Fridrich F2L: Going Slow and Looking Ahead

[magicswimmer1]

What cube does he use??

[pcwizcube]

@magicswimmer1 Are you talking about me? If so, in this video I am using a Cube4you DIY. My main speedcube now though, is DaYan ZhanChi. Hope that helps!

[BrawlToOwn]

i really like the metronome idea, nice video dude

[AszianCuber]

Thanks for the video!!

Great help

[D4rkFang]

going to try this, at 40 atm, just started intuitive f2l and I'm behind on 40 :(

[pcwizcube]

@D4rkFang Yeah starting out is hard but with lots of practice you'll improve lots! :D

[D4rkFang]

@pcwizcube im on 67 now with little stops xD just been 1-2 hrs hehe :p

[xxoxia]

@D4rkFang - You really don't NEED to look ahead until you're around sub 30. I remember getting down to 25 ish, before needing to look ahead. You can get faster without it at 40. Just work more on your cross and F2L as far as what your doing.

[D4rkFang]

@xxoxia I can occasionally now, I can sub 30 if im in the mood, still cabt practice like my PLLs, they're easy to practice and can probably sub2 them if I tried to

[CuberPortugues]

I have a question.

when I started using the metronome I really sucked at it. I started with 50 bips per minute or so. Now, 1 month later I am at 144 bips per minute.

But when I am trying to do a "real solve" I cant perform Look ahead simply because I am allways thinking in doing the F2L algs fast. So my times round 25 seconds or so. I know I shouldnt do this, but I cant make it better.

Probably every sub 15 speedcubers had this problem. What can I do?

Need help :P

[pcwizcube]

@CuberPortugues [Comment Part 1] First of all, congrats on the huge metronome improvement! That's really good! And as for turning slowly during actual solves, I know what you're talking about. It feels really weird and just plain wrong a lot of the time when you turn slowly to try to look ahead and I know the feeling that you just want to turn faster. I think this may be one of the reasons people might not like practicing looking ahead and I think a lot of people are like this.

[pcwizcube]

@CuberPortugues [Comment Part 2] I don't know what else to tell you but to just do it - force your self to feel "miserable" turning slowly. It's not all that fun, especially because you're doing an actual solve, but remember that you're not in a competition. Consider it as part of your training, where you may do things differently (slower) to train better. Like an athlete who is a runner might run slower during his or her training for training purposes.

[pcwizcube]

@CuberPortugues [Comment Part 3] I hope that comparison motivates you at least a little bit. I would say a lot of cubers probably don't like "training" or practicing slowly or doing different things than just turning the cube as fast as they can. But I think if you just do it eventually you will see improvement. Also about your last sentence, sub 15 cubers have such good look ahead that when they're turning so fast they ARE looking ahead - that's how good they are.

[pcwizcube]

@CuberPortugues [Comment Part 4] But yeah they probably hate practicing slowly and doing other "unexciting" training techniques to improve their times.

I hope that helps somewhat and sorry if this response was too long. :D

[rubiksgh3]

are you going to princeton this year?

[andyf3fuk]

Thanks for the vid. Great help. All I need to do now is practice....

Out of curiousity, are you doing F2L intuitively?

[pcwizcube]

@andyf3fuk Yes, I do it intuitively. That's really the only way to do Fridrich F2L unless you're learning how to do it. (You can learn how to do F2L with algorithms but when you are actually using F2L in all your solves you are actually using your brain to figure out how to solve the F2L, hence you are doing it intuitively)

[tomtomclavelli]

wow thanks

[TheAwsomecubeGuy]

does the cube matter? my f2l is about 17 seconds and i use a rubik's brand cube lubed with petrolium jelly, and my f2l is what makes me slower. if i try to look ahead then it becomes like 25 seconds. soo do you have any vids. for oll pll or cross?

[pcwizcube]

@TheAwsomecubeGuy Well if you're slower when you look ahead, it's totally normal for a person who just started looking ahead. So it sounds like you've just started it and haven't much practice into it. Looking ahead is really hard and requires a lot of concentration and practice and you won't see start to backtrack to your normal times and actually start to improve until you put several hours into working on it.

