# How to Look Ahead in the Fridrich/ CFOP Method



## jskyler91 (Mar 9, 2012)

This is the first part of my 4 part series on how to look ahead in CFOP. I realize that this first vid, and possibly others may not be presenting original information, but no one has, to my knowledge made this inforation available in video form. Let me know if this helps you guys out.






I realize that this concept seems really simple, but very few people actually do this correctly. If you find that you do look at the pieces while you pair them up then I recommend slowing down for a while and retraining your mind to not look at them at all. Then, when you can do this at your current speed, gradually increase your speed until you can look ahead properly at you normal speed. I just tweaked my look ahead recently and it took about a week to make this transition permanent. 






I find that predicting OLLs is often quicker than trying to influence then or skip them. Just my two cents.


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## Stefan (Mar 9, 2012)

I really like your videos, make me try new things. Gonna watch part 2 now. Two things I noticed here, though:
- You consistently confuse D and D' (you say one and do the other).
- Shouldn't you have started with home grip and not regrip in the middle? Looks rather odd after watching your previous video.


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## applemobile (Mar 9, 2012)

Nice video, but your cube is unsolved in the background! I couldn't possibly leave a cube unsolved, it makes me feel nauseous.


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## jskyler91 (Mar 9, 2012)

Stefan said:


> I really like your videos, make me try new things. Gonna watch part 2 now. Two things I noticed here, though:
> - You consistently confuse D and D' (you say one and do the other).
> - Shouldn't you have started with home grip and not regrip in the middle? Looks rather odd after watching your previous video.


 
lol, I actually have a slight dyslexia with direction and time based words. I mean D' when I say D and if you ask me to read a date out loud such as 1984, you will almost certainly hear 1948, don't know why. As to my regrip, I was holding the cube in a really awkward manner with the U face practically facing me so doing things regripless was actually really uncomfortable and slow. In this case regriping actually saved me time lol.



applemobile said:


> Nice video, but your cube is unsolved in the background! I couldn't possibly leave a cube unsolved, it makes me feel nauseous.



That was me getting ready for my next vid.


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## emrecay (Mar 9, 2012)

applemobile said:


> Nice video, but your cube is unsolved in the background! I couldn't possibly leave a cube unsolved, it makes me feel nauseous.


 
Haha, im the same except i feel more paranoid than nauseous


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## foolish (Mar 9, 2012)

Thanks for the vid. Look ahead is the part I'm worst at, gotta train it a lot.



applemobile said:


> Nice video, but your cube is unsolved in the background! I couldn't possibly leave a cube unsolved, it makes me feel nauseous.


I actually do it the other way around. I leave all my cubes unsolved, so whenever I just want to solve one I don't have to scramble first


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## BrainOfSweden (Mar 9, 2012)

I saw you mentioning this in another thread earlier, nice to see that it's already up, I was waiting for it. I'm at school right now, but I'm looking forward to watch this when I get home.


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## jskyler91 (Mar 9, 2012)

BrainOfSweden said:


> I saw you mentioning this in another thread earlier, nice to see that it's already up, I was waiting for it. I'm at school right now, but I'm looking forward to watch this when I get home.


 
I think the portion I was referring to was more for my second video which I just made a thread for here:http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/s...CFOP-Method-Part2-F2L-F2L&p=722479#post722479 , but I hope this helps you out as well


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## Stefan (Mar 9, 2012)

jskyler91 said:


> As to my regrip, I was holding the cube in a really awkward manner with the *U face practically facing me* so doing things regripless was actually really uncomfortable and slow.


 
Do you mean *D* facing you? Cause when U is facing me (and D in the back), your grip (with right thumb on D in the back) becomes *really* awkward for me.


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## BrainOfSweden (Mar 9, 2012)

jskyler91 said:


> I think the portion I was referring to was more for my second video which I just made a thread for here:http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/s...CFOP-Method-Part2-F2L-F2L&p=722479#post722479 , but I hope this helps you out as well


That looks more like it, yes. I do however think this will help a lot, cross-F2L is the look ahead I struggle the most with.


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## jskyler91 (Mar 9, 2012)

Stefan said:


> Do you mean *D* facing you? Cause when U is facing me (and D in the back), your grip (with right thumb on D in the back) becomes *really* awkward for me.


 
Lol, now I am confused, I am pretty sure I was holding the cube such that the U face was basically my F face for most of the video, hence my constant moving of the cube to see what I am doing and the regrips to do the more awkward things.


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## Stefan (Mar 9, 2012)

I'm just talking about the cross. From home grip and with regrips in brackets, you did [R'] R D [R] R2' F when you could've just done R D R2' F.

Prepend an x' to get U to F like you say, then after the [R'] your right hand is anti-home. That can't be good.


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## Ezy Ryder (Mar 9, 2012)

Nice video. But were two seperate topics really needed?


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## DYGH.Tjen (Mar 9, 2012)

Awesome, thanks a lot jskyler, you've given me some things to think about. It completely makes sense that we should do this, but somehow I always overlook it and have the tendency to 'check' whether I've done a pair correctly. Will practise this when doing solves from now on. Thanks  waiting for your other lookahead vids.


