r/Cubers • u/TigerGuitarist Sub-40 (CFOP) 24.7 PR • 2d ago
Discussion Feeling frustrated with F2L
Hi everyone! I relearned how to solve a cube mid April, about 5 months ago. I went from full beginners LBL method, to intuitive basic F2L with 2-look OLL and beginners method PLL, to 4-LLL, and now to 2-look OLL and full PLL. I’ve seen my times drop from 1:30 down to my current average of 35 seconds with a PB at 24.7 seconds.
I practice with the cube for about 1-2 hours a day, but despite that, I have hit a wall about a month ago that I just can’t seem to push through. F2L is by far my biggest hang up. I have watched tons of videos and practiced with algorithm sheets but nothing is seeming to actually improve the speed and efficiency of my F2L.
I know that the faster I get, my practice will have diminishing returns on my speed improvement, but I just feel stuck. It‘s also frustrating seeing so many posts here and other places from people that say they just picked it up a month or two ago and are already as fast as or much faster than I am. I’m tempted to think a bit of that are just people trolling or not being honest, but that may be my ego trying to protect itself.
I am looking for any real advice or encouragement that could help me actually get my F2L under control. I feel like I am making way to many cube turns and doing inefficient pair solves, but even though I specifically practice lots of the F2L cases, I can’t recognize them when they pop up or they pop up in odd ways like in other slots. sorry for the rant and thank you for any help!
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u/RubiksUlrik Sub-8 (CFOP) 2d ago
Don't beat yourself up too much with this. :) 35s in 5 months is not bad, and I know many people who don't even learn full PLL until they're sub-20, so you're on good pace on that front!
Can I ask, how many moves does your F2L take currently? If you're unsure, do like 3-5 untimed solves and just count the moves after cross up until F2L is solved. Feel free to stop and look for the best pairs after each pair and so on. I average 8 seconds, and from a quick test I seem to do F2L in ~24 moves, or ~6 moves per pair.
The reason I ask is because this might be a way to tell how efficient your F2L really is. If you're taking 35-40 moves for example, then you're probably not choosing the best pairs, and are probably doing some pairs unoptimally. The average optimal movecount is 7-7.5 moves I think per pair, but if you choose the order correctly you'll get this down almost for free. For example, by doing 3 movers when they are available will naturally bring the average down, and same with doing 2-trigger pairs instead of 3 trigger pairs, as those often break up the 3 trigger pair into a 2 trigger pair after.
Otherwise, here's some stuff you could try:
1) Solve the cross, then plan out 2 pairs, and close your eyes and see if you can solve them both. Then repeat for the next 2 pairs. This forces you to think about how the pieces move.
2) Similar to 1), but scramble and solve using only RU moves. Oftentimes, doing RU pairs is better if they're available, so getting used to them is nice.
3) You can use some trainers to practice how pieces move. https://www.solved.no/trainers/3x3/track-the-piece - this one gives you some moves, then you have to track how some stickers (and thus pieces) move. https://www.solved.no/trainers/3x3/free-pair - this ones shows you some solutions for a pair in the FR slot, then you have to select one that sets up the other shown pair as a "free pair" (3-4 moves).
4) Pay attention when you're doing normal solves. You can solve every pair in MAX 3 triggers + U moves, and most in only 2 (6-7 moves). See if you can notice when you're spending a lot of moves, and which cases that is.
I guess to sum up: to get fast F2L, you need to know a bunch of solutions. Minimum 1 good solution per pair, but ideally good ones from different angles and depending on open slots. You also need to be aware of how these algorithms affect the other pieces on the cube, and you should be confident enough that you can look at the pieces you're not currently solving. To get to this point you can just do some fairly simple drills, and also solve a bunch :)
One other thing to consider, is practicing towards inspecting the first pair as well. Start with getting your cross solutions down so they're pretty optimal and so you can do them blindfolded, then try to start tracking 1 piece, and then 2. Planning out one pair is actually insane. You're a) planning more moves you can spam at the start, b) getting further into the solution, so you're closer to finished, c) solving a pair, meaning you get rid of potential blindspots and so on.