[Help Thread] OH method selection + algs and fingertricks

Snigel

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I want to learn OH and would like advice regarding which method to use and where to learn fingertricks for important algs. Right now, I can solve the cube one-handed in about a minute using normal CFOP and a ludicrous 8-look LL (one-handed, I only know two OLL algs, then T-perm and U-perm, so worst case is eight algs to solve LL).

My goal is to average around 20 seconds, and I'm unlikely to try to go much lower later. I want to do OH without resting the cube on a surface during the solve (I'm not sure whether that matters for method selection or just alg selection, though). My goal is to reach this goal in a few years, so I'm not exactly in a hurry.

Two-handed, I average about 18 seconds with CFOP. I know full OLL and PLL. I also know Petrus fairly well, as well as M2/OP, although that's probably less relevant.

Given a goal of 20 seconds (table-free), knowledge of CFOP and Petrus:

1. What is a good method to choose for OH? Should I stick with CFOP? Or maybe use Petrus for OH? Or something else?
2. What's the best place to go for algs and fingertricks for OH? The only alg I learnt fingertricks for already is Sune, and that made a huge difference.
3. Any other advice for learning OH?

Thank you!
 
Learn 4LLL for OH (it's not hard, just need F sexy F' and F inverse sexy F' for eo and there are 2 gen [RU] algs for all corner twists, learn y perm for your diag corner cases, and h and z perm) this will get you to 30-35 secs with out anything wild.
 
I want to learn OH and would like advice regarding which method to use and where to learn fingertricks for important algs. Right now, I can solve the cube one-handed in about a minute using normal CFOP and a ludicrous 8-look LL (one-handed, I only know two OLL algs, then T-perm and U-perm, so worst case is eight algs to solve LL).

My goal is to average around 20 seconds, and I'm unlikely to try to go much lower later. I want to do OH without resting the cube on a surface during the solve (I'm not sure whether that matters for method selection or just alg selection, though). My goal is to reach this goal in a few years, so I'm not exactly in a hurry.

Two-handed, I average about 18 seconds with CFOP. I know full OLL and PLL. I also know Petrus fairly well, as well as M2/OP, although that's probably less relevant.

Given a goal of 20 seconds (table-free), knowledge of CFOP and Petrus:

1. What is a good method to choose for OH? Should I stick with CFOP? Or maybe use Petrus for OH? Or something else?
2. What's the best place to go for algs and fingertricks for OH? The only alg I learnt fingertricks for already is Sune, and that made a huge difference.
3. Any other advice for learning OH?

Thank you!
Roux is not an option unless you really like doing r R' - personally, I use CFOP and average about 22 seconds with OH PLLs, but 4LLL still works very well, as it can be a lot more ergonomic than 2LLL algs that you might use 2-handed.

Petrus may seem to make sense, but EO is hard to do quickly, and I don't know of any good OH solvers who use it.

Personally, I have found JPerm's OH PLL algs to be very useful, regarding question 2 - however, any 2-gen PLLs that you can find would probably cut it. A good Z Perm for OH is R' U' R U' R U R U' R' U R U R2 U' R', and I find I can execute it at 5 TPS. I do think that table abusing the 2 handed H Perm is worth it, as the R U alg uses a lot of double moves, but I'm sure it could be fine.

I really like OH - good luck getting faster!
 
Learn 4LLL for OH (it's not hard, just need F sexy F' and F inverse sexy F' for eo and there are 2 gen [RU] algs for all corner twists, learn y perm for your diag corner cases, and h and z perm) this will get you to 30-35 secs with out anything wild.

I have actually never done 4LLL for two-handed because I knew Petrus when starting CFOP and had full PLL already. Would your 4LLL be roughly the same as J-perm's guide for two-handed 4LLL? Obviously with different execution and OH algs when necessary, but I mean conceptually. That would mean A-perm and Y-perm, plus Z, H, Ua and Ub.

Also, what alg are you using for dot OLL, or four-flip EO? The algs I use for two-handed are quite awkward and ought to be really bad for OH.
 