[pcwizcube]

@TheAwsomecubeGuy 2nd comment.... - Looking ahead is really important in F2L and you NEED to get good at it if you want to get faster. But if you want to focus on the other steps I do have a Cross to F2L transition video, but it's not really just a cross video. And as for OLL and PLL you won't get much out of watching videos. It's all about recognition, knowing good algorithms, knowing a lot of algorithms, and turning speed. That pretty much sums up all you need to know about them...

[pcwizcube]

@TheAwsomecubeGuy 3rd comment - that you could put into a video. And you can achieve all of those things by finding good algorithms (finding them on your own and seeing the one you like most) and lots of practice.  There's not really much else to it. So yeah I don't have any OLL or PLL videos but there are good ones where people show you their algorithms and fingers tricks but that and practice are all you need.

[pcwizcube]

@TheAwsomecubeGuy 4th comment - And unless you have a pretty awful cube a new cube probably won't drastically shave down your times. It really all depends though, it's possible you could even get 5 seconds faster.

Sorry for all these long comments but I hope they help!

[D4RKY3000]

plz help me...i suck at F2L I dont know how to pair up and insert from multiple angles... so where do u get the algorithms for multiple angles?Also I got a problem first I have to look for the corners then I put it n the "UP"face if they are at the bottom... after that I look for its edge then...I move the corner in the correct spot so that I can apply the algorithm...and finally I use the algorithm...what am i doing wrong?plz help I need to know a way to pairing a inserting pairs really fast.

[pcwizcube]

@D4RKY3000 For inserting pairs from multiple angles, you could either search up F2L algorithms on Google and try to find one that shows multiple angles or try (more recommended) to slowly analyze each F2L case and figure out how you can insert the pair in different angles. For most cases they're not that hard to figure out, as long as you try it and use your brain a little bit.

[pcwizcube]

@D4RKY3000 And as for the other issue that's pretty common and normal and there's not much you can do about it except get your look ahead better so you can choose the best corner edge pair (as in the one where the corner and edge are on the U face). You can improve this and the other issue too by trying to use your brain a lot and practicing a lot.

[D4RKY3000]

@pcwizcube thanks so much bro (Y)

[CrystalSphear]

@pcwizcube I have a problem. My best F2L time is 17 seconds but i solve the F2L intuitively and i have to keep rotating the cube. I can see that you solve it with algorhythims.

[pcwizcube]

@CrystalSphear Yeah I use both. Also when you practice your F2L a lot, even whilst solving it intuitively you'll learn faster and more efficient ways to perform certain cases (intuitively you can perform the same case a few different ways). But I have learned some algorithms for some difficult cases.

[Climhazz4rd]

What the hell, the metronome is a great idea o_O I'm starting it right now

[and1smax]

cant people just cut the intro speaking and do the tutorial ahead?

[brainteaser37]

I average around 10s on f2l and this and badmephistos videos have helped me a whole lot. Currently on the road to consistent sub 15

[QURANE10]

I do F2L in 27 Seconds.

Oh Crap I have to do it in under 25...

[Richardtola1]

i can do f2l under 15 seconds and my record is 18.19 seconds

[ksubaharan]

hey pcwizcube,

when solving f2l in my cube .i cant analyse where the next edge or corner has to go.

can you help me out?

[pcwizcube]

@ksubaharan What do you mean? Do you mean that you don't know where the corner edge pair has to be when it is solved? If that was your question, then you look at the two colors of the corner piece that are not white (assuming you're using white cross), or the two colors of the edge piece, and that corner edge piece goes in between the center pieces of those two colors.

[PSL1969]

Great video! Just one thing. Let's say I see 2 pieces during the solving of the first F2L. Now it seems very hard to track those pieces in my mind because they will end up somewhere else on the cube than where I first spotted them. Any tips on this?

[pcwizcube]

@PSL1969 Well the concept of looking ahead is, that you're supposed to be watching those 2 pieces the entire time you're solving the first pair. So you will be following them throughout solving the first pair, and after solving the first pair you know exactly where they are.

[PSL1969]

@pcwizcube I've been practising this and my times have gotten better so I guess I just need to practise more =)

[Kd4Master]

which speed do you use right now?

