Older cubers discussions

gateway cuber said:
OK, I realize I'm a younger cuber so I don't belong here. but after watching your video, I can say the kid who told you that was right but I still noticed little like 0.4 sec pauses between pairs, which isn't bad. But to get sub 15 you have to eliminate those. also all those other kids were also right about tps, but don't worry about tps during F2L try to execute OLL and PLL as fast as you can. So some practice drills to try and eliminate those small, small pauses and to increase tps during LL include...

1. solve super slowly and solve without any pauses whatsoever and once you can solve at a certain speed without pauses, bump it up a notch then another notch and another notch. but be sure you still do your routine Ao50s to Ao100s. this drill should drastically improve you lookahead (which isn't bad, but when you cut out all thos 0.4 pauses, you're looking at a 17 sec avg versus a 19 sec avg.)

2. Drill you OLLs and PLLs, so drill all you PLLs all the time (especially the more difficult to execute ones such as V-perm, N-Perm, G-Perm, etc) and with OLL I don't think you need to drill easy ones like sune but drill all of your least favorite to execute. I found that when I was struggling for sub-15 that some of my OLLs took up to 3 secs! And once I got those times down It was easy to get sub-15.

Hope This Helped!
Click to expand...
Thanks. Yeah my LL is probably the worst part of the solve. I average F2L at 11 - 12 secs. Drilling OLL and PLL is probably a good thing for me. Especially since I am seemingly are forgetting OLL's. LOL I just did this today:

7. 15.54 B U2 F2 L2 R' D2 L U2 B2 U2 L D2 B R U' B2 R2 B2 D2 L'
8. 15.09 R2 D2 L2 U2 F2 L B2 L D2 L' D2 F' U2 B2 U B' R' D' U' R D2
9. 20.85 R F2 L2 B2 D B2 D2 B2 F2 U' L2 B' L' U R' U L' F' D R2
10. 16.23 F' B' R' D F2 D2 L U L B F2 R' F2 U2 L' B2 R' B2 D2 B2 U2
11. 14.64 U B2 L2 R2 D L2 U' R2 F2 D' U' L D2 L B2 D' F U2 R' B' U
12. 16.97 U' D F R F' B U L D R2 D2 B2 R' F2 L F2 L U2 B2

Damn that twenty.. :)
 
MarcelP said:
Thanks. Yeah my LL is probably the worst part of the solve. I average F2L at 11 - 12 secs. Drilling OLL and PLL is probably a good thing for me. Especially since I am seemingly are forgetting OLL's. LOL I just did this today:

7. 15.54 B U2 F2 L2 R' D2 L U2 B2 U2 L D2 B R U' B2 R2 B2 D2 L'
8. 15.09 R2 D2 L2 U2 F2 L B2 L D2 L' D2 F' U2 B2 U B' R' D' U' R D2
9. 20.85 R F2 L2 B2 D B2 D2 B2 F2 U' L2 B' L' U R' U L' F' D R2
10. 16.23 F' B' R' D F2 D2 L U L B F2 R' F2 U2 L' B2 R' B2 D2 B2 U2
11. 14.64 U B2 L2 R2 D L2 U' R2 F2 D' U' L D2 L B2 D' F U2 R' B' U
12. 16.97 U' D F R F' B U L D R2 D2 B2 R' F2 L F2 L U2 B2

Damn that twenty.. :)
Click to expand...
I also tend to either forget or mix up OLLs that solve similar cases (like same top shape but different side stickers) which is frustrating. I am also mixing at times OLLs that just start with the same trigger. But my problem is that I can drill PLLs if I want, I just do it over and over and I have no problem with that but, with OLLs I really need the visual cue to trigger the muscle memory of the alg so, I cannot just start with a solved cube and say, let's practice OLL 46 because that would not work, the memory of the alg is just not triggered (except for easy ones like F-sexy-F'). So, any advice on how to drill OLLs?
 
MarcelP said:
Yep! Check my signature. Select in the program the olls that you want to drill and it keeps giving them on your screen
Click to expand...
Kill me! I didn't know that you had programmed an alg trainer and it looks pretty nice. I will surely use it. As I understand it, it gives you the inverse of the alg so, basically it's helping you set up the cube with the inverse before each go, right? Very helpful. In fact, once I execute the OLL once or twice, with the recent recall I can keep executing it again and again until the cube is solved (or until my fingers get sore :)) but, for that 1st setup that will trigger my muscle memory it will be great!

EDIT: Already downloaded and tried it out. Nice!!!
 
Last edited:
Well, I'm cubing again.

I got a 2 new cubes, and I have some interesting thoughts on them from an "OH" perspective. (Note: I solve with ZZ, so I can't speak to M slices real well, I just don't use them.)

The Valk: This is the real Thunderclap V2. It is smooth, and cuts well. A wonderful cube to use for OH. I need to finish setup on it before my trip but... man, I see the speed potential in this one. It just "feels" nice. It ignores minor mistakes, and doesn't punish you for them.

