The Solve Critique Thread

[Noahaha]

Welcome to the forum!

If your times are that erratic, you might want to do some slow solves and figure out where your solves are going wrong. Get more comfortable with F2L, and try to work on look ahead.

The only real way to learn cross on bottom is to start solving the cross on bottom.

Also, there's an accomplishment thread that would be a better place for you to post future PBs, but this can count as your introduction to the forum.

 

[yoruichi]

make the same moves but with less rotations

 

[notfeliks]

Well to be honest they aren't that erratic. I think I only have 3 solves in the 18 seconds, I don't think I have any solves between 19-22 seconds, very few from 22-24, the sometimes sub-30 and the vast majority are upwards. I'm weird

 

[aceofspades98]

Just start doing cross on D, and whenever you do a y2, you could have done it with the R or L face. For example, the first pair you did y2 R U' R', when you could have done U2 L U' L. Also, when doing OLL do a U or U' instead of rotating, and lastly, try to find some shorter ways to do each pair.. Recap: don't do y2's, don't rotate for OLL, do cross on D, and try to find better ways to insert.
I will post an example solve of how I would do this, but I probably won't get a PLL skip.

Inspection: nothing
Cross: R' U R U R U' B' D2 8 moves but I preserved F2L pair, but your cross solution was better.
F2L 1: d' R U' R'
F2L 2: U2 L' U L U' L' U L
F2L 3: y R' U R U R' U' R
F2L 4: y' R' U' R d' R U R'
OLL: l' U' l L' U' L U l' U l
PLL: U2 V Perm.
The cross I had failed but I had less rotations and cross on D. Nice job by the way.

 

[KiwiCuber]

Any tips?
I know I need to work on cross,learn full Oll and improve Pll recog. but looking for some more help if anyone has anything to offer?

I would recommend working on your pll execution (and recog like you said) some of them look much slower than they could be with some execution practice (especially the first solve).
Also i think you should try and cut down on rotations during f2l cause you seem to be doing a lot more than necessary

Full oll still isnt necessary but you can learn them if you want a head start on them

 

[David1994]

Yeah I have been trying to drill my PLL's recently and pretty much all are( bar a few ) are sub 2.5
That seems to be a bad habit of mine doing too much cube rotations during F2L.
Also I have learnt 25/57 OLL's so far mainly because I am tired of 2 look

 

[KiwiCuber]

Yeah I have been trying to drill my PLL's recently and pretty much all are( bar a few ) are sub 2.5
That seems to be a bad habit of mine doing too much cube rotations during F2L.
Also I have learnt 25/57 OLL's so far mainly because I am tired of 2 look

someimtes when youre drilling them though you should try have them off by a U, U' or U2 to start with as well so you can practice fast grip into execution cause that can really kill esecution in actual solves.(you can also use this to practice AUF)
I used to do way to many rotations but now ive managed to cut down by sometimes having to just stop mid solve to find another way to insert. I reccomend this as well it will maybe slow you down short term but long term is what youre most likely concentrating on anyway.
I still use 2-look with maybe 3 or 4 others that i found really nice fingertricks for (i average about 15) but i should probably learn them soonish cause at the moment im just postponing the inevitable

 

[David1994]

someimtes when youre drilling them though you should try have them off by a U, U' or U2 to start with as well so you can practice fast grip into execution cause that can really kill esecution in actual solves.(you can also use this to practice AUF)
I used to do way to many rotations but now ive managed to cut down by sometimes having to just stop mid solve to find another way to insert. I reccomend this as well it will maybe slow you down short term but long term is what youre most likely concentrating on anyway.
I still use 2-look with maybe 3 or 4 others that i found really nice fingertricks for (i average about 15) but i should probably learn them soonish cause at the moment im just postponing the inevitable

I think PLL recognition is a thing I really need to improve because it seems to slow down my solves quite a bit.
Just wondering what is your average F2L time?

 

[KiwiCuber]

I think PLL recognition is a thing I really need to improve because it seems to slow down my solves quite a bit.
Just wondering what is your average F2L time?

f2l is probably 8-11 seconds but i sometimes get a bigger range than that due to some situations

 

[Michael1026]

http://youtu.be/V46rZMv2WXI

This is an example of my best F2L. Can anyone give me any tips? I average around 30-35 seconds for a solve.

 

[Yuxuibbs]

http://youtu.be/V46rZMv2WXI

This is an example of my best F2L. Can anyone give me any tips? I average around 30-35 seconds for a solve.

