I’ve had a 3x3x3 for a few years and so far, I solve it with the beginner method. I watched a J Perm video on the F2L approach and now I’m trying to learn to do that faster. At the moment, I’m still faster going one layer at a time.
If you also started with the beginner method and then learned to use F2L, how long did it take for you to get faster with F2L?
Like I said in another recent post, I’m not looking for a WR. I just want to be as fast as my kid at this point. She learned F2L from the start. :)
This is a necropost but I have just gone through this.
First I learned to do the cross in 8 moves or less.
For the L1 corners and L2 edges, there were so many F2L algorithms I did not end up memorizing them. I learned 3-4 with the intent of memorizing but once I saw how they worked it was easier to figure it out in the fly based on location and orientation of the corner and edge I need.
My solutions are probably not optimal, but I am getting much faster at identifying and executing the F2L moves through practice; it is becoming intuition and muscle memory through repetition. I also started incorporating empty corners into my solves before I got good at “normal” F2L but I’m not sure if that helped me or hurt me. It feels good to save turns and often times I can use that to pull pieces I need to the top.
Eventually I am going to try each F2L algorithm at least once to see if I am missing any clever tricks. I am waiting until I have a better feel for doing it on my own so that I would recognize potential improvements.