Time Cubing vs. Time Solving

[David Emms]

Hi everyone

I'm sorry if this has been done before, or is in the wrong section.

I would just like to know how long people have been cubing, and how fast they are.

Here's some of my statistics to give you general idea of the format:

Time Cubing: around 4 months
Method used currently: F2L + 2-look OLL & almost full-PLL (missing G perms + N(b) perm)
Time Solving:
- General average: 29.XX seconds
- Fastest average: 25.XX seconds
- Fastest solve: 19.67

Other statistics:
Fastest times:
- 3 weeks: 64 seconds
- 5 weeks: 57 seconds
- 5 weeks + 2 days: 50 seconds
- 5 weeks + 4 days: 43 seconds
- 7 weeks: 38 seconds
- 7 weeks + 4 days: 37 seconds
- 8 weeks: 31 seconds
- 8 weeks + 1 day 29.99 seconds
- 9 weeks: 26 seconds
- 10 weeks: 23 seconds
- 12 weeks: 22 seconds
- 12 weeks + 4 days 19.67 seconds

Is this good progress over the last 4 months? My average seems to be stuck at 29.XX seconds, despite all the tips I've seen online haha... I just don't seem to be absorbing all the tips like I used to.

Watching people's videos gets me confused because people who seem to do lots of rotations and seem to move a lot less efficiently than myself are faster than I am!

 

[insane569]

Getting stuck at certain times is usual.
I just recently passed the sub 20 barrier. Keep practicing your times dropped quicker than mine did and there's a lot of room for improvment.

 

[David Emms]

What cube do you use? Is your cube loose enough for you? F2L and an efficient cross are probably most important, for your F2L, try doing slow solves and look ahead, meaning do NOT look at the pieces you're currently solving but look for the next pieces right away, I knew this tip for a year but never bothered using it until just recently and my times have been much better now. Also, try posting a video.

I'm currently using a Dayan Zhanchi. I have both the black and white one, and I've tried different tensions/amount of lubricant.

When I try to go slow and look ahead, it doesn't seem to make much of a difference :/

Slow solve:

Average solve:

Sorry for the bad camera angles/quality - these were just videos to show friends that I can solve a Rubik's Cube.

 

[StachuK1992]

4 years, 2 months, 24 days.
~17s.

 

[pdilla]

I've been cubing off and on for about 4 years now. I began in 2008, during my college freshman year, all the way through April 2009, then quit for about two years. I began cubing again after receiving a Zhanchi as a gift back in Sept. 2011. I kept a "Best Times" journal on my MySpace at the time and I still keep up with it today.

Brief history of PBs:
'08: Beginners method (12 minutes -> 53 seconds)
'09: Intuitive F2L, 2 look OLL, 2 look PLL (31.45 -> 20.52)
'11-present: F2L, half full OLL, full PLL (15.57 -> 06.86 [LL skip])

I progressed REALLY slowly due to school and home issues, so I would say that you are getting it pretty quick compared to me.

Likewise, I'm teaching a few kids at my local church how to cube. They already got 2 Look OLL/PLL, and learning F2L at the moment, and they've only been cubing for about 3 months and averaging around 40-50 sec due to F2L recognition. I'm also teaching my younger brother, who has been cubing for about 1 month and he has got 2 Look OLL down and learning 2 Look PLL and he averages about 50 sec. So I'd say that you're doing pretty well.

 

[David Emms]

Thanks a lot Sahid!

I've been doing some one-handed solves so that I can't go fast, even if I wanted to. I also use a Rubik's Branded cube to force myself to go slow.

Maybe I'm not being patient enough with myself... I had to get stuck at a certain time at some point and I guess 30 seconds isn't that bad

 

[Jostle]

Lol, you'll improve if you just keep practicing. Sometimes you hit plateaus, work through them.

 

[Yuxuibbs]

Time Cubing: Almost 18 months
Method used currently: F2L, 2 look OLL, full pll except 2 G perms and 1 N perm (not the one connected to the J perm)
I'm usually around the 17-18 second range but I've been getting sub 15 averages of 5 and sub 17 averages of 12 since 2 weeks ago.
I was stuck at low 20s for almost 6 months because I only had a Rubik's brand and an A1 to practice with. Now I switch between Zhanchi and Guhong.

 

[samchoochiu]

dont use the zanchi, its way uncontrollable for starters.
I avg 14 seconds and I think its fast.

 

[ThomasJE]

Time cubing: About 5 months
PB's: Look at my signature

 

[David Emms]

dont use the zanchi, its way uncontrollable for starters.
I avg 14 seconds and I think its fast.

What cube would you recommend? My Haiyan cube pops a lot so I can't get anywhere near a sub-30 average with it

I don't think controlling the cube is really a problem, I just don't think I'm as efficient as I could be when solving the F2L

 

[5BLD]

11ish months, mid-high 10s.

 

[NeedReality]

A little over 3 years and 3 months, Roux, ~14 seconds global average, 8.xx single.

 

[Muesli]

I was stuck at 20 seconds for about 2 years. Go figure.

 

[AndersB]

I started out with youtube method 6th march last year. Right now, 10 months later, I average 16 seconds with full CFOP. I think you improve decently fast. However, I do not think you're stuck. You're times are just dropping slower. Practise more, and most important: DON'T GIVE UP. I thought I were stuck around where you are right now, and I almost gave up. Then I registered to a competition, thought cubing was fun again, and my times started dropping again.

An important note is that you should have fun while cubing. If you don't focus so much at you're speed right now, you're times will still drop, while you are not feeling bad about the times. Also, go to a competition, like I did, if you have not been to one already. It helps making cubing fun, and you can pick up tips and tricks from people that are better then you.

Hope this helps!

 

[tx789]

2 years 11 months ish
28 sec

 

[Riley]

Time Cubing: I started in 2007, but used a super beginner's method, only got to 45 seconds average. I took a break until June 2011, which I actually learned full Fridrich. So I guess 7 months.
Method: Full Fridrich (full oll and pll, intuitive F2L)
Time Solving:
General Average = 15.5x seconds
Fastest Average = 13.xx seconds
Fastest Single = 9.94 seconds

Don't worry, you're still improving. Though this is kinda obvious, once you get faster, you'll have a harder time improving. The best way to get faster I would say is to turn slow, with no pauses. Eventually, your TPS will increase, and hopefully there will still be no pauses, which will speed up your times. Hopefully I helped.

 

[David Emms]

Thank you very much everyone so far. Very helpful!

 

[Noahaha]

I learned ortega around june 2011 and then petrus around august. I got my times down to about 40 seconds but stopped about halfway through the summer. I picked up the cube again in December, and now i'm down to about a 31 second average with petrus. So I'd say I've been seriously speedcubing for about 2.5 months total, so I progressed pretty similarly to you.