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## Ickenicke (Mar 9, 2012)

Yes, this video is very helpful. I think this will help alot of people to improve their lookahead!


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## jskyler91 (Mar 9, 2012)

Ezy Ryder said:


> Nice video. But were two seperate topics really needed?


 
I thought it would be a good idea so that the discussions would be organized, but apparently the mods disagree. No big deal though.


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## conn9 (Mar 9, 2012)

DYGH.Tjen said:


> Awesome, thanks a lot jskyler, you've given me some things to think about. It completely makes sense that we should do this, but somehow I always overlook it and have the tendency to 'check' whether I've done a pair correctly. Will practise this when doing solves from now on. Thanks  waiting for your other lookahead vids.


 
I just looked at your comment, realised I was also checking if I'd completed the pair, tried to not check and lookahead, and instantly broke my ao5 and ao12... OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To think I've never done lookahead before! I guess I can thank you for posting this comment, and jskyler for giving you the idea, though I haven't even watched the videos yet. Lol


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## jskyler91 (Mar 9, 2012)

conn9 said:


> I just looked at your comment, realised I was also checking if I'd completed the pair, tried to not check and lookahead, and instantly broke my ao5 and ao12... OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To think I've never done lookahead before! I guess I can thank you for posting this comment, and jskyler for giving you the idea, though I haven't even watched the videos yet. Lol


 
No problems dude, this is a very subtle thing, but it makes a HUGE difference in you times.


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## emolover (Mar 10, 2012)

This is much more difficult for me then it should be. I even have trouble not looking at the pair I am making let alone being able find all the cross pieces and the pair pieces. 

For now I guess I will just try cross with corner prediction and not looking at the pair.


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## DYGH.Tjen (Mar 10, 2012)

conn9 said:


> I just looked at your comment, realised I was also checking if I'd completed the pair, tried to not check and lookahead, and instantly broke my ao5 and ao12... OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To think I've never done lookahead before! I guess I can thank you for posting this comment, and jskyler for giving you the idea, though I haven't even watched the videos yet. Lol


 
My pleasure dude


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## jskyler91 (Mar 10, 2012)

emolover said:


> This is much more difficult for me then it should be. I even have trouble not looking at the pair I am making let alone being able find all the cross pieces and the pair pieces.
> 
> For now I guess I will just try cross with corner prediction and not looking at the pair.


 

You just have to practice it dude, to start off you can literally close your eyes when you find your pair that way you get used to slotting without looking.


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## Jaycee (Mar 10, 2012)

Since it seems like I can't improve my LL at ALL (7-7.5 second average, and I average 17.5!!!) I think I'll give this these vids a try and improve my F2L even more


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## jskyler91 (Mar 10, 2012)

Jaycee said:


> Since it seems like I can't improve my LL at ALL (7-7.5 second average, and I average 17.5!!!) I think I'll give this these vids a try and improve my F2L even more


 
My vid on F2L to OLL should help your last layer and my next vid on OLL to PLL should help a lot as well.


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## emolover (Mar 10, 2012)

jskyler91 said:


> You just have to practice it dude, to start off you can literally close your eyes when you find your pair that way you get used to slotting without looking.


 
It's not at all that I cant do a pair without looking. Its that I have to double check it, if I dont I get nervous and it ****s with my speed and look-ahead.


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## spyr0th3dr4g0n (Mar 10, 2012)

Towards the end of the OLL section, you were talking about using sledgehammer to skip dot cases. I use something similar, but instead orientate all the edges. If instead of using sledgehammer to orientate 2 edges, you can use y l' U' l U2 M' U' M. While performing the M' U' M part, you can see what corner case you will get and begin solving it immediately. 

Eg. Setup: f (U R U' R') f' F (U R U' R') F' R U R' U'

Performing: y l' U' l U2 (here you can see/predict the sune) M' U' M


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## jskyler91 (Mar 13, 2012)

spyr0th3dr4g0n said:


> Towards the end of the OLL section, you were talking about using sledgehammer to skip dot cases. I use something similar, but instead orientate all the edges. If instead of using sledgehammer to orientate 2 edges, you can use y l' U' l U2 M' U' M. While performing the M' U' M part, you can see what corner case you will get and begin solving it immediately.
> 
> Eg. Setup: f (U R U' R') f' F (U R U' R') F' R U R' U'
> 
> Performing: y l' U' l U2 (here you can see/predict the sune) M' U' M


 
This seems a little too long and unnecessary when I know full OLL. Also, many of my best OLL's are with adjacent edges up. Good for those who don''t know the dots though!!


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## Schmidt (Mar 14, 2012)

I got dot a lot, so I learned those first* and then kept going till I had learned full OLL. 

*The last 2 I learned was the dot with 2 bars on both sides (R U2 R') (R' F R F') U2' (R' F R F') 
and the line with 2 bars on the sides, it took me a long time to find a good alg. for that one.


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## jskyler91 (Mar 15, 2012)

Just uploaded the last part.


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## Ickenicke (Mar 15, 2012)

All your videos are very good!