[pcwizcube]

@Kd4Master Well when you get faster at looking ahead you don't really need to use the metronome anymore (it's mainly used to build up the technique for beginners at looking ahead). I would say I turn about 3tps though (around 180 bpm)

[Kd4Master]

@pcwizcube mmm, im averaging 30 seconds solving the cube, and is fustrating for me, cuz i guess, for making looking ahead, you cant THINK about the pair your solving at the moment, you have to be tracking the next pair... thats my problem... i can solve any f2l case blinded, but that doesnt mean i am not ¨thinking¨ about that pair... i dont know what to do to be able to solve that just with my fingers and concentrate my mind on tracking the next pair.. by the way, thanks for answering me!!

[pcwizcube]

@Kd4Master no problem! and well yes, not "thinking" about the pair you're currently solving is difficult at first. But I think that with more practice, you'll see cases you're familiar with so many times that you can do it instantly almost without any thinking. I believe that the more you practice the less you will have to "think" and this will enable you to think about looking ahead more.

[Kd4Master]

@pcwizcube, kool, thanks! i´d like to add you to my messenger, wouldn´t you?

[purplethig1998]

@pcwizcube aw.... i'm not really good at f2l i do cube rotations a LOT of times.. do you have an advice for me in that situation? thanks

[pcwizcube]

@purplethig1998 Are you good at inserting pairs from different angles?  I show a really simple example of that at about 1:00 in the video.

[purplethig1998]

@pcwizcube hehe, not really. can you do a tutorial about that? i kinda don't have eye hand coordination and i can't follow the pieces with my eyes .. ^^

[pcwizcube]

@purplethig1998 Uh make a tutorial on that? possibly... and if you don't have the coordination and you can't follow the pieces, that means you just have to practice a lot more. looking ahead is a technique that requires several hours of practice to improve on and get good at.

[Kd4Master]

wow man, im not gay but i love you, really nice video.. loklking for that 3 years ago!! lol

[ryucorrea]

I am thankful for this video. I can't wait. I never timed myself yet. I am new to the F2l method and speed cubing but it seems fun. I used to get board just solving it slow. This is way more fun even though I am not fast yet.

[VVilcord]

Exaggerated pauses? Heck, my pauses are three times as long.

[kennykart123]

hey pcwizcube! i just want to thank you for this tutorial because it has really helped me better than any other videos i have ever saw

(trust me i watched a lot of rubiks cube videos)

[Jedi5412]

what type of cube do u use

[pcwizcube]

@Jedi5412 I don't really know. I don't practice that much anymore. Cubes that I like are Guhong and FII.

[crazymexicandope]

Thanks man. This helped A LOT.

[NIGGAx4xLIFE]

so, whats the name of the song? xD

[MrAdaskladas]

try do this with music on :D: i have tried, it so confuses you :D

[xIDAING3Rx]

thank u

[P9em]

i followed this and got waay better: however!!!!; i have vastly improved my times ON TOP of this to solve 1 f2l simultaneosly while setting up the cross initially. It's basically the same amount of moves to make a 2x2 and then tack on the remaining 2 wings of the cross, and then you only have 3 f2ls at max to deal with. just some random imput from me, my point being you should check it out because i think it helps a ton over doing standard cross

[NightMessiah]

now that i got better at F2L i'll retry the metronome thingy, sounds cool :)

[Kirbyman4994]

r u god?

[pcwizcube]

@Kirbyman4994 uh.. no lol

[Kirbyman4994]

@pcwizcube r u related? cuz u are amazing...how did u come up with the metronome thing?

[pcwizcube]

@Kirbyman4994 lol haha thanks. Oh and I heard people recommend using the metronome before.

[KARTIKEYA007]

Hi..really nice tutorial...but at 7:34 was a double cube rotation necessary??

[pcwizcube]

@KARTIKEYA007 no, it wasn't necessarily. I guess I didn't see it at the time.

[EinhverGaur]

This n' that

[gummyform]

I just need to learn f2l cus the first 2 layers take me the longest, the top cross, lining up sides, getting corners and orienting take me about 30 seconds



[0reos27]

How long did it take you to learn how to become a speed cuber?

[pcwizcube]

@0reos27 what do you mean by speedcuber? A speedcuber is a person who tries to get faster at solving the rubik's cube, and I pretty much did that right after I learned how to solve it.

