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Zubin Park

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I'm so bad at OH, wondering if anyone, ANYONE could help me out. I'm averaging 50-55 sec (yes, its super bad).
 

ProStar

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I'm so bad at OH, wondering if anyone, ANYONE could help me out. I'm averaging 50-55 sec (yes, its super bad).

Literally do solves. You're sub-10 on 3x3 so there's really nothing to improve other than turning. Watch JPerm's and Brody's videos on OH and just practice for a while. I was around there but within a couple weeks of practicing I was around 25(3x3 average was 20). You can learn OH algs if you want, but it won't help that much. Just practice turning and drill your algs
 

Nmile7300

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Hey guys, I'm going to start doing free 5x5 critiques! 5x5 is my favorite event and I want to help people improve. I average 1:08 with Yau/Yau 5 and 1:15 with Redux, so I can help people at a variety of skill levels. The critiques will be fundamentals based, I will explain how you are doing in different areas and steps and show you how you can improve. I recently did a critique of a solve from @Owen Morrison as a sort of "test run" (he asked how he could improve so I offered to give him a critique) and that took me about 3 days and was a bit more than 2 pages long. You can either submit 1 solve or 3 solves. 3 solves will take more time but might give me a better understanding of your strengths and weaknesses. Providing scrambles is completely optional, but might help a bit for things at the beginning of the solve. PM me if you are interested!
 

Swamp347

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I've got these solves and I'm wanting help.
Hey guys, I'm going to start doing free 5x5 critiques! 5x5 is my favorite event and I want to help people improve. I average 1:08 with Yau/Yau 5 and 1:15 with Redux, so I can help people at a variety of skill levels. The critiques will be fundamentals based, I will explain how you are doing in different areas and steps and show you how you can improve. I recently did a critique of a solve from @Owen Morrison as a sort of "test run" (he asked how he could improve so I offered to give him a critique) and that took me about 3 days and was a bit more than 2 pages long. You can either submit 1 solve or 3 solves. 3 solves will take more time but might give me a better understanding of your strengths and weaknesses. Providing scrambles is completely optional, but might help a bit for things at the beginning of the solve. PM me if you are interested!
and I will try to get some 5x5 solves.
 

Swamp347

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I've decided I'll critique someone every month for my yt channel. Since my critique for July is almost out, PM me if you would like to be critiqued for my August critique, and I'll pick the video I think the most can be learned from. (must average 7-25 seconds with CFOP)

EDIT: One more thing, make sure to send a typical average of 5 for you, and make sure it is from first person or over the shoulder view
Could you possibly do mine for September
 

martinba314

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Hi, I currently average around 14 seconds and I'm looking to improve. Here is an average of 5 that I believe represents what I normally do in solves. I'd appreciate it if you all could watch it and tell me what I need to improve on so I can have a third party's opinion.

 

Kaneki Uchiha

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Hey guys, I'm going to start doing free 5x5 critiques! 5x5 is my favorite event and I want to help people improve. I average 1:08 with Yau/Yau 5 and 1:15 with Redux, so I can help people at a variety of skill levels. The critiques will be fundamentals based, I will explain how you are doing in different areas and steps and show you how you can improve. I recently did a critique of a solve from @Owen Morrison as a sort of "test run" (he asked how he could improve so I offered to give him a critique) and that took me about 3 days and was a bit more than 2 pages long. You can either submit 1 solve or 3 solves. 3 solves will take more time but might give me a better understanding of your strengths and weaknesses. Providing scrambles is completely optional, but might help a bit for things at the beginning of the solve. PM me if you are interested!
can you critique one of my 5x5 solves i use redux and average 2:50ish i have only done like 10 timed solves tho will you still be fine doing one?
 

qwr

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Bad everything (@Jam88 critique this...)



this is rough my breakdown:
cross: 5-10 seconds
F2L: 15-20 seconds
OLL: 5 seconds
PLL: 5 seconds
I've been working on cross a lot and my goal is to be able to solve all four edges in inspection on reasonable scrambles.


