Should I learn L, L' ?

[Zarxrax]

I'm really bad at performing L and L' moves. It just feels rather unnatural to me. When learning my PLLs, I avoided algorithms that used L.
But now I'm learning OLL, and I notice that a lot of the optimal or easy-to-remember algs use L and L'.
Should I just learn these algs and hopefully get better at doing those moves, or should I stick with moves that will be more comfortable for me, although they might be a lot harder to remember?

My times:
(R U R' U') x 12 = 5.66 seconds
(L' U' L U) x 12 = 11.31 seconds

 

[josmil1]

Learn it and get better. All it takes is practice

 

[4Chan]

Chris Hardwick would say to practice left hand too.

 

[MichaelP.]

L, L' moves won't be as fast as R, R' moves for you, but you can certainly make L, L' moves a lot faster. Try fiddling with the cube using L' U' L U, and also try flipping algs and doing them with your left hand instead of your right. OLL's need to be really fast or else you might as well just stick with 2 look OLL, so the algs your learning must be easily executable. If this isn't possible with an alg that doesn't have L's then learn the one that does. Your L, L' should improve over time.

 

[bwatkins]

being able to use L and L' can only help you. If you end up not using them in OLL, perhaps they will be helpful in intuitive F2L if you use that. For instance it is easier to insert some pairs if you can efficiently use L and L' instead of using a cube rotation.

But in the end, do what works for you, give it a try...

 

[FatBoyXPC]

I learned a lot of my PLL's by just mirroring my right handed PLL's. Such as my G cases, I learned A and B off doing the same thing with my left hand that I do with my right. If my right hand goes up then my right index pulls the U layer, my left will do the same, etc. It may not be the most efficient way to learn PLL, or even to execute the algorithm, but I'm not too much slower with my left and it made learning the 10 or so PLLs I needed to learn much easier.

I definitely suggest learning how to use that left hand. A great example of the power is if you watch any F2L video showing how you can easily insert pairs in the back, and that goes for the left side too!

And if you know the RUR'U' x3 case for F2L, learning it for the back works great as well so you don't have to do a cube rotation. Thus, learning it with the left! Also learning it for the left and in the front would be ideal too

 

[~Phoenix Death~]

I'm guessing you're right handed.
Do whatever that helps your times and benefits yourself.

 

[Zarxrax]

I'm guessing you're right handed.
Do whatever that helps your times and benefits yourself.

Nope, I'm a lefty