[0reos27]

@pcwizcube I mean like..how long did it take you to get to the point where you are now?..I just learned how to solve it. and I can solve it in about 2-3 minutes. W

hich is pretty bad but, I'm only a beginner

[pcwizcube]

@0reos27 oh. well I got a sub 20 second average with about 8 months. But it's possible to do it in 2 months. And after that I haven't practiced as much anymore. So it's been over 2 years since that and my avg has only improved by about 5 seconds or so.

[0reos27]

@pcwizcube Oh ok kool. sounds hard to be able to learn how to solve it in about 15-20 seconds though.

[thesmadaman]

Great video bro! You're up there with badmephisto I reckon, keep it up!

[xBleach4Eva]

Your Video was very helpful TY, but 1 thing seemed strange to me ... I trained this "technique" a couple of minutes and i didnt really see a difference... but when i did the same thing the next day, I improved myself by 4-5 seconds!

[pcwizcube]

@xBleach4Eva cool! yeah you have to practice it a lot

[xxoxia]

@xBleach4Eva -It's going to take a lot longer than a couple of minutes to help. It takes a lotttttt of time to get good at this.

[hanzierbier]

how fast do you do the f2l with the metronome ? i do it with 144

[pcwizcube]

@hanzierbier hmmm I'm not sure. I don't practice with a metronome anymore. Once your F2L turning speed is pretty fast, I don't think it's as helpful. At my speed, I just try to turn as consistently as possible. I think I do F2L with about 3 turns per second, or maybe more. Thats 180

[xxoxia]

The thing I don't understand about the Dan Knights quote is that everyone always says not to pause during F2L, but he says to pause halfway through a pair to find the next. So, what's the difference between pausing during the pair, and after? And I still don't get how going fast and pausing isn't the same as just going slower and not pausing. I'd think it would equal out!!! It's werid.

[pcwizcube]

@xxoxia What Dan Knight's says is a practice excercise. The purpose of it is to train you to look ahead better. You don't actually do that in your solves.

[xBleach4Eva]

thumbs up if you thought this is MMAP

[pcwizcube]

@xBleach4Eva why would people think it's MMAP?

[xBleach4Eva]

@pcwizcube because of the table ... the video style is the same

[pcwizcube]

@xBleach4Eva oh.. ok

[CSSJosh]

Your time with pauses was so fast ! My f2l is soo slow. But i hope this helps my out thanks for the video, and for the 720p quality!

[YoDaPro]

very good video! The metronom is a very good tip, it's rly helpful i think. I have like an sub 30 avg and i want to cut it down to sub 25 with like 10/57 oll's and full pll ;)

[ben1996123]

your voice is funny lol

[JBoogie300]

i improved my f2l by 4 seconds, now im getting consistent averages of 19-21 seconds

[bicfinder]

@pcwizcube no i'm glad you help me :)

yea i'm still learning some algo from thewestonian video that you suggest to RodCuber, do you use all algo from thewestonian vid or you have some your own algo for some difficult case?

thank you :)

[pcwizcube]

@bicfinder for some of the cases thewestonian shows, I use different algorithms, but it doesn't really matter that much, because his algorithms are good too.

[iceymanjack]

@bicfinder great tutorial im gonna give this to my friends to watch

this is just what everybody needs when they reach around there 30-40s

[bicfinder]

remember me.. :)

before my best avg of 12 is 36.xx and after two weeks practice with metronome my best avg is 23.xx XD, but till now my time for cross and F2L still around 17.xx :( what do i do now ?help me and thank you very much for your video,you help me a lot :)

thanks..

[pcwizcube]

@bicfinder whoa that is some really fast improvement!!!!!!! :O o.O

well uh I would suggest just practicing getting better at look ahead, maybe learn some F2L algorithms for some difficult cases, and look at some of badmephisto's f2l videos (if you haven't already). and I'm glad I was able to help you :)

[ezarlol]

man i suck i have the metronome set at 40 and im struggling wow

[IPwnAllAndLeaveNone]

@ezarlol Then put it at 30

Don't rush it, it just takes practice.

[xxoxia]

@ezarlol - You will get better. You just have to do F2L enough to MASTER the cases BEFORE you start looking ahead. Don't worry about looking ahead until your solves are consistently around 30 sec. I didn't start looking ahead until about a month ago. Now, I'm getting MUCH better at it. I'm almost consistently sub 20. I had all sub 20 avg's last night, with a LOT of 15's.

