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Older cubers discussions

Eelephant said:
Heh! Don't think me and my 3x3 PB of 1 min 39 sec would have made much of an impact on the event!! Maybe next time just for the fun of it...

Didn't even think of the parents! I'll just blend in!

Thanks, all...
Click to expand...

My first ever official attempt was 2:26. Even though I was averaging 1min back then, solving in front of many people made me nervous enough to shake & screw up here and there. Half way through the solve, realized the cross was not done correctly.
My son and son's friends were all standing in front my station and watched me & laughing - not at me but enjoying a rare scene - one of their parents in the stage competing with them together but suffering with the extreme slow speed. At the end, I've got many complaints (of course, jokes) from many parents since their kids wanted them to learn and compete with them.
 
@Eelephant definitely sign up next time. I still sign up for new events that I’m terrible at... and other than 3x3 there are normally limits. I don’t always make the cutoffs, but that doesn’t stop me from having fun! Trust me, you will enjoy it no matter how you do.
 
Eelephant said:
So, I'm heading out to observe my first competition (didn't have the nerve to enter!), to check out the events and vendors. Not that it matters, cuz I'm going anyway, but how out of place will I be? Will there be ANY other graybeards there?
Click to expand...

Depends on where you are. I've been to 4 here in the midwest US and I don't think any competitors have been within 20 years of me; the UK oldie crowd is very active.

Eelephant said:
Heh! After watching many videos and reading many posts, it is easy to start believing everybody but me averages sub 20. Thanks for the reality check.... :)
Click to expand...

My first three official 3x3 solves were DNF, DNF, and 2:20 :D
 
newtonbase said:
Well done fixing that error at the end. There's going to be a lot of cubes attempted at the weekend Hope your 20/20 beats the kids.:)
Click to expand...
I'm not even going to think about competing with those guys. They are younger, more talented, hungry, and working hard, so good luck to them. I'm sure we'll see some impressive results this weekend and there's a good chance of an NR. I'll be happy with a PB :).
 
Eelephant said:
Heh! After watching many videos and reading many posts, it is easy to start believing everybody but me averages sub 20. Thanks for the reality check.... :)
Click to expand...
Ummmm... not even close. I’ve been Cubing now for 2 years and I’m not sub-20. Not even close. Everyone is different. Some people can practice more or can learn more algorithms faster or have better/worse natural lookahead, etc... One thing I enjoy about Cubing is the point is about ME improving and having fun. Not beating someone else. At comps my son and I will sit with people and chat about whatever comes up. I’m handedly among the slowest, but if i do well for me, everyone shares my excitement. They don’t care how fast (or slowly) I solve the cube.

If you watch, you might enjoy judging, as was recommended earlier. You will learn about how to compete and reduce your own nerves when you do compete. Also, it really is fun to be involved.
 
openseas said:
Jonatan created a new WCA dB related link which makes rankings of your own selected group of people.
I've added all our oldies into that link

https://jonatanklosko.github.io/ran...1,2017FREG01,2017GRAD03,2017PALI03,2017VIDO02)

While we have our "official" awesome rank link created by Michael (https://github.com/Logiqx/wca-ipy) but in case you wanted to have something updated immediately, you can use the above link (named "Oldies")
Click to expand...
That's pretty cool. It looks like you might have missed a couple at least, I'm higher than I should be. :)

Eelephant said:
Heh! After watching many videos and reading many posts, it is easy to start believing everybody but me averages sub 20. Thanks for the reality check.... :)
Click to expand...
This is exactly part of what got me hooked into speed cubing. Seeing lots of the kids talk about sub 20 like it wasn't anything at all. At that point I did not believe I could ever really do that, but it did get me curious to see how fast I might get!

I also attended a competition soon after I even learned they were around. I actually emailed Shonathon (one of our TX delegates) to ask if it was OK to bring my kids and watch. I can't recall if I already had learned CFOP by that point or not, but I didn't think competing was an option for sure. I had learned Petrus years earlier but never tried to get fast. Anyway, at that first competition I think everyone thought I was a parent, I didn't interact much (I also had a co-worker with me so we just chatted and I chased kids mostly). But when I went to my first comp in 2016 I fit right in with the kids. :) I'll never forget sitting down at a practice table and the kids immediately asking me my PB (something that's happened several times since BTW). Have fun though and compete soon!
 
@Eelephant tl dr at bottom
I remember when I found out that comps existed. I immediately challenged myself to get to sub 30. Which at the time I wasn't sure I would achieve on a regular basis. Six months later at the first comp I managed a 28.xx average and surprised myself with a 26.xx in the second round.

After that comp I just became obsessed with cubing so I didn't have to challenge myself. The goal of sub 20 was a natural aim. I never thought I could achieve it. 4 years of on and off practice later. I still wasn't consistently a sub 20 solver. I was averaging 20-21 seconds with maybe 20%- 30% of ao5 at sub 20.

Feeling like I had hit a plateau. I never thought I'd be able to consider myself a full on sub 20 solver. Then all of a sudden. With no real change in my method or any new algs added. The dam that had been holding me at 20-21s just collapsed and I was well above 75% of the time at 19.xx averages. Which set me on fire for practicing even more. And now Im consistently averaging 17.5 - 18.5. Cross to first pair was the biggest thing holding me back from being sub 20 all those years btw. And is the #1 thing I still need to improve if im gonna get to 15s average.

Im branching off way too much now lol

TL DR: It took me 5 years or so to be able to consider myself sub 20. If cubing becomes something you deeply enjoy. You will improve out of sheer repetition. because it wont feel like practice.
 
Last edited:
@mark49152
I can't begin to say how impressive it is that you can go back and fix a cube you messed up your sequence. Reversing the wrong execution?? wow. My biggest attempt so far was 12 in 1 hour 15 min. And my mind was so cloudy from info retention that I found it difficult to stay on track even just making sure I knew if I was on edges or corners. I managed 9/12 so im hopeful for a successful 12 in the future.

But my hat's off to you!! Well done!

Question: Do you use a video camera on a tripod to get that angle on your videos?
 
To all Blinders

Do you ever get brain fatique from frequent practice? I've been preparing for my next comp on March 24th for about 2 months ish now. And I've been feeling more and more brain tired the more I practice. To the point where I do two 3BLD attempts and I need the rest of the day to feel back to normal again. It's hard to describe but it's like my head feels cloudy for a long time after.

Im weary of doing another large multi attempt since the comp is a week and a half away. I feel like I only have enough brain juice to last one big attempt lol

Not sure if im making any sense but looking to see if others have felt similar and just pushed through it or if you guys just force yourselves to take breaks.
 
kbrune said:
Do you ever get brain fatique from frequent practice?
Click to expand...

I can do mindless 3x3 spamming for hours without feeling much fatigue but enough 3bld attempts will definitely get me there. In the discussions here it seems like it becomes less of a problem with experience and practice. I still have to burn some mental calories on certain things that should eventually become more automatic (sticker to speffz, tracing, assigning an image). It's definitely less taxing for me now than it was 8 months ago.
 
Another rare sub 18 last night, that's two this week. Fastest true full-step yet: 17.65, 6-move T + GPerm. My consistency is a hot mess but my potential is creeping faster, eventually I'll catch a skip during one of my good spells and land one in the 14-16 range. My peak lookahead is still untamed with a mind of its own though.
 
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