^ I just read the entire thread listed above, but I have some comments that I don't think were addressed there. Most of the people posting in that thread are way faster than I am, and also much faster than the original poster. I think they are way beyond some more basic tactics that I want to mention.
SRV88: You talk about their being 4 slots which is true. But each slot has two ways to insert depending upon the orientation of the pair. So really there are 8 F2L inserts, of an already made pair, in the top layer. Further, I find one of these inserts in each slot to be "natural" or "easy", while the other one seems to require moves that are difficult, require a regrip, or just don't seem intuitive.
For example, let's look at the FR slot:
Insert #1:
Setup: R U R'
Solve: R U' R' Easy.
Insert #2:
Setup: F' U' F
Solve: F' U F Hard.
For that, I prefer to rotate and solve it as: y L' U L
Let's look at a back slot insert, the BR:
Insert #1:
Setup: R' U' R
Solve: R' U R Easy and *very* fast. The only problem with it is recognition, which comes with practice.
Insert #2:
Setup: B U B'
Solve: B U' B' Ugggh. Sucks.
I far prefer to rotate and solve as: y R U' R' . Fast and easy.
All 4 slots have one easy (pair already made) insert and one hard one. I directly insert for the easy cases and rotate for the hard ones.
This observation also applies to cases where the pair isn't made, but is ready to be made and inserted at once. Like this case on the FR slot:
Setup: R U' R'
Solve: R U R' We're all familiar with this and it's very easy. Now what about when you have the same thing in the BL slot? :
Setup: L U' L'
Solve: L U L' Very easy with a little bit of practice and nearly as fast as the case above. Previously I would have done a y2 and then R U R' . I think the non-rotated solve is faster in this case.
But the other insert on the BL slot is very hard IMHO:
Setup: B' U B
Solve: B' U' B Sucks. In that case, I would just do: y L' U L . That's much faster for me.
I've been working on those cases, and the "natural" inserts on all 4 slots for the past few weeks and I think I'm starting to see improvements. I attribute this partially for taking me to my first ever sub-40 average of 12 last week.
Brian.