I have actually never done 4LLL for two-handed because I knew Petrus when starting CFOP and had full PLL already. Would your 4LLL be roughly the same as J-perm's guide for two-handed 4LLL? Obviously with different execution and OH algs when necessary, but I mean conceptually. That would mean A-perm and Y-perm, plus Z, H, Ua and Ub.

Also, what alg are you using for dot OLL, or four-flip EO? The algs I use for two-handed are quite awkward and ought to be really bad for OH.
F (inverse sexy) F' is the same as f (sexy) F', so for dot OLLs, you can do F (sexy) F' U2 F (inverse sexy) F', or F (inverse sexy) F' U2 F (sexy) F'.

Conceptually, OH 4LLL is the same as two-handed 4LLL.
 
1. What is a good method to choose for OH? Should I stick with CFOP? Or maybe use Petrus for OH? Or something else?
It depends on what you feel comfortable with. If you don’t want too many rotations and don’t mind OH wide F/S moves, go for Petrus or one of its variants (i would suggest APB or CEOR if you choose to use that). Since you don’t like table abuse, Roux is automatically not an option.
2. What's the best place to go for algs and fingertricks for OH? The only alg I learnt fingertricks for already is Sune, and that made a huge difference.
I personally just searched for algs on youtube and google, but this forum is also a great place to ask for OH algs!
3. Any other advice for learning OH?
Get used to doing L U moves by doing z, then now L moves are U moves and U moves are R moves. Knowing full PLL and full OLL will help a lot, and if you find an awkward 2H LL case then you can just find an OH alg for that case. Wouldn’t suggest 4LLL.
 
It depends on what you feel comfortable with. If you don’t want too many rotations and don’t mind OH wide F/S moves, go for Petrus or one of its variants (i would suggest APB or CEOR if you choose to use that). Since you don’t like table abuse, Roux is automatically not an option.

I think I'll stick to CFOP, then.

Get used to doing L U moves by doing z, then now L moves are U moves and U moves are R moves. Knowing full PLL and full OLL will help a lot, and if you find an awkward 2H LL case then you can just find an OH alg for that case. Wouldn’t suggest 4LLL.

This kind of tip is very useful, as I would not consider doing something like that spontaneously. I checked J-perm's very, very old video about how to get faster at OH, and it contained some tricks like this. Do you know of better/newer/more videos like that? I'm not just after more advanced tricks, but also basic ones like how the F to do F moves. :P
 
I think I'll stick to CFOP, then.



This kind of tip is very useful, as I would not consider doing something like that spontaneously. I checked J-perm's very, very old video about how to get faster at OH, and it contained some tricks like this. Do you know of better/newer/more videos like that? I'm not just after more advanced tricks, but also basic ones like how the F to do F moves. :P
JPerm never gets old
 
I think I'll stick to CFOP, then.



This kind of tip is very useful, as I would not consider doing something like that spontaneously. I checked J-perm's very, very old video about how to get faster at OH, and it contained some tricks like this. Do you know of better/newer/more videos like that? I'm not just after more advanced tricks, but also basic ones like how the F to do F moves. :P
Patrick Ponce is very fast at CFOP OH and doesn't do table abuse. He has a couple good videos for that:
 
These are my general recommendations for getting to sub 20 OH.

First, you will likely see the best results from CFOP from the information you've given. And you will want to aim to have your 2H times around sub 15 to sub 11 in order to get sub 20 OH. This is because OH times are generally 1.5x-2x longer than your 2H times, depending on how much you dedicate to the event.

You want to make sure your fundamentals of turning are extremely well-practised. The videos linked by @Fred are very good, as is this video by OH Cuber, for another perspective on fingertricks.