I thought about making a progression thread but I don't want to bump it all the time so I just keep all my progression in a google sheet
 

Jam88

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Bad everything (@Jam88 critique this...)



this is rough my breakdown:
cross: 5-10 seconds
F2L: 15-20 seconds
OLL: 5 seconds
PLL: 5 seconds
I've been working on cross a lot and my goal is to be able to solve all four edges in inspection on reasonable scrambles.


I thought about making a progression thread but I don't want to bump it all the time so I just keep all my progression in a google sheet
On it!
 
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ProStar

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Bad everything (@Jam88 critique this...)



this is rough my breakdown:
cross: 5-10 seconds
F2L: 15-20 seconds
OLL: 5 seconds
PLL: 5 seconds
I've been working on cross a lot and my goal is to be able to solve all four edges in inspection on reasonable scrambles.


I thought about making a progression thread but I don't want to bump it all the time so I just keep all my progression in a google sheet

Alright so first of all you need a new channel name right now
 

qwr

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Alright so first of all you need a new channel name right now
I came up with the name 10 years ago.
Anyhow if I seriously made cubing videos I would make a new channel. That channel is my main channel with a lot of misc videos.

edit: fun fact, my comment about the guhong v1 made it into a cubehead video
 
Last edited:

BenChristman1

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@Cubing Forever's 5.00 2x2 ao5 reconstructions and critiques


Scramble: U2 R' U2 R F U' R' U' F'

Your solution:
x' // Inspection
U R2 U R // Layer
U R U R' U' R' F R F' U // OLL

My suggested solution:
x' // Inspection
U R2 U R // Layer
U R U R' U' R' F R F' U // OLL

We did the same solution on this one!
Scramble: R' F2 R U R2 F U' R F'

Your solution:
x2 // Inspection
R2 U' R2 // Face
U2 R U R' U R U2 R' // OLL
R2 F2 R2 // PBL

My suggested solution:
x2 // Inspection
R2 U' R2 // Face
U2 R U R' U R U2 R' // OLL
R2 F2 R2 // PBL

We did the same solution here, too!
Scramble: R U2 R2 U' F U' R F R'

Your solution:
x' y2 // Inspection
R' U' R' // Layer
U' R U2 R' U' R U' R' // OLL
U R' F R F' R U2 R' U R U2 R' U // PBL

My suggested solution:
x' y2 // Inspection
R' U' R' // Layer
U' R U2 R' U' R U' R' // OLL
U R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' R U R' F' U // PBL

Same solution again! Wow! The only thing that was different is that I just use the normal T-perm, but you do whatever works for you.
You actually had a small misscramble on this one. Instead of the last move being a U, you did a U'.

Scramble: R2 F' U2 F R2 F R' F' U

Your solution (with misscramble):
R' U R2 U' R' U R U' R' // Layer
U' R U2 R2 U' R2 U' R2 U2 R // OLL
F R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R F' // PBL

My suggested solution (with misscramble):
z' y2 // Inspection
R' U2 R' U' R U' R' // OLL
U R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' R U R' F' // PBL

My suggested solution (with real scramble):
z' y2 // Inspection
R U2 R' U' R U' R' // OLL
U R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' R U R' F' // PBL
Scramble: R' U R' F2 U R F2 R F U'

Your solution:
x' // Inspection
U R U' R U' R' U R // Layer
U' R U2 R2 U' R2 U' R2 U2 R // OLL
U2 R' F R F' R U2 R' U R U2 R' // PBL

My suggested solution:
x // Inspection
U2 R' U' R' // Face
U' R2 U2 R' U2 R2 // OLL
y' U' R2 U' B2 U2 R2 U' R2 U2 // PBL

Your StatsSolve 1Solve 2Solve 3Solve 4Solve 5Average
Total Moves141424362021.6
Face/Layer433985.4
OLL108810109.2
PBL031317129.0
TPS4.03.94.85.73.04.3

My StatsSolve 1Solve 2Solve 3Solve 4Solve 5Average
Total Moves141427221919.2
Face/Layer433042.8
OLL1088767.8
PBL03161598.6

Here are a couple good things about your solves before I tell you how to improve.

1. Your fingertricks are very good. 2x2 fingertricks are pretty basic, but I noticed during your solves, and even while you were scrambling, that you were using good fingertricks, which is awesome to see.