[JBoogie300]

so dude are u goin to long island 2010??

[IPwnAllAndLeaveNone]

Thanks, I hope this will clear my 26 sec barrier and let me go down to sub 20 soon.

[bicfinder]

hi there..

this is a great vdeo..

do you know all f2l algorithm or you just used intuitve f2l ?

[pcwizcube]

@bicfinder thanks! :) I use intuitive F2L. I did learn some F2L algorithms for some difficult cases though.

[RodCuber]

@pcwizcube Can you share them with us`? The one you replied to bicfinder about dificult cases algorythm :)

[pcwizcube]

@RodCuber well "thewestonian" on youtube actually has a video on those algorithms, its called "Important F2L Algorithms For Intuitive F2L Users"

[RodCuber]

@pcwizcube thanks :)

[dushyantmann]

interesting video.

[CCV334]

Thanks a lot it seems like very good advice, so ill go practice, currently my f2l takes around 15 seconds for I just started to get back into cubing again.

[akimboM40A3]

i just got lucky 19.70 my avg is around 32 :D

[mackychloe]

great vid' very detailed!! at the moment my solves fall just under two minutes lol, i know the cross-basic f2l & revert back to lbl for the last laster. What would you advise i learn next....looking ahead, oll & pll etc etc. also i'm not particulally concerned with "speed solving".......just learning more, speed will come naturally. Thanks.

[pcwizcube]

@mackychloe you should just practice more to get faster. Using the method you use you can probably get close to a minute if you just practice more, getting used to it. Then when you are around 1:10 or so you should start learning two look OLL and two look last layer

[Djsora555]

what for algos you use? Or where i can learn the same?

[pcwizcube]

@Djsora555 I'm sorry can you clarify your question?

[Djsora555]

@pcwizcube i'm sorry my english is very bad. ok: You do a algorithm for each Case that you have. Where you get them? I wanted to learn look ahead but i can do long algorithm only on Front-Right-Case. Don't on Left Back. Have you any tipps?

[pcwizcube]

@Djsora555 I do not use algorithms for solving F2L. I use intuitive F2L, meaning that you can solve F2L without algorithms, because you understand how the pieces move. It is hard to explain but badmephisto on YouTube has a good tutorial on how to do intuitive F2L.

[Djsora555]

@pcwizcube Thanks a lot. I can do intuitive but they are not the shortest way. i need 30 sec only for F2L. and sorry i forgett very very very nice video..! :D

[pcwizcube]

@Djsora555 oh. You can go to some websites and find how to do F2L cases. And thank you! :)

[louiscormier12]

Dude your video was awesome! Great job! Five star!

[radmin2]

This is a well made video. Good work!

[DecGreg]

Very nice video.

Im gonna try it for now, my f2l average is exact 25 ;D

Thanks again for the video !

[Dulema]

Your vid was very helpful. I'm getting inconsistent sub 20 solves and just want to break that 15 second wall. I've been pretty good at look ahead but never had any drills to practice it more than just solving. I appreciate the time you took to make this vid and I thank you for it.

[pcwizcube]

@Dulema awesome great! I'm very glad that this video is even able to help a fast person like you :)

[Djsora555]

@Dulema Hey .__. my time is 40 sec avg. I need the most of time for F2l. i started to learn look ahead. it is very hard. My average go to 50 now. do you use algos?

[SharkRetriver]

This happens to me alot. I'm solving a pair and i finish another pair and give up the pair that im working on to insert the other pair and its slow...lol tongue twister

[manandblack2]

I can do F2L slowly but not fast because I'm just a beginner.

[xLazyxCorex]

Very good tutorial thank you, gonna use the metronome method

[jayrome23cobre]

what cube are you using?

[pcwizcube]

In that video, I used Cube4You core + old Type A cubies

Now I use Type C DIY

[kopfohnehirn]

another question: ;)

how do you pratice f2l? with your metronome method?

[pcwizcube]

Right now, I just do regular 3x3 solves, trying to not go too fast and make sure I look ahead in my solves. I don't really cube that much anymore though, maybe an average of 1-2 hours a week.