I would also recommend at least learning full OH PLL, as you will be able to save a lot of time by not having to do two long algorithms. I would use this sheet, as it has all of the best OH algs, as well as multiple alternatives in case you don't like the main alg.
You can also learn full OLL using this sheet, which also has the best algs as well as alternatives, but at least two-look OLL will suffice. And for two-look OLL, you just want to be able to reduce any case into one of seven OCLLs, the cases with a cross already made. For any of the line cases, just hold it horizontally and do F R U R' U' F'. For the L cases, hold it in the top left and do F U R U' R' F', or alternatively, hold the L in the bottom right and do f R U R' U' f'. And finally for Dot cases, do f U R U' R' S' U R U' R' F'. The S move fingertrick can be learnt from any of the above fingertrick guides, but S' is much easier for beginners than S, so there shouldn't be much trouble learning it, but if it still presents a problem, then you can do f' F, which is slower but makes fingertricking it easier.

You also won't need to have very high TPS to reach sub-20, only around 3-4 TPS depending on how efficient you are. So in order to get your solutions more efficient, I would recommend watching a lot of example solves from high-level cubers to see how they handle certain cases. You can use OH Cuber from before to find some of those example solves, as he has a few videos ranging in different speeds.
You should also take advantage of your slower OH turning to have much better lookahead. Since you will be turning slower than your 2H speed, you will be able to see how the pieces are being affected much more easily and thus can capitalise on it better. This will just need to be something you pick up as you start doing more solves and get more accustomed to OH turning, as it can be rough to lookahead to start.

I would also recommend getting a good cube for OH in case you don't have one already. There are a few options to choose from, but the main two cubes I would recommend are the RS3M V5 Ballcore UV. This is a cheap cube while also providing excellent performance and is used by a majority of the top OH solvers. I would recommend not dropping it, however, as the plastic can be brittle and chip at the corners if you happen to drop it. The second cube I would recommend is the WR M V10 Ballcore UV. This is likely one of the more used cubes and my personal favourite, as it has similar performance to the V5, but it feels more stable and blocky with slightly stronger magnets. There are also many versions you can get, ranging from the original to the Ferrocore to the Picube versions. Each one has a unique feel, and there isn't really a definitive way to find out which one would be best for you, but if you are worried about the core breaking, then the Ferrocore and its metal core will likely be the best.

There are also a few channels I would recommend you check out, as they have a lot of good OH content you can watch to get a better feel for the event.
The first being OH Cuber, like I've mentioned above, as he is one of the best OH solvers, and he has made quite a few videos sharing his insights into the event, with example solves, tutorials, guides, and more that you may find helpful.
I would also recommend BrodytheCuber, since he has a ton of videos spanning all the different aspects of OH. They may be a bit older, but I still find them to be extremely helpful. He also has a few breakdowns from some fast solvers, going in depth about their unique solving style, and it may give you some extra insight into different ways you could be solving. You may also be interested in this video where he breaks down Zaiyang Zhang's solving, which uses almost no table abuse, similar to what you want. Though as you will see, he uses some table abuse, which is something you should consider as well. The table isn't your enemy, and it can be helpful in getting the cube to quickly realign itself if it ever gets misaligned. I would also suggest you watch as many of Brody's OH videos as you can, since they are some of the best-quality videos on OH improvement I have personally come across.

I can also offer up some more personal help that none of the above examples can. If you need any help with specific cases or struggles, then I am more than willing to provide it; just send me a DM here and we can work something out. I may not be as quick as some of the resources above, but I'm nearly sub-11 OH, and I have a considerable amount of knowledge from having OH as my main event for three years now. Hopefully all of this information helps you on your journey to sub-20 OH.
 
I don't think @Snigel is wrong to want to avoid table abuse, but why is it seen as something that should be used in moderation? I can't see why using table abuse would slow you down if it helps align the cube and make it easier to solve.
This is purely personal preference! I want to be able to cube with one hand without having a table, for example. This is unrelated to whether it's actually good. :)

First, you will likely see the best results from CFOP from the information you've given. And you will want to aim to have your 2H times around sub 15 to sub 11 in order to get sub 20 OH. This is because OH times are generally 1.5x-2x longer than your 2H times, depending on how much you dedicate to the event.

Thank you for your reply! It contains a lot of things I was still wondering about. I'll ask some questions, if that's okay!

