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Stuck between Methods

Joined
Jun 29, 2016
Messages
14
Location
Johannesburg,South Africa
I learnt and changed to ZZ in August. My CFOP PB has been 43.69. From a worst ZZ time of 1:22.38 on 18 August I progressed to my PB of 32:23 on 1 December with an ave of 100 of 49.96, but though I got the PB, my ave has not improved in weeks, if not more than a month (I have previously had a ZZ ave of 100 of 48.06). During that time I've also learnt OLL and proper 2 Look PLL. Then this weekend, I tried some CFOP solves and it just gave me a gut feel of being quicker, even if the timer doesn't agree. Obviously, my CFOP is faster than when I last did it because I now know 2 Look OLL & PLL but my average for the cross is about 10 sec. So now I'm stuck which method to carry on with to try and improve. Why am I stuck on ZZ and will CFOP, especially the cross ever get easier? ZZ has more F2L's and they are usually what slows people down. Help...
 

Sion

Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2015
Messages
1,067
Location
New York
@above nice meme.

All jokes aside, take some time to look at all the methods on the wiki and see if any interest you.

It depends on what you like to do in your solve.

Do you like algorithms and recall/memory? go with CFOP.

Do you like intuition and Slower but smoother turning? go with roux.

Do you like blockbuilding and fast move ergonomics with a similar turning style to CFOP? go with Petrus.

Do you like EO and prior setup during your solve to make things easier later? go with ZZ

Do you want a method that is decent but equal In all parts mentioned above? go with PCMS.

All and all, take some time to read through and see what tickles your fancy. Believe me. I was where you were at one point.
 

pglewis

Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2016
Messages
1,268
Location
Cincinnati
WCA
2016LEWI07
I think you need to find where you personally have the biggest potential for gain regardless of the method. If you're doing a lot of timed solves, maybe put the timer away for a few weeks. I find it difficult to incorporate new things with the timer running due to the urge to revert to the comfortable old way. It can feel frustrating learning new things but see your times actually getting worse, deliberate slow solves can help you get the new concepts comfortable.

Record your solves and look for pauses, that is time burning away that better lookahead will help. I've added blind pair drills to my routine to help me there. Locate a pair, close your eyes, join and insert the pair, open eyes, find next pair. I've found I spend far too much time looking at the pair I've already figured out, cutting into my lookahead potential for the next pair.

10-second cross can be improved a lot with targeted practice. Unlimited inspection time during practice can help, figuring out your cross and then executing it blind, and I also discovered this drill which I'm going to fall in love with: http://net13.net/Cube/Cross/ Do each level until you are 100% comfortable, then move up. If you're having difficulty on a particular level, move back down a level temporarily.

Everyone is different, so you have to evaluate where you can personally improve the most and attack that.
 
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