Turn Speed (Improving F2L times)

[abr71310]

I find that I can see most of the F2L cases within 2 seconds, my turn speed seems to be only 1.5TPS...

Does anybody have any tips on how to improve?
I've been practicing this for 5 weeks solid and my TPS has not improved at all.

My average is still at 57.01, and my two PBs are 36.81 and 39.87, due to some nice setups and a quick LL permute that I've been practicing since I started cubing )

I do use the fingertricks for the U, D, R and L layers, as well as the M and S layers, but I just can't seem to fluently use them while solving (when I scramble I tend to scramble so fast that I can't even see what I've done most of the time... and people think I look awesomely good when I scramble really fast).

 

[Escher]

do not worry about turning speed.

with about 1.5tps you can still average between 30-35, but thats ONLY if you turn smoothly - i.e no pauses.

i think you should concentrate on recognition of the f2l pairs, and lookahead for now. practice this by tracking pieces as you execute each pair. you should aim to be able to anticipate every pair before you finish the one you are executing at the time.

if you really want to turn faster, try getting a DIY - everybodies first cubes are generally type A. make sure its simply 'type A', not 'A third model', or 'A II'.

learn all of the PLLs, and practice them regularly if you do know them.

perhaps also get another cube for OH, and practice that - i find it really helps with lookahead.

happy cubing

 

[shelley]

Like Escher said, don't focus on turn speed for now. You'll be able to cut down your F2L time more effectively by focusing on looking ahead and not pausing between moves. Try solving by turning slowly but not pausing between turns. Spot the pieces of your next F2L pair and plan what to do next while you're doing your current one. Turn speed will come naturally with practice, but lookahead requires more deliberate focus.

 

[abr71310]

I sometimes do a 3-look OLL but I've gotten the 2-look PLL down solid (8 seconds for two cases ^^).

Would it help if i took a video of myself solving one day? (Maybe tuesday?)
I would do an average of 3 so that it'd be easier to identify a problem, but maybe you two are right; sometimes it takes longer than a couple of seconds for me to recognize the pair, and another couple of seconds to place it... >_>

 

[Escher]

nah. i'd much rather wednesday
i dont mind, whenever you can.

for lots of people, they spend longer recognising than executing, which is why they cant get sub 30. nowadays, if i do slow solving average of 5, i can get sub 25. obviously 2 tps is not SLOW, but its definitely, definitely smooth.

learn the rest of the PLLs they arent hard, especially if you mirror and things.

 

[ImNOTnoob]

Though some of the algs i use, i use different algs for the case and reverse.
Like the J perm, i use Dan Harris' one when i do the reverse.

 

[abr71310]

EDIT: I'll upload the one that just finished on WMM now, and redo this post to fit THAT movie...

Watching through it now, I might need a camcorder to get a solid video of it; my webcam, I see now, is friggin' horrible quality video.

Okay, I'll def. redo this, but I'll post it anyway after it finishes loading.

 

[Escher]

if you want a quality 'movie maker' i highly recommend you *ahem* obtain a copy of sony vegas.

or alternatively the nice open source virtualdub.

anyway, focus on tracking pieces, along with all the other advice you got

 

[abr71310]

Just a better quality vid I hosted now, that I thought would clear up the bad-quality video crap I had to handle before...

I see now that my hands are a little slow and that sometimes I have little to no look-ahead... when I get to LL I'm fairly efficient though...

So yes, it's TPS, and F2L >_> (more comments??)

 

[pjk]

The main reason why people say "turn slow" is for one, you can see the next pair and minimize delays, and two, you can find a nice way to setup the next part. I noticed that the thing that dropped my times the most was finding ways to lower my move-count. This consisted of moving slow, and making the best of every situation. Work on getting your F2L around 35 moves or less, then practice turn speed. Good luck.

 

[enigmahack]

I'm certainly no authority of speed solvers (though my fastest time is 14.89 seconds, and my average is around 22 seconds) however I DO have some suggestions for you.

1 - Your cube LOOKS like it's harder to turn than it should be. Granted, your F2L turns are fast enough, it's also your recognition that's taking the longest time.

2 - There are periods of several seconds that you will solve a F2L pair, wait, wait, look, wait, and then solve another F2L pair. Something you should be practicing to start is this:

Find a F2L pair, close your eyes and solve it, and then open again. Find the next pair, but don't solve it. Once you have found it, close your eyes, solve it, and move on.

Once you're VERY comfortable solving the F2L cases with your eyes closed, then you can practice the look ahead.

It seems as though most people have issues with the F2L as beginners where they're not able to look ahead at all while solving 1 case, because they're still learning to solve the F2L cases.

Then you can start practicing look-ahead with your times.

3 - Although I think this is because of your cube, you have a lack of finger tricks that could be helping speed things along as well.

Anyway, the biggest suggestion is to really try and reduce the amount of time it takes to find your next F2L pieces.

I also agree with everyone else though: Turn slowly during the F2L to help with the look-ahead.