2. Your execution. The execution of all of your algorithms is very good, with good fingertricks, as I mentioned above. Your OLL and PBL steps could actually get even better, and I will cover how you can do that in tip #2.

Here are my 3 main tips to help you get faster.

1. Your first face efficiency. As you can see from the stats about that average of 5, it takes you, on average, 5.4 moves to build the first face, which isn't terrible, but it can be improved. A good way to practice this is to start a new 2x2 session on csTimer, but instead of inputting your times, try to find a very efficient first face, then type in the number of moves it took you to solve that face instead. Once you get good at this, you can try memorizing your first face, blindfolding yourself, then solve the first face, then see if you got it right. After doing this, you can start ignoring your first face that you already have planned out, and focus on predicting the OLL. This practice technique really helped me improve my cross on 3x3, and it can be applied very well to the first face/layer on 2x2. Another thing that would probably help you a lot is watching example solves to see what cases you can apply to your solves.

2. Pauses. It takes you a very long time to recognize cases. Pretty much the only thing that you can do to improve this is to do more solves. After doing about 10,000 solves in the span of about a year, my recognition is much faster than the average Ortega solver. This is mostly because I have so much practice with the method, and I haven't bothered learning CLL, so I am forced to just practice with Ortega. This definitely isn't the best route to take, I would recommend starting to learn CLL when you're globally sub-4.5, or maybe even sooner.

3. Inspection time. You're at the point where you're fast enough to start using your inspection time a little more wisely. You don't seem to be planning out your OLL during inspection, but on scrambles 1, 2, and 4 in this average, you for sure could have. You could try using unlimited inspection time to plan out your OLL. You could also partner this with the technique I gave you in tip #1 by predicting your OLL before blindfolding yourself and executing your first face. (For example, my face solution could be R U' R', and I would predict that I have a U2, then a sune. I would do the first face, then pull up the blindfold to see if my prediction was right.) I learned how to plan OLL from the JPerm video linked below (at 3:28), and the video also has a lot of other helpful tips to get faster using Ortega.


I hope this helps you and anybody else who took the time to read this whole thing! If anybody else would like me to critique their 2x2 Ortega solves, or just give my suggested solutions for a few scrambles, I'd be happy to do so!
 
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@Cubing Forever's 5.00 2x2 ao5 reconstructions and critiques


Scramble: U2 R' U2 R F U' R' U' F'

Your solution:
x' // Inspection
U R2 U R // Layer
U R U R' U' R' F R F' U // OLL

My suggested solution:
x' // Inspection
U R2 U R // Layer
U R U R' U' R' F R F' U // OLL

We did the same solution on this one!
Scramble: R' F2 R U R2 F U' R F'

Your solution:
x2 // Inspection
R2 U' R2 // Face
U2 R U R' U R U2 R' // OLL
R2 F2 R2 // PBL

My suggested solution:
x2 // Inspection
R2 U' R2 // Face
U2 R U R' U R U2 R' // OLL
R2 F2 R2 // PBL

We did the same solution here, too!
Scramble: R U2 R2 U' F U' R F R'

Your solution:
x' y2 // Inspection
R' U' R' // Layer
U' R U2 R' U' R U' R' // OLL
U R' F R F' R U2 R' U R U2 R' U // PBL

My suggested solution:
x' y2 // Inspection
R' U' R' // Layer
U' R U2 R' U' R U' R' // OLL
U R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' R U R' F' U // PBL

Same solution again! Wow! The only thing that was different is that I just use the normal T-perm, but you do whatever works for you.
You actually had a small misscramble on this one. Instead of the last move being a U, you did a U'.