Gans 356 Air: This cube is an engima to me. I like it's feel when it is "on". When it isn't or somehow I do something off... it locks up. I don't have a great feel for "why" it happens like I do with the Valk.

When I screw up on the Valk, I feel like I have no excuses. On the 356 Air, I'm never quite sure. I never felt that way about my 356v2. Hopefully looser GES nuts, and a bit of tweaking will help it because when it is great... it is WONDERFUL. But it isn't great consistently enough for my taste.

I've got 2-3 solves near my PB for OH. I suspect I'll set it once I complete the setup on the cube, and I get more used to it.
 
mafergut said:
So, any advice on how to drill OLLs?
Click to expand...
Another option is you can do it with cstimer, but I think Marcel's tool is better!


muchacho said:
Next Monday there will be a comp in my city, unofficial, only 3x3, handscrambled and only 3 solves. The best thing is this year it will be held in the morning (last one was at night in the street, and my colorblind eyes suffered badly), so I guess I'll improve my 88 seconds average from last year :D
Click to expand...

That sounds like a scary comp I would have a dream about. :)
 
newtonbase said:
Sub 2/top 20 is definitely my goal but that might be a little early!

DYK - had my solve today been official it would have been a 19% drop but only improved my rank from 33 to 30. It starts to get crowded under 2 mins.
Click to expand...
It's reachable. Go for it. I see what you mean though, there's over 30 seconds between 31st and 29th. It used to be worse - there used to be nobody between Sarah and Jude. I remember because that gap was my target last year :). Sarah was 23rd then. 3BLD seems to have got a lot more popular and competitive in the UK this year.
 
mark49152 said:
3BLD seems to have got a lot more popular and competitive in the UK this year.
Click to expand...
That's my concern about leaving it too long. The goalposts keep moving. 2 mins will scrape top 20 now but it even if I get it at the UKs I could end up closer to 25th. Any youngster who puts in a bit of effort seems to get there easily.

Edit: I'm going to have to learn corner comms soon.
 
newtonbase said:
That's my concern about leaving it too long. The goalposts keep moving. 2 mins will scrape top 20 now but it even if I get it at the UKs I could end up closer to 25th. Any youngster who puts in a bit of effort seems to get there easily.

Edit: I'm going to have to learn corner comms soon.
Click to expand...
I think age is less of a disadvantage in BLD. Represent the oldies :). But yes, it's competition, and people are working at it all the time. At the end of 2014, 3 minutes would scrape top 20, and Ben's 1:40 was 10th not 15th. My goal was top 10, I missed it by a second at North London in April, and today it's 11 seconds further away.

IMHO, M2/OP will get you sub-2 easily. Comms are a must eventually, but it will take months before they bed in and you're back to the same times and accuracy. That's my experience anyway.
 
@Logiqx , @Shaky Hands , @newtonbase - Just there for the Sunday for Guildford due to a family birthday in my birthtown of Bicester near Oxford. I am afraid beers for me will ahve to wait until UK Champs in November but still look forward to seeing you all there :)

@Lid - Nice, sub 1:50 Ao12! Have a 1:59.xy ao12 but didnt note it down. Not much mega in the last week though so needd some practice this weekend.

@MarcelP - I know exactly where you mean by turnspeed. We hear all the time "Slow down and lookahread" without sometimes reaslising this is great advice for youngsters who turn soooo fast that they cannot nescessarily see the other pieces move. For a few years I have tried to mix up turnspeed in practice, doing some slow sessions and some all out speed. I think my best averages these days are higher TPS than a few years ago but I see a lot of variable TPS in my fastest solves so some slow where I need the lookahead and some not. Its a real coincidence you posted this week about this because in the Valk 3 I have found a cube that is even more forgiving of me going faster so for a week or so I have been doing high TPS averages on and off. I am not seeing great consistency but I am seeing loads of 12.xy fullsteps and the other day I had a sub 15.5 Ao50. I will try and capture some full TPS solves on film today. Great to see your run with no sup 20s and really looking forward to seeing your improvement :)

@muchacho - Nice Ao5 and so close to sub 17 :)
 
Managed my first sub 15 ao5 yesterday. I've been counting the number of sub15 solves I have and in yesterday's ao100 I had 7 in total, 3 of which were in this ao5 :-)

Ao5 = 14.96

13.57 L' B2 D2 R B2 D2 L' F2 R2 F2 R B' F R' F' U' L' F' D2 U2 B2
(16.72) D2 F2 D' B2 L2 D' R2 F2 D U2 L2 B' U F D2 R B2 F' R' D R'
16.31 F' B2 D' F' R F2 B' L2 U' D2 F' D2 L2 U2 B2 R2 B D2
(13.37) D2 U2 F2 D2 F' L2 U2 F D2 U2 L2 R D' U2 R B' U L2 D2 B' R
14.99 R2 F D2 B L2 D2 B F R2 B R2 L' F R D B' F D R B U

@Selkie - Lookahead has been the single biggest influence on getting lower times for me. When I get it right I get sub 15's quite easily with most of them being fullstep. I've been actively trying to slow down and look ahead more this last week and even that little bit of extra effort has paid off. I find at night after having a couple glasses of wine with the wife that fast solves are not going to happen, I spend the time doing slower solves concentrating solely on looking ahead. Although this can be difficult depending on the number of glasses of wine consumed ;-)
 
Selkie said:
I am not seeing great consistency but I am seeing loads of 12.xy fullsteps and the other day I had a sub 15.5 Ao50. I will try and capture some full TPS solves on film today. Great to see your run with no sup 20s and really looking forward to seeing your improvement :)
Click to expand...

