which f2l pieces to track?

[incessantcheese]

my averages are generally in the 18-20 range, for reference:

i have several questions:

how many pieces are you generally tracking as you do f2l? i cannot keep more than the next pair in my head as i'm going ahead, but it seems to me that some people can track the next pair and then remember another piece at the same time. even if i see other pieces, i immediately dismiss them from my memory to frantically look for a complete pair. so, as you're slotting one pair, how many pieces are you generally looking at and remembering?

second, related question - where do you focus your attention when you're looking ahead?

it seems most natural to look for corners (since there are less of them?) and i feel like i've read most people do find corners first. however, i tried something different and i seemed to be getting slightly better times: focus completely on the top layer and take the first piece that i find there, edge or corner and then look for the corresponding piece afterward. this makes me feel half-blind for moments, since i'm focusing on such a small part of the cube, but this prevents me from getting stuck in those situations where i find a corner-edge pair scattered in the first and second layers, and then start over searching for a pair.

oh and i guess it would be relevant to post your average of 100, if you don't mind. thanks!

 

[Cride5]

During F2L I'm normally 'tracking' up to 3 pieces, because in ZZF2L you build 1x2x2 blocks (composed of 1 corner and 2 edges). However, while solving if I notice a corner lodged in a slot, I'll sometimes make a note of it for later. This could be up to two steps into the future.

I think generally I always 'see' (fully identify) corners first even though I'm not purposefully prioritising on them. The reason is that they are fully visible in 6 out of the 8 possible positions they may occupy, while edges are only fully visible in 5 out of the 10 possible positions they may occupy (from the beginning of F2L).

Speed-wise I don't do avgs of 100, by last avg of 50 was 19.30


EDIT: You may find this thread interesting

 

[Chapuunka]

I find the corner easier to see personally. Yes, there's fewer of them and more visible places, but they also have the bright white sticker on them so they stick out more (strictly white cross).