Scramble: R2 F' U2 F R2 F R' F' U

Your solution (with misscramble):
R' U R2 U' R' U R U' R' // Layer
U' R U2 R2 U' R2 U' R2 U2 R // OLL
F R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R F' // PBL

My suggested solution (with misscramble):
z' y2 // Inspection
R' U2 R' U' R U' R' // OLL
U R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' R U R' F' // PBL

My suggested solution (with real scramble):
z' y2 // Inspection
R U2 R' U' R U' R' // OLL
U R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' R U R' F' // PBL
Scramble: R' U R' F2 U R F2 R F U'

Your solution:
x' // Inspection
U R U' R U' R' U R // Layer
U' R U2 R2 U' R2 U' R2 U2 R // OLL
U2 R' F R F' R U2 R' U R U2 R' // PBL

My suggested solution:
x // Inspection
U2 R' U' R' // Face
U' R2 U2 R' U2 R2 // OLL
y' U' R2 U' B2 U2 R2 U' R2 U2 // PBL

Your StatsSolve 1Solve 2Solve 3Solve 4Solve 5Average
Total Moves141424362021.6
Face/Layer433985.4
OLL108810109.2
PBL031317129.0
TPS4.03.94.85.73.04.3

My StatsSolve 1Solve 2Solve 3Solve 4Solve 5Average
Total Moves141427221919.2
Face/Layer433042.8
OLL1088767.8
PBL03161598.6

Here are a couple good things about your solves before I tell you how to improve.

1. Your fingertricks are very good. 2x2 fingertricks are pretty basic, but I noticed during your solves, and even while you were scrambling, that you were using good fingertricks, which is awesome to see.

2. Your execution. The execution of all of your algorithms is very good, with good fingertricks, as I mentioned above. Your OLL and PBL steps could actually get even better, and I will cover how you can do that in tip #2.

Here are my 3 main tips to help you get faster.

1. Your first face efficiency. As you can see from the stats about that average of 5, it takes you, on average, 5.4 moves to build the first face, which isn't terrible, but it can be improved. A good way to practice this is to start a new 2x2 session on csTimer, but instead of inputting your times, try to find a very efficient first face, then type in the number of moves it took you to solve that face instead. Once you get good at this, you can try memorizing your first face, blindfolding yourself, then solve the first face, then see if you got it right. After doing this, you can start ignoring your first face that you already have planned out, and focus on predicting the OLL. This practice technique really helped me improve my cross on 3x3, and it can be applied very well to the first face/layer on 2x2. Another thing that would probably help you a lot is watching example solves to see what cases you can apply to your solves.

2. Pauses. It takes you a very long time to recognize cases. Pretty much the only thing that you can do to improve this is to do more solves. After doing about 10,000 solves in the span of about a year, my recognition is much faster than the average Ortega solver. This is mostly because I have so much practice with the method, and I haven't bothered learning CLL, so I am forced to just practice with Ortega. This definitely isn't the best route to take, I would recommend starting to learn CLL when you're globally sub-4.5, or maybe even sooner.

3. Inspection time. You're at the point where you're fast enough to start using your inspection time a little more wisely. You don't seem to be planning out your OLL during inspection, but on scrambles 1, 2, and 4 in this average, you for sure could have. You could try using unlimited inspection time to plan out your OLL. You could also partner this with the technique I gave you in tip #1 by predicting your OLL before blindfolding yourself and executing your first face. (For example, my face solution could be R U' R', and I would predict that I have a U2, then a sune. I would do the first face, then pull up the blindfold to see if my prediction was right.) I learned how to plan OLL from the JPerm video linked below (at 3:28), and the video also has a lot of other helpful tips to get faster using Ortega.


I hope this helps you and anybody else who took the time to read this whole thing! If anybody else would like me to critique their 2x2 Ortega solves, or just give my suggested solutions for a few scrambles, I'd be happy to do so!
Thanks Ben!! Are my fingertricks really good? I thought they were trash lol!!! Also, is my TPS ok?

E: I got to know now that there was a cancellation between OLL and PBL on solve 3 lol
 
Last edited:

BenChristman1

Member
Joined
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Messages
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The Land of 11,842 Lakes
WCA
2019CHRI11
SS Competition Results
Thanks Ben!! Are my fingertricks really good? I thought they were trash lol!!! Also, is my TPS ok?

E: I got to know now that there was a cancellation between OLL and PBL on solve 3 lol
I wouldn’t say that they are really good, but they are above average for somebody your speed. Your TPS could improve. It will get better once you reduce the pauses between steps. And yes, there was a cancellation there.
 
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