Yout last part is fantastic. I can improve my LL lookahead alot


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## jskyler91 (Mar 16, 2012)

Ickenicke said:


> All your videos are very good!
> 
> Yout last part is fantastic. I can improve my LL lookahead alot


 
Thats great, did my last video seem clear? I felt like I had too many ideas and not enough time to explain.


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## Ickenicke (Mar 16, 2012)

jskyler91 said:


> Thats great, did my last video seem clear? I felt like I had too many ideas and not enough time to explain.



The last video was very good and clear. I have never thought about doing so much at my LL, like learning what my OLLs do to the corners.


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## jskyler91 (Mar 16, 2012)

Ickenicke said:


> The last video was very good and clear. I have never thought about doing so much at my LL, like learning what my OLLs do to the corners.


 
Ok, good I was really worried about that. Feel free to ask any questions you may have.


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## jskyler91 (Mar 16, 2012)

Sahid Velji said:


> Thanks for the videos! I just watched all of them in one sitting, when I'm supposed to be sleeping.


 
Nice, lol, I rarely sleep as well. I have been learning tons of stuff lately by watching Felik's videos and averages. I might just make a vid on the stuff I learned from him lol.


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## Ranzha (Mar 16, 2012)

For the first (R D R2' F) cross, you can form a pair using (R D R2' U' F) =D


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## evogler (Mar 16, 2012)

jskyler91 said:


> I might just make a vid on the stuff I learned from him lol.


 
I would like to see that.


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## Sa967St (Mar 18, 2012)

I finally got around to watching these. Good job, you explained things really well. 

Most of the F2L lookahead "tutorials" I've seen explain it like a fixed system. They say that you find a pair, keep an eye out for the next pair, and track the next pair while you're executing the previous one. I like how you emphasized being able to find the next pairs anytime. That kind of flexibility is important during solves. It's also good to be aware of more than one pair at once, which you covered. One thing you missed (I think, sorry if you did and I just missed it) is being prepared to change your mind on which pair to insert next. Supposed you were tracking a pair, but turned into an ugly case, and there happens to be a much easier pair somewhere. IMO F2L look-ahead is perfected when one is be prepared for inserting any pair at any given time. Other than that I think you explained all the important things. I really liked the "don't think about a pair after you've found it" idea, it's definitely a key to being good at F2L.

For the LS->OLL and OLL->PLL transitions I think you covered most of the important techniques. It's a lot of stuff to go over in just 20 mins. I would have recommended more examples of the OLLs with blocks/bars/headlight you can watch, but then that video would be much longer. 

Also, [email protected] "Van Vars Landenbergh".


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## jskyler91 (Mar 23, 2012)

Sa967St said:


> I finally got around to watching these. Good job, you explained things really well.
> 
> Most of the F2L lookahead "tutorials" I've seen explain it like a fixed system. They say that you find a pair, keep an eye out for the next pair, and track the next pair while you're executing the previous one. I like how you emphasized being able to find the next pairs anytime. That kind of flexibility is important during solves. It's also good to be aware of more than one pair at once, which you covered. One thing you missed (I think, sorry if you did and I just missed it) is being prepared to change your mind on which pair to insert next. Supposed you were tracking a pair, but turned into an ugly case, and there happens to be a much easier pair somewhere. IMO F2L look-ahead is perfected when one is be prepared for inserting any pair at any given time. Other than that I think you explained all the important things. I really liked the "don't think about a pair after you've found it" idea, it's definitely a key to being good at F2L.
> 
> ...


 
Thank you for your kind words, I tried to keep these vids short per requests; but I am sort of regretting that now as I remember soo many things that I didn't cover. For instance, I really should have gone over PLL prediction using 2 side PLL recognition and of course what you mentioned about floating pairs/ changing your mind during F2L is important as well. I think I might do some example solves soon which will help clear these things up a bit. 

On a side note I generally don't stop my current F2L pair if I see an easier one because I find that it is often obtrusive and requires far too many regrips, instead I try to influence my next pair with different inserts or at the very least track it. The only time i really do stop my current pair and do something different is if I have a F2L pair already formed on top and there is not an easy way to preserve it using different inserts. This seems to be what the really fast cubers do at least, from my observations of course.


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## Speedmaster (Mar 28, 2012)

Hey
i've just watched all your videos and their are great  but i couldn't understand your video for pll recognition..., isn't there another way to have good pll recognition? I am sub 14 now but my last layer makes 6s of that, most of the time is pll recognition, sometimes 2s and thatvis very bad, because i think i have a real good f2l..., could you make some more videos for pll recognition? Maybe the 2 side recognition? 
Sry for mistakes in this text, but i don`t speak English very well


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## jskyler91 (Mar 28, 2012)

Speedmaster said:


> Hey
> i've just watched all your videos and their are great  but i couldn't understand your video for pll recognition..., isn't there another way to have good pll recognition? I am sub 14 now but my last layer makes 6s of that, most of the time is pll recognition, sometimes 2s and thatvis very bad, because i think i have a real good f2l..., could you make some more videos for pll recognition? Maybe the 2 side recognition?
> Sry for mistakes in this text, but i don`t speak English very well


 
Sure, I plan on making a few vids this spring break and I will make this one of them.


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