 

[abr71310]

Love the suggestions enigmahack and pjk...
I will definitely take them to heart... )

F2L pairs I see are my weakness, as you both said -- I can get anywhere from 20 - 40 seconds solving it, and that can definitely be cut down (as well as the cross -_-;

How long does anyone think it will take before cross and F2L become so fluid that it's second-nature?
Despite cubing for 9 months now, I've seen little improvement (even with intensive cubing in the past three months!!)... I feel a little helpless (Times have only went from 1:20 --> sub-1 (57 seconds))

One question, though:
How does one practice awesomely wicked finger tricks? As I said before, I know a FEW but not many...

The cubes I have are a Type D that I got pre-built from cube4you.com and a Rubik's Cube store-bought with stickers from cubefans.com... so maybe that's the problem -- I plan to get maybe 2 - 3 more to help me practice, but I doubt it'll do much good -- like enigma said, i guess i have to focus on memoing the F2L cases i come across...

Great to hear from cubers though; I know I'm not the best (or anywhere near intermediate), I just want to be AMONG the best here ( I need a sub-30 to even be the best in my school of 1500 people -_-;;... >_> )

 

[brunson]

How long does anyone think it will take before cross and F2L become so fluid that it's second-nature?

It depends on you and how much you practice. It took me almost a year to get sub-40 and I'm still stuck around 33s after another 10 months. Still, I'm old and I use that as my excuse.

Despite cubing for 9 months now, I've seen little improvement (even with intensive cubing in the past three months!!)... I feel a little helpless (Times have only went from 1:20 --> sub-1 (57 seconds))

Advice I got from Chris Hardwick: Sometimes it's how you practice and not how much. I spent a tremendous amount of time simply solving, but when I started breaking down my solves and drilling on different parts I became faster (though still not "fast").

One question, though:
How does one practice awesomely wicked finger tricks? As I said before, I know a FEW but not many...

Actually, finger tricks mostly come with experience and practice. You may need to loosen and lubricate your cube. I sometimes end up solving someone else's cube and I lose my place because I can't fingertrick my algs with their cube so tight and I forget where I am.

The cubes I have are a Type D that I got pre-built from cube4you.com and a Rubik's Cube store-bought with stickers from cubefans.com... so maybe that's the problem -- I plan to get maybe 2 - 3 more to help me practice, but I doubt it'll do much good -- like enigma said, i guess i have to focus on memoing the F2L cases i come across...

I wouldn't necessarily memorize F2L algorithms, but the more you use them the more fluid and intuitive they will become. Closing your eyes while inserting the pair works on two things: first, ensuring that you know how you're going to insert the pair without having to watch it and second, getting you used to not watching the insertion while you perform it freeing yourself to find your next pair.

It isn't easy, f2l look ahead is probably the worst part of my solve.

 

[abr71310]

Coming from a fellow struggler, I appreciate the feedback!
-- Chris Hardwick is my freakin' idol, roflmao, he solves 4x4x4 and 5x5x5 blindfolded!!! XD (I can't even do 2x2x2 blindfolded yet )

I guess I should just keep practicing on doing blind F2L and cross insertion -- the better I make myself at recognition the faster I'll get, I hope...

I notice now that my LL algs are quite fast -- after reaching the end of F2L I'm pretty fluid at finishing; is this the case for most cubers?? (The question, simply put, is "Is F2L really the hardest part??")...

Still the "Headlights" OLL to learn before 2-look OLL completed... but too much work now, will learn over Xmas break. Yay me, finally figuring 4LLL out!

 

[abr71310]

Another set of 3 solves I did that really brings out a side of me unseen before (I never practiced today besides these solves; man I suck )

 

[waffle=ijm]

turning speed < look ahead???

that's what I think

 

[abr71310]

I FRIGGIN DID IT!!!!

5: 00:38.78 x
4: 00:47.74 x
3: 00:46.75 x
2: 00:48.60 x
1: 00:36.84 x
Average: 00:43.74 Best: 00:36.84
Avg. 5: 00:43.74 3 of 5: 00:44.42
Avg. 10: 00:43.74 10 of 12: --:--.--

BROKE SUB-45 AVG OF 5!!!!

BAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!

Thanks to Shananay for his (or hers, my apologies) advice on look-ahead and using back and left/right slots!! IT WORKED!!!

Hopefully I can keep this up...

 

[abr71310]

OF 12: (Thanks again Shananay)
12: 00:41.88 x
11: 00:44.08 x
10: 00:44.07 x
9: 00:48.77 x
8: 00:37.37 x
7: 00:47.67 x
6: 00:51.62 x
5: 00:38.78 x
4: 00:47.74 x
3: 00:46.75 x
2: 00:48.60 x
1: 00:36.84 x
Average: 00:44.51 Best: 00:36.84
Avg. 5: 00:43.23 3 of 5: 00:43.34
Avg. 10: 00:44.87 10 of 12: 00:44.97