Seeking 3BLD advice before forming bad habbits

[sk8erman41]

I have been doing more 3BLD lately and have a few questions. Wondering if my current style will benefit me long term or if there is something that I should change now before getting too rooted.

-I memo corners first using letter pair images (more to come on this later)
-Don't really have a good system for twists, I mainly just use visual and will sometimes incorporate "flip" and an image for the twist
-If parity exists in corners I misplace UB and UL during edge memo
-I memo edges using audio placing two pairs to form one "word"
-Flipped edges I do visual at the end.
-I execute edges (M2), flipped edges, corners (OP), corner twists

Here was my last Ao5:
1 2:28.84 (DNF) - - 1:21.43/1:07.42 would have been PB but forgot to flip two edges
2 4:52.37 - - 2:49.67/2:02.70
3 3:38.23 - - 2:10.99/1:27.24
4 4:54.52 - - 2:33.95/2:20.58
5 4:08.68 - - 2:35.16/1:33.53

solve: 4/5
mean: 4:23.45
memo: 2:32.44
execution: 1:51.01

SO some ?'s:
1) Is the routine a good one?
2) Should I rush memo, rush execution, keep going slow and safe? focus on time or success rate? Success rate is usually about 75% right now but off by very minor things about 90% of DNF's.
3) Up until now I have been making up images on the spot. Is it time to make a list? I usually look up difficult letter pair combos after a solve for better ideas for next time. Problem I see with what I do now for long term: Sometimes I will do first two letters, sometimes first and last letter, sometimes sounds of the letters. Ex: CI = CIlantro, Cl"EYE"nt, ChristI. Not sure what to do about this. I am guessing stick to one but which?
4) What should I be doing about my flips and twists?
5) I think that I am almost past the point of being able to fix this, but I usually do M2 with two flicks of my left ring finger. I am horrible at M moves and have tried to convert to double flick ring/middle but cannot get it down. It occasionally screws up my execution and I mess the pair up entirely resulting in a DNF. Should I just push through this and force myself to learn it no matter what or just be okay with it? I don't ever intend on being world class or anything, but faster is the idea right?
6) I've tried 2-3 cube MBLD attemps just for fun and didn't find them too much harder (all DNF's so far but again off by only an edge or twist or something). Should I even be attempting this yet or should I continue to focus on 3BLD until a certain point? I'd love to try a 4BLD someday but there is no rush.
7) when should I transition to "advanced M2?"

I know that's a lot, so if you've read this far thank you and any help you have to offer on any of the questions would be great. Thanks

 

[Ollie]

1. Seems fine!
2. Read this.
3. You'll find that by practicing on-the-spot letter pairs a lot that you will reuse good ones and they will become automatic. Maybe just list and learn the hardest letter pairs and plan in advance for those, otherwise no need to make a list.
4. Most people use visual, myself included, so keep at it.
5. It's not too late. I only recently learnt to incorporate double flicks into all my solves, after 4 years or so without using them. Took me a week or two of practice, but it's definitely not too late to double flick M2s.
6. Why not - MultiBLD will improve your 3BLD, especially with your memo strength, memo speed and letter pair formation.
7. Whenever - it's not too difficult at all.

 

[sk8erman41]

Great thank you so much for your response Ollie! You're a big inspiration. Regarding #3, is it okay to use all three styles of the letter pair as long as I am consistent? I am concerned that if I do get into multi that I will use one on one cube and another on a different cube and confuse myself.

 

[Ollie]

Great thank you so much for your response Ollie! You're a big inspiration. Regarding #3, is it okay to use all three styles of the letter pair as long as I am consistent? I am concerned that if I do get into multi that I will use one on one cube and another on a different cube and confuse myself.

Good question, yeah it's possible to confuse stuff. To use a PG-rated example, I found that PuG used to get confused with PUg in the early stages, so I changed it to PiG and it fixed it. Multi is a good opportunity to do this, because if you are lucky to realize that the letter pair PG appears on more than one cube you can prepare yourself, either by making an image that links the two or by deciding which image is better.