First, about two-handed times: This seems to be mostly correlation, not causation? I think most people start with getting good at two-handed, then turn to OH while still practising two-handed; hence there is a certain ratio between the two. I don't really practise much cubing at all and have limited amounts of time to do so, but would it really be worthwhile to practise two-handed to get better at one-handed? I understand that many things carry over, but it would seem like lookahead, cross-planning, F2L and all that stuff could be equally well learnt while actually practising one-handed. Essentially, if you have a few hours to practise per week in my situation, would you spend some of it on two-handed? If so, what would that practise consist of?

I would also recommend at least learning full OH PLL, as you will be able to save a lot of time by not having to do two long algorithms. I would use this sheet, as it has all of the best OH algs, as well as multiple alternatives in case you don't like the main alg.
You can also learn full OLL using this sheet, which also has the best algs as well as alternatives, but at least two-look OLL will suffice. And for two-look OLL, you just want to be able to reduce any case into one of seven OCLLs, the cases with a cross already made. For any of the line cases, just hold it horizontally and do F R U R' U' F'. For the L cases, hold it in the top left and do F U R U' R' F', or alternatively, hold the L in the bottom right and do f R U R' U' f'. And finally for Dot cases, do f U R U' R' S' U R U' R' F'. The S move fingertrick can be learnt from any of the above fingertrick guides, but S' is much easier for beginners than S, so there shouldn't be much trouble learning it, but if it still presents a problem, then you can do f' F, which is slower but makes fingertricking it easier.
This was very helpful, too! The PLL sheet is very nice. Full OLL seems a bit distant, but PLL is more realistic. I also think this 3LLL seems like a reasonable compromise.

I would also recommend getting a good cube for OH in case you don't have one already. There are a few options to choose from, but the main two cubes I would recommend are the RS3M V5 Ballcore UV. This is a cheap cube while also providing excellent performance and is used by a majority of the top OH solvers. I would recommend not dropping it, however, as the plastic can be brittle and chip at the corners if you happen to drop it. The second cube I would recommend is the WR M V10 Ballcore UV. This is likely one of the more used cubes and my personal favourite, as it has similar performance to the V5, but it feels more stable and blocky with slightly stronger magnets. There are also many versions you can get, ranging from the original to the Ferrocore to the Picube versions. Each one has a unique feel, and there isn't really a definitive way to find out which one would be best for you, but if you are worried about the core breaking, then the Ferrocore and its metal core will likely be the best.
I have the R3SM V5 already, which seems nice for OH. I also like Guhong Pro, both for OH and for normal use. What do people normally recommend in terms of magnets, settings, etc.? It would seem that alignment is much more important than for two-handed, for example.

I can also offer up some more personal help that none of the above examples can. If you need any help with specific cases or struggles, then I am more than willing to provide it; just send me a DM here and we can work something out. I may not be as quick as some of the resources above, but I'm nearly sub-11 OH, and I have a considerable amount of knowledge from having OH as my main event for three years now. Hopefully all of this information helps you on your journey to sub-20 OH.

Thank you, that's very nice of you! As mentioned, your response is already very helpful. I think my first goal will be to establish a baseline to see where I'm at now (maybe reviewing my old progression thread) and record some solves. Then I will focus on basic triggers and fingertricks, as well as your two-look OLL and, for now, two-look PLL (as mentioned, I'm currently only using T and Ua, which can mean four-look PLL, which is so bad). I've watched some of the videos you and the others recommended, and they've all been very helpful so far.
 
What alg sets to learn for OH after OLL and PLL ? I avg around 18 in OH and want to get faster. I know few COLLs and am currently learning more.
don’t learn more alg sets, instead improve your F2L. Make sure your lookahead is good even when doing z moves to switch between RU and LU algs. Turning is super in OH so you need to make that good
 
don’t learn more alg sets, instead improve your F2L. Make sure your lookahead is good even when doing z moves to switch between RU and LU algs. Turning is super in OH so you need to make that good
Yeah my F2L is fairly decent but my cross solutions are often questionable as I only solve white. Also I was thinking to switch from OLL--> PLL to OLLCP--> EPLL. Will it be ok?
 
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