I know what you mean with the consistency :) Although I seem to be averaging 18.2X overall now I get about 2 - 3 full step 13's every day.
Yesterday's second solve of the day:
2. 13.39 F2 U2 F2 R2 D' B2 L2 D U2 R2 U' F' U R' B R B2 R2 U F'
y2 // inspection
D R' U R' y' R2 // X-CROSS (6)
R' U R U' R' U' R //2ND (7)
U2 L U' L' //3RD (4)
U' R' U' R U' R' U2 R2 U' R' //4TH (10)
U2 R' F R2 B' R2 F' R2 B R' //OLL (10)
U2 F R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R F' U' //PLL (18) 55 moves in 13.39 = 4.10 which is not super fast
Reconstruction: alg.cubing.net
 
@MarcelP - Very nice fullstep sir. I have to thank you mate, whilst I have tried full TPS on a number of occasions it hasn't been for long and quickly returned to my usual speed. It has been the discussion here that has encouraged me to really try pushing TPS.

I said I would try and get some fullspeed on film today but did not realise how quickly i would be able to capture a sub 15 Ao12. It took less than 20 minutes.

These solves are far from pretty, not fluid, so many pauses, lockup etc. It feels like the equivalent of cutting the brake pipes on my own car. It feel unnatural solving this way and is going to take a lot of getting used to but ... wow. As for consistency, there is the obvious non counting 18.xy and a counting 16.xy but the average of 12 has a standard deviation of 0.68. Doesn't getting much better than that. This was part of a 15.xy Ao50. Really beginning to feel like a sub 14.5 Ao12 and Sub 15 Ao50 might not be as far away as I thought.

Average of 12: 14.88
1. 16.20 U2 B' F' L2 U2 F L2 F R2 D R D L' F2 D2 B' D B U' B
2. 15.13 R2 F2 U2 L2 F L2 F L2 R2 B2 U' R' F2 U B2 D2 B' D L U' B'
3. 14.60 F' U2 F2 R2 B R2 F' R2 U2 R2 B' D' L R F D R2 U' B R' B2
4. 13.94 R2 F2 L2 U2 F' R2 F L2 U2 L2 R B' F2 L D2 U' F2 R F' D2
5. (18.30) D' B2 U F2 D' B2 D' R2 D U2 B2 F L B R' D2 B' L B2 D2 F
6. 13.98 B2 L2 B2 R2 D L2 B2 U' R2 U2 L' U2 L' F R2 B L' D2 R
7. 14.85 U R2 F2 U' R2 U' B2 R2 D B2 U2 R' F U' L D U B F U2
8. (13.72) R2 U' F2 U' B2 D' U2 F2 R2 B2 L2 F U L' F' U2 R2 U' B R' U'
9. 15.54 U' L2 U' R2 D R' L' U2 F' R' F2 U2 R B2 R F2 U2 L U2 L'
10. 14.66 L' U2 B U2 L U D' F D' R' U F2 B2 D' R2 D' F2 D' R2 D' L2
11. 14.73 U' L2 B2 U F B L F2 D R U L2 D L2 D B2 U2 R2 U2 L2 D
12. 15.17 F2 D' F2 L2 D2 B2 F2 L2 U' F2 U2 F' D F' L' B' F' D2 F' D U2
 
Selkie said:
I said I would try and get some fullspeed on film today but did not realise how quickly i would be able to capture a sub 15 Ao12. It took less than 20 minutes.

Average of 12: 14.88
Click to expand...
Man that is cool stuff. I notice you look at the average between solves.. It messed you up after the 13.94 LOL You became nervous... Never look at the averages. Also, I would encourage you to use inspection on screen. cstimer calls 8 seconds and 12 seconds, which put a bit more pressure on you (which is good if you want to do the same in competition :) ).. Man, you make it look very simple..! Good stuff.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Burrito
Any older kid/teen cubers in Durham Region, Ontario?
Replies
0
Views
796
Burrito
Burrito
Jilli0
  • Locked
Any Teen/Older Kid Cubers in Wayne County, Michigan?
Replies
11
Views
2,509
Deleted member 74176
D
Mr Cubism
How many older members (registered before 2010) are still active here?
Replies
1
Views
103
abunickabhi
abunickabhi
O
[Member Intro] Older beginner in scotland
Replies
17
Views
3,176
Cuberto333
C
Humble Cuber
Selling Older Puzzles | 2-5's & Megaminx's
Replies
6
Views
2,268
Humble Cuber
Humble Cuber
Back
Top