# Improve Your F2L Look Ahead With Turbo Tracking



## jskyler91 (Oct 20, 2011)

Hello fellow speedcubers, today I am going to be sharing a new technique for practicing and getting better at your look ahead. Watch the video below for more info:






I realize that this seems really simple and you may not think it will work, but trust me it really does. Let me know what you think.


----------



## Ezy Ryder (Oct 20, 2011)

I do that almost unconsciously, when I practice R,U group. Should I watch the cube, or be able to tell where it is without watching?


----------



## Hershey (Oct 20, 2011)

Interesting exercise!


----------



## collinbxyz (Oct 20, 2011)

Awesome tutorial! I'm around 15 seconds, so I hope this'll bring down my times too! I subbed


----------



## JonnyWhoopes (Oct 20, 2011)

Does anybody care to create a text-based description of what this is?


----------



## jskyler91 (Oct 20, 2011)

Ezy Ryder said:


> I do that almost unconsciously, when I practice R,U group. Should I watch the cube, or be able to tell where it is without watching?



I say you should watch the cube, because the entire idea behind this exercise is learning to