R
R: F' R F' R2 F U' R
L: F' U R' U2 R U' F

2 Bars (together)
F: R2 U R2' U2 y' R2 U R2'
B: R2 U' R2' (U2' y) R2 U' R2'
R: R2 F2 U' R2 U2 F2 U' R2
L: R2 F2 U' F2' U2 R2 U' F2

I don't like the last alg, I just do a cube rotation so that its on B (if anybody has a better alg from that position that'd be great ). I'm also intending to generate algs for that last case so there's no AUF (but the bar will have to be in DB).

- Do loads and loads and loads of solves for weeks. I didn't have a 3x3 for a month so I just did 2x2 and i got much faster.

- After all this, learn Guimond/CLL, then the other. Both are fast and useful, and don't worry about leaving ortega; you never will, it's still useful in plenty of situations even if you learn other faster methods.

P.S Sorry this is such an essay...

 

[Swordsman Kirby]

Back in the old days, every time 2x2 was mentioned, someone would talk about SS, and three more people would ask for a site.

Luckily, for me, no one does that anymore.

Back on topic: Ortega fails compared to CLL.

 

[ConnorCuber]

Back in the old days, every time 2x2 was mentioned, someone would talk about SS, and three more people would ask for a site.

Luckily, for me, no one does that anymore.

Back on topic: Ortega fails compared to CLL.

WATS A SITE 4 SSS PLOX?>!?!?!?!??!?! g


anyway, I use Ortega, and I think I average low 5's without much practice at all.(Probably about an average of 12 per week) But that's just because when I found Ortega, I practiced it a lot. Enough to get to about a 4.3 average. Then I stopped practicing too much.

I guess the point of this post is that all you need to do is practice a lot of ortega.

 

[deadalnix]

Here ths point that help me to get under 6 with ortega (I recently work a lot on 2x2x2) :

1/ Inspect first layer permutation during inspection. Try to inspect OLL if you have enough time.
2/ If the frst layer is type adjacent, then put the two corner to swap on front or right.
3/ Learn spécific ortega OLL like RU'R2'FR2U'R'
4/ Learn ROLL (that allow you to gess the XLL you'll get after OLL).
5/ Learn AUF (so you can execute OLL XLL AUF without any pause).

Here are the easy improvement way. To go faster, you can learn guimond and start with the easiest between guimond and ortega.

If you are very courageaous and want to get realy fast, learn EG or OFOTA

 

[rahulkadukar]

http://rapidshare.com/files/253018588/SS_0_1.pdf.html

SS algos

 

[rahulkadukar]

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=0026ad72ce98ca0f07258ee67c679e4ad5eaa31b0f91ac34b8eada0a1ae8665a

Same file

 

[stufkan]

Thank you for all the good tips!
I will look at it all, and of course do a lot of solves!

here do I learn about ROLL?
Are there some specific tips about AUF, or is it just recognition?