[kopfohnehirn]

very nice video :)

i have a problem :( following:

i have problems with "stuck" pieces in wrong slots.

well, my question: should i learn algos (a lot!) to solve those problems or should i simply take the stuck pieces out of the wrong slot and do a "normal" f2l?

thx

[pcwizcube]

I'm not exactly sure what you're saying. I think you're saying that one part of the corner edge pair is in another slot instead of the one it's supposed to be in. If that's what you're asking, that is completely normal, you can just use intuitive F2L to take that piece out to get it on the top layer, and then insert the corner edge pair into its correct slot.

If that's not what you're asking, I'm sorry, please tell me what you mean :)

[kopfohnehirn]

yeah thats what i supposed to say and there is my problem: i need too much time for thinking about what to do when one part of the pair is in a wrong slot ... :(

[pcwizcube]

Well, that happens all the time. The only thing I can think that can help you is to just practice. If you continue to practice something, you will get better at it. In you situation, you will think faster and spend less time solving each pair. That may not have been the answer you wanted, but I hope that helps.

[Roterrion]

nice tutorial man.. now i can do look ahead.. thx man.. by the way.. i can hear you (my listening is so bad) LOL

[somita]

u funny lol

[spamshield]

Don't thank me for watching. Thank you for creating such a good video :)

[xxoxia]

Thanks for this video! This is the first time someone showed how to look ahead. Usually they just tell you to do it. I average 35 seconds and use full oll and pll, and algorithm F2l, and just can't seem to get faster, although I have had a lucky solve or two. I went from a minute average to 30 seconds in a couple of weeks and just stopped there. I really want to get down to 10 seconds. I thought knowing all these algorithms would help, but I'm still stuck.

[TheAccidentalFreak]

The faster you get, the slower you progress to 10 seconds. If you average 3 minutes, you can drop a minute in a day. When you're at 30, it's more like 1 second a week (slightly faster.

[maxetcie03]

What did you do to become too fast like that???

[pcwizcube]

Like what? Like average ~16 seconds? (full solve). If you are asking that question, I just practiced a lot, got good in looking ahead F2L, and learned and got fast at OLL and PLL algorithms.

[maxetcie03]

Like average Xd!Thanks for the comment :P

[gamefreak200000000]

very good vid thanks this will help alot

[yuriroxo]

Very nice idea, using a metronome. Never really thought of that, gonna help a lot :)

[JanitraPS]

i love the background of the video

so simple

this video really deserves thousands view

[RookieN08]

846views????? this video deserves more than that

send this video to your friend, rate and subscribe

[pasamacallit]

damn i'm gonna get out my metronome right now XD

[spitfire97]

I did this for an avg of 50 and I got 22.xy

so now I turn fast and turn slower whiles I insert a pair so that i can see the next pair It gets me like 20 sconds full cube solves

[uNamed2lyfe]

im subscribing!

[uNamed2lyfe]

this is a really good video and i luv the metronome idea!

i can solve the cross and f2l in around 20 seconds (sometimes 15-18).

i hope this will make it faster!

5 stars!

[spitfire97]

I find dan knight quote very helpful :)

[uNamed2lyfe]

yeh

[xXspielenXx]

what if pieces are in the back layer you cant see them

[pcwizcube]

Then when you are solving one pair, you tilt the cube forward so you can see where the pieces are in the back.

Or you can solve another pair instead of pieces in the back layer.

[RedRoost80]

great video. i knew fridrich and i preferred advanced method, but i love this so much.

[RedRoost80]

i thought when i learned beginner method the whole idea is going fast. but the slower i go the faster i solve. its wierd but true :D

[uNamed2lyfe]

yeh lol....

[UKSpeedCuber]

I'm sure I commented on this!

Great video!

[jmnguyen95]

great video. also what cube is that?

[pcwizcube]

Thank you. Cube4you DIY core, with old Type A cubies.

[fazrulz1]

nice!!!

Turn faster Felix :p

[SpeedCubingCentral]

Every one should subscribe to him, this is awsome!

[spitfire97]

nice video I subscribed

[cubingforlife]

Very useful thank you!

[TimeFreeze1]

wow. This is a really good tutorial. Nice!

[zosomaniac1]

nice vid man.. good explaination..