Technically speaking: How fast 'should' I be?

[David Emms]

Hi! I'm new to these Forums, but I'm presuming this is the right place to ask this question

So, based on the following, how fast do you think I should be?

I have been solving the 3x3x3 Rubik's Cube for the past few months now, and I have my average down to around 60 seconds. The fastest I've solved the Cube was a lucky 43 seconds.

I use the following method to solve the Cube:

1. Solve the Cross (in 10 moves or less, depends)
2. First two layers (intuitive; tried learning algs but before long realised I was solving cases I hadn't learned, so I haven't learned any more algs)
3. 2-Look OLL
4. 2-Look PLL

I usually take a quick look at the timer whilst solving, and it has become apparent that it takes me 30-40 seconds to solve the Cross + F2L, and 20-40 seconds for 2-Look OLL + 2-Look PLL.

Based on my method, and the amount of time I have been cubing, how fast should I be at this point?

Please note: I must practice at least 1 hour a day.

Thanks!

 

[5BLD]

Unfortunately there isn't really an answer to that as I believe and I think others do that cubing really should take time to develop... And you shouldn't worry how fast you are compared to others. We all develop at different speeds. Compete inwardly, not outwardly, I think phlippieskezer said to me once and it's true.

Anyway at your stage, just relax and have fun! Explore methods and styles...
Remember any sort of practice helps.
I switched from CFOP to Roux a couple months ago (been cubing for 8 months now so far) averaging 23 secs. Now although I never practiced CFOP I can easily get sub-16 with CFOP.

Note: you're on your way though
Just explore and find which method you like best and try different styles. Good luck.

 

[cubernya]

You can be very fast. It all depends on your average movecount.

 

[Goosly]

With that method and period you've been cubing, I think 60 seconds is good.
Watch badmephistos video's on the cross to get better at that. All crosses can be solved in 8 moves or less.
Do not learn algorithms for F2L. Just experiment with intuitive solving so you find your own solutions for hard cases.
The last layer is just a matter of solving a lot, so the algorithms become more fluent.

Oh, and don't watch the timer during solves.

 

[David Emms]

Thank you so much for the quick replies!

Sometimes I spend too much time watching sub-20 videos, it makes me think I'm wayyyy too slow haha

I certainly need to improve my cross, but do you think I should do this before or after I learn OLL/PLL? And out of OLL/PLL, which one do you think I should learn first?

Thanks again!

 

[Daniel Wu]

You can do both at the some time as far as learning algs and improving cross. For OLL/PLL, you should learn PLL first.

 

[Rpotts]

Here are some things that may help you get faster.

Work on your cross, if you solve the cross on only one color, such as white, you never have to use more than 8 moves to complete it. Here's one of a few of Badmephisto's popular cross videos.

During F2L, you may find some of the cases may take you many more moves than others, and if any are taking you 12+ moves, or more than 1 y/y' rotation you may want to look at the wiki's [wiki]f2l[/wiki] page and find shorter algs. Try to use as few rotations as possible and avoid using y2's, you want to start practicing with your left hand early.

For the last layer, it's usually recommended that you learn full 2-look OLL (10 algs) and 2-look PLL (7 algs) before moving on to full OLL/PLL. Once you have 2-look PLL down, I'd recommend learning some PLLs, 1 or 2 at a time, you'll have them all down in no time. Here's a post I've made before that'll show you how to learn Y perm, T perm, and J perm while getting two free OLLs.

Spoiler

Personally I would recommend to learn this Y perm instead of E perm



F R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R F'

any time you have a diagonal swap of corners you can use this alg.

The benefit of learning this alg is with it you get two free OLLs and you can easily learn 2 more PLLs from it.

Y perm - F R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R F'


The red algorithm solves this fish OLL

F R U' R' U' R U R' F'

The blue algorithm solves this T OLL, which I call 8-move T or sexyhammer

R U R' U' R' F R F'

Now if you do the blue algorithm first then the red alg you get T perm


R U R' U' R' F R F' F R U' R' U' R U R' F'
As you can see the F' at the end of blue cancels with the F at the beginning of red and the two Rs combine to make R2. Those algs canceled look like this
R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' R U R' F'

Also with this alg you can solve J perm, simply by moving the last four moves to the beginning.

T perm = R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' R U R' F'


J perm = R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U'

Good luck

 

[jla]

Start with working on your cross and don't think about PLL or OLLs until you're at least averaging ~ 30 sec. And as someone above said: have fun while cubing. And when it's time, start with PLL it's 21 algs instead of 57...

Good luck and I'll see you in a few months when you'll be sub-20.

Also, what cube are you using?

 

[David Emms]

Thanks a lot Rpotts!

jla, I'm currently using a Haiyan Alpha whilst waiting for my Dayan Zhanchi to be delivered.

Start with working on your cross and don't think about PLL or OLLs until you're at least averaging ~ 30 sec.

I'm slightly confused, though I may be misunderstanding you... will I be able to average ~30 secs without learning some OLL/PLL algs? If 2-Look OLL and 2-Look PLL currently take me 20-40 seconds, would that not mean it's impossible for me to get a ~30 second average? (I would love a 30 second average! Haha)

Thanks

 

[Rpotts]

lol of course you can get to 30 seconds without OLL/PLL, it's possible to average under 20 seconds with just cross, F2L, then 4 look LL. Keep practicing.

 

[Schmidt]

We all develop at different levels! I learned full OLL just to be able to get to a sub-30 average. I will be 40 next week and I have been a plumber for 20 years, so my hands might be a little too worn out for nice finger tricks.(Bad excuse for lazy look ahead)

 

[David Emms]

Thanks for the reply, Schmidt

What was your average before full OLL? Do you use full PLL too? Also, how long does it usually take you to solve the Cross + F2L?

 

[MeshuggahX]

During the last layer, do you have good recognition? Oh, and your last layer will be faster with time. Get the speed on the OLL/PLL-algs.

You should work on all the parts of the solve, of course. But the F2L is the hardest. But practice look ahead and get comfortable with the different F2L-cases. Look ahead applies during last layer also.

 

[David Emms]

I struggle with recognising E-Perm, but I'm sure that will come with time as that's the most recent alg I learned.

Other than that, it doesn't take me long at all the recognise which alg I need to perform during the last layer

 

[MeshuggahX]

E-perm is probably easier once you know all PLLs. I know it's E-perm when I don't see any features that I'm looking for.