Random Blindfold Cubing Discussion

I looked at Noah's tutorial but found the M2 was a bit too much extra to learn so went for OP/OP. Now that I'm comfortable I've switched to M2 and a little bit of advanced M2 but I don't regret taking the route I did.
 
Hari said:
I was thinking lately on whether the switch to UF as buffer for edges would be better in terms of commutators for that buffer being better. I did see somewhere on the forums a topic on the top BLDers and their buffers. A bit of background info about me:
Average right now is 35-40s(have 3 sub 30 singles. Yes, call me crazy for even contemplating switching). Average memo is 12-13.

Current buffers now are DF and UBL. Method is predominantly 3-style with little M2 now and then.

I have never used TurBo edges or UF buffer before but I can pretty easily figure out comms for it.

So, should I switch? Why/why not?
I also wanted to know how people with UF,UBL as buffers solve parity.
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It's funny, I use UF buffer and was thinking of switching to DF. Basically because I use DF for wings and midges, and wanted all the comms I "learn" from there to be transferable. But it's intuitive so I'll just stick to what I use.

I don't think it's worth switching since you've come so far with DF. Also Kaijun Lin uses DF, and he's about as fast as Maskow.
Read this thread if you: https://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?47629-3BLD-Buffer-(Commutator)

How I solve parity:
Execute corners, leaving UBL and UBR swapped.
Execute edges, setup last target to UR or UL without disturbing the buffers or UBR
Do whichever R-perm will solve it, undo setup

If the last target is UB, it's just y T-perm. If it's BU, it's the H OLL (sexy M' U R U' Rw'), y RUF(good) J-perm
 
I just remember them that they are kind of weird letter pairs, and just remember them by just saying the letters over and over. I imagine a book or an assignment from school named by those letter pairs. Or someone walks up to me saying them over and over again for no reason whatsoever.
 
TheCoolMinxer said:
What would you recommend doing with letter pairs you don't know? Write them during memo and looked them up After the attempt? Or even within the attempt? Or sth completely different?
Click to expand...
Make something up on the spot, even if it's two words or audio/some gibberish. That's what I did when I couldn't be bothered learning >400 letter pairs. If it's a crappy letter pair, look it up afterwards.
 
Been experiencing an aversion towards big blind of late. Just can't muster up the fortitude or even interest to do 4/5/multi blind. Been doing just a mix of 3BLD and other events for nearly a month. And when I do force myself into big blind attempts, my accuracy is non-existant. As much as I'd hate to say it, I've probably fallen into the big BLD curse(which is a shame as I have yet to get a 4BLD officially and 5BLD is slow). Is there any solution to this? I have been on a rather longish break for the last month almost. It's not helped refresh me. Also, I'm afraid to lay off them for too long as I'll forget my comms/algs.
 
Hari said:
Been experiencing an aversion towards big blind of late. Just can't muster up the fortitude or even interest to do 4/5/multi blind. Been doing just a mix of 3BLD and other events for nearly a month. And when I do force myself into big blind attempts, my accuracy is non-existant. As much as I'd hate to say it, I've probably fallen into the big BLD curse(which is a shame as I have yet to get a 4BLD officially and 5BLD is slow). Is there any solution to this? I have been on a rather longish break for the last month almost. It's not helped refresh me. Also, I'm afraid to lay off them for too long as I'll forget my comms/algs.
Click to expand...

I've heard about the big BLD curse a lot lately, and I don't think I'm fully clear on what it is. Is it when people who practice big BLD regularly suddenly practice big BLD less regularly due to other interests? Or is it when people quit or stop practicing big BLD altogether?

Based on my understanding of what the big BLD curse is right now, I think people might say that I too have fallen into the big BLD curse, but I don't see it that way. I practice big BLD way less than I used to, but it is still my favorite event. If you asked me to practice it a lot more frequently right now, I would probably enjoy it for a while and then grow kind of tired of it. But if I continue to practice at the rate I do now, then I enjoy it very much still.

You asked for a solution, my advice would be to practice big BLD a lot less for a while. If you begin to miss it at a certain point, then do a big BLD solve. See where that takes you, meaning do you get back into it for a bit or do you feel good about just the one solve.

Interests, free time, your ability to devote a contiguous period of time for a BLD solve all change over time. If those outside factors aren't lining up for big BLD right now then do something else for a while until those factors do line up again. And when they do, if you miss it, then you'll feel a desire to practice big BLD again.

Calling these changes in factors a "curse" just makes you feel like crap. Calling it what it is, a change in interests and/or free time I think is probably more accurate in most cases.
 
cmhardw said:
I've heard about the big BLD curse a lot lately, and I don't think I'm fully clear on what it is. Is it when people who practice big BLD regularly suddenly practice big BLD less regularly due to other interests? Or is it when people quit or stop practicing big BLD altogether?

Based on my understanding of what the big BLD curse is right now, I think people might say that I too have fallen into the big BLD curse, but I don't see it that way. I practice big BLD way less than I used to, but it is still my favorite event. If you asked me to practice it a lot more frequently right now, I would probably enjoy it for a while and then grow kind of tired of it. But if I continue to practice at the rate I do now, then I enjoy it very much still.

You asked for a solution, my advice would be to practice big BLD a lot less for a while. If you begin to miss it at a certain point, then do a big BLD solve. See where that takes you, meaning do you get back into it for a bit or do you feel good about just the one solve.

Interests, free time, your ability to devote a contiguous period of time for a BLD solve all change over time. If those outside factors aren't lining up for big BLD right now then do something else for a while until those factors do line up again. And when they do, if you miss it, then you'll feel a desire to practice big BLD again.