Get rid of pauses during F2L and know exactly where the F2L pair should go. Also, turn faster (but work on other stuff first).
To practice knowing where the F2L pair should go and how well you know the F2L cases, try looking at a pair, closing your eyes, doing the pair (pairing the 2 pieces and inserting them correctly), opening eyes to see if it's correct, and repeat. It will also make it easier for you to learn look ahead because you know you can do the pairs without looking at them so you can focus on looking for the next pair while you're solving the current one.
To practice no pauses during F2L, turn as slowly as needed to not pause between pairs. You can use a metronome to help if you want (maybe start at 60 bpm or something). Then, slowly increase the bpm but keep the no pauses up. Your tps should increase over time and give you faster solves.

 

[uniacto]

15.21 ao12 (i needs tips pl0x?)

I just filmed a normal average of 12 for me, and as you can tell if you watch the video, it's really inconsistent...

any tips to help me get faster? Thanks a bunch

 

[kcl]

Try and plan your first pair in inspection. It's helped me average a high 14 now. Other than that maybe just up your TPS a bit. Your solving looks a LOT like mine.

 

[curtishousley]

It looks like you don't use full PLL? I think at your speed you should definitely be using full PLL. I think full OLL would help you out as well, but considering I know full oll and pll and still much slower than you, who knows lol

 

[uniacto]

Try and plan your first pair in inspection. It's helped me average a high 14 now. Other than that maybe just up your TPS a bit. Your solving looks a LOT like mine.

that's a good idea, but I have a hard time planning some crosses just by themselves. What do you do in those cases? Really? I thought my TPS was a bit too high, seeing as I have a bunch of pauses that I'm working on eliminating. haha is it? that's cool

It looks like you don't use full PLL? I think at your speed you should definitely be using full PLL. I think full OLL would help you out as well, but considering I know full oll and pll and still much slower than you, who knows lol

nope, not full PLL, i still have to do all the Gs but one and the N perms. It probably would help if I learned them, but I'm mainly worried about my F2L, since it sucks right now haha.

 

[kcl]

that's a good idea, but I have a hard time planning some crosses just by themselves. What do you do in those cases? Really? I thought my TPS was a bit too high, seeing as I have a bunch of pauses that I'm working on eliminating. haha is it? that's cool



nope, not full PLL, i still have to do all the Gs but one and the N perms. It probably would help if I learned them, but I'm mainly worried about my F2L, since it sucks right now haha.

Learn to one look the cross. Do it blindfolded. Then learn to spot pairs that can be made while making the cross. It helps eliminate the first pause.

 

[EnjoyablePerson]

In about a month, there is going to be an official cubing tournament nearby. I know that they are very rare and the next chance I would have to enter them is in a year. Most people entered in the tournaments last year got times that were sub-30. My times are
3x3 Single - 0:25.58
3x3 Average - 0:31.867
2x2 Single - 0:05:57
2x2 Average - 0:13.26
4x4 Single - 2:58.15
4x4 Average - 3:13:34
I am not planning on winning at all, and am just hoping for a good experience (where I don't lose too badly). Should I enter? Also, what are regular competitions like?

 

[CubezUBR]

I just wanted to know if I'm good enough. I average 23 secs. And sorry for video as it was my first and I was using my laptop's webcam.

so you tell me you have a 5.5 second cross+f2l and a 18 second last layer, comparing 5.5 without a last layer to 23 to with a last layer, wow you hella fast!

 

[Patrick M]

In about a month, there is going to be an official cubing tournament nearby. I know that they are very rare and the next chance I would have to enter them is in a year. Most people entered in the tournaments last year got times that were sub-30. My times are
3x3 Single - 0:25.58
3x3 Average - 0:31.867
2x2 Single - 0:05:57
2x2 Average - 0:13.26
4x4 Single - 2:58.15
4x4 Average - 3:13:34
I am not planning on winning at all, and am just hoping for a good experience (where I don't lose too badly). Should I enter? Also, what are regular competitions like?

I will always enter a competition if it is nearby and i am only sub 20. Yes! You should go at least for the practice. You can qualm your nerves or at least try to learn how. Plus youll learn about regulations and might even see good times

 

[curtishousley]

I don't have the ability to film solves at the moment, but I don't think my question is directly related to seeing solves. Anyone have any suggestions on how to get better at consistency? For instance, here is an Ao5 that describes what I'm talking about: (25.44), 19.26, 17.88, 20.02, (17.23). 15/16/17 solves are pretty common when I'm solving, but so are the 22/23 solves. Sometimes I can get an Ao100 in 18.xx, yet other times I will get an Ao12 that is 22.xx. The main problem is that I can't really identify what makes my slow solves slow, most of my 23 solves feel the same as my 17 solves. Thanks for any suggestions,