Want to Get Faster at F2L

[ianography]

I know that this thread has probably been made a bunch of times, but I didn't find anything when I searched for it. But I was just wondering, how do some cubers get so fast at F2L? I average about 12-15 seconds for F2L, which I know isn't all that bad. But I would really like it if I could get some advice from people that get really good times (such as sub-15 averages). If anybody could take their time to help that would be greatly appreciated.

 

[maggot]

my f2l is about 8-10sec (with cross). make sure your cross is consistantly good. my f2l is 'slow' and very smooth. i cannot lookahead well when turning fast, so i dont. i just spam OLL and PLL. i do, however, look for better ways to solve cases. i use stuff with r, M, etc. to reduce move count. another way to drastically reduce your F2l time is xcrosses and cross to F2L transistion. if you are taking 2-3 seconds looking for your first pair, learn to solve your cross BLD and then track your 1st pair during the cross.

i still consider my F2L to be 'intuitive', however, i do know a lot of 'tricks' (which are just algs for bad cases).

 

[ianography]

thanks, i'll try this. but what do you mean by 'spam OLL and PLL'?

 

[That70sShowDude]

Do it fast

 

[ianography]

Oh. Also, how will it help me to do the cross blindfolded? I know that I can do it, and I think that Chris Bird said something about it, but how would it help?

 

[Godmil]

If you can do the cross without looking, then that means you can perform the turns while concentrating on watching an F2L pair (some people choose the pair before they begin the solve), that way you can get straight into your first pair without pausing after the cross.

 

[FatBoyXPC]

A lot of people watch their cross while executing it, thus not giving them the lookahead for the first pair. Cross to first pair transition is crucial, it kind of sets the tone. Even if you have a great F2L after a long pause from cross to first pair, you just wasted all that time. That's why they do it BLD.

The only things you can really improve for F2L are move count and lookahead/turn speed. The average move count for F2L should be 28 (7 moves per pair), obviously this can be lowered with inserting easier pairs and various tricks. Don't always insert the first pair you see, insert the best pair you see. Rowan made a nice F2L trick thread here.

 

[maggot]

its not so much that you can do your cross BLD as much as you use the method during your solves. memorize the couple of moves that you need to get your cross. if you know your cross is going to be R2 B' F D2 R u, or something like this, just memorize it. that way, when your start your timer, you are doing your cross and finding your corner and edge.

 

[ianography]

Thanks for all the advice. I'll be sure to use it.

 

[Hiero]

I'm not much faster than you. My f2l is 12-15 seconds but I do notice a difference in just being able to do a cross blindfolded and actually using the concept. This means finding an f2l pair before I finish the cross.

 

[QueenCubeLover]

You've just got to practice! You can also try learning algorithms for cases such as