Calling these changes in factors a "curse" just makes you feel like crap. Calling it what it is, a change in interests and/or free time I think is probably more accurate in most cases.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply.
Well, in my case, it's not a shift in interests. It's just that the whole memo process,especially in the beginning is not enjoyable. I started a 17 cube multi the other day and gave up after 2 min of memo. Images aren't sticking and it's not fun anymore basically. I still enjoy the execution aspect but it's frustrating to get to the last few wings in 4BLD and then forget the image.(that's just one instance) I was going very strong as recently as May, when I got sub10 in 5BLD, a couple of sub3's in 4BLD and some sub30's in 3BLD. I guess the frustration could be in part due to the fact that I'm not improving much (or at all ) recently. I'll try not thinking too much and just do it when I miss it, like you said. Won't do any forced attempts till then.
 
Hari said:
Thanks for the reply.
Well, in my case, it's not a shift in interests. It's just that the whole memo process,especially in the beginning is not enjoyable. I started a 17 cube multi the other day and gave up after 2 min of memo. Images aren't sticking and it's not fun anymore basically. I still enjoy the execution aspect but it's frustrating to get to the last few wings in 4BLD and then forget the image.(that's just one instance) I was going very strong as recently as May, when I got sub10 in 5BLD, a couple of sub3's in 4BLD and some sub30's in 3BLD. I guess the frustration could be in part due to the fact that I'm not improving much (or at all ) recently. I'll try not thinking too much and just do it when I miss it, like you said. Won't do any forced attempts till then.
Click to expand...

Your skill level is definitely higher than mine, but it does sound to me like you are experiencing burnout from too much concentrated practice. Try doubling your number of journeys/Roman rooms, whatever memo method you're using. When I would start to forget images mid-solve like that, adding new journeys always helped me. Also, not practicing for a while does this too since it "clears out" your journeys/roman rooms, but if you don't add new ones then you'll run into this same problem again down the line if you start practicing a lot again.

I don't know if that is even relevant at your skill level, but I have definitely experienced that kind of BLD burnout before, and that is what it sounds like to me.
 
Hari said:
Thanks for the reply.
Well, in my case, it's not a shift in interests. It's just that the whole memo process,especially in the beginning is not enjoyable. I started a 17 cube multi the other day and gave up after 2 min of memo. Images aren't sticking and it's not fun anymore basically. I still enjoy the execution aspect but it's frustrating to get to the last few wings in 4BLD and then forget the image.(that's just one instance) I was going very strong as recently as May, when I got sub10 in 5BLD, a couple of sub3's in 4BLD and some sub30's in 3BLD. I guess the frustration could be in part due to the fact that I'm not improving much (or at all ) recently. I'll try not thinking too much and just do it when I miss it, like you said. Won't do any forced attempts till then.
Click to expand...

Well I'm roughly at your level at BLD and this sounds familiar and I think is perfectly normal in any activity/sport you practise.

If you practise "too much" (too much varies greatly from person to person) of anything you get tired of it and it won't be fun anymore. I have experienced this with BLD (and also some other activities) a few times already. What I think causes this is too much desire to get faster. Because that leads to insane amounts of practise which leads to exhaustion which leads to worse accuracy/times which leads to even more practise to get faster still... At least that's what happened in my case.

You need to learn to do "right" amount of practise for you. Nowadays I don't do as many solves as I used to but I am still getting better because every solve I do I am 100% focused on that. When I did 20-30 4BLD solves a day some days my solves were sloppy and accuracy was bad. Now when I do 1-6 a day usually I can REALLY focus on every single one of them.

Nowadays I really enjoy practising BLD again and do it almost every day but not too much. It's more important to do 3 focused solves than 30 with bad focus.

TL: DR Practise less but practise better. Only do so small amount of solves that you can be 100% focused every time you solve a puzzle.

Edit: Forgot the most important thing: If it isn't fun anymore don't do it. If you really like BLD you will get almost an unresistable urge to practise it again soon enough :)
 
Thanks Chris and tseitsei for your advice. Tried a bit of 4BLD today with a clear head and not too many goals like sub 3 or anything. 3 successes out of 5, which were the last 3 solves. Made a 3:38 mean, which is PB I think :) Still not into trying a multi or 5BLD, but this is a start and a positive one. I'm also stopping with these 5 solves today(earlier, I would push for an ao5, then for an ao12 and so on.)
 
Hari said:
Thanks Chris and tseitsei for your advice. Tried a bit of 4BLD today with a clear head and not too many goals like sub 3 or anything. 3 successes out of 5, which were the last 3 solves. Made a 3:38 mean, which is PB I think :) Still not into trying a multi or 5BLD, but this is a start and a positive one. I'm also stopping with these 5 solves today(earlier, I would push for an ao5, then for an ao12 and so on.)
Click to expand...

Yay! That's great! It sounds like you have found a good balance for practice that is productive but also not too draining. Congrats on the pb!
 
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned before, but I've recently discovered an extremely underground bld method, called boomerang. So far, I've only found one person who uses it, and it is actually quite fast. The steps consist of orienting corners, using triple sledge to switch two edges, and also using "X-Perms" (U2+H perm) and A perms to do quick 3 cycles. Other than that, it's just a 2 cycle method. I'm curious as if anyone else knows something about this method, because there's no video tutorials.
 
Does somebody know of a timer that is useful for MBLD? One where you put in how many you are doing, or say like a 4x4 equivalent or 6x6 equivalent, generates that many scrambles, then has a timer where you have the option of timing memo, and the cubes. If not, somebody should definitely make it, or at least make an addition to prisma puzle timer or cstimer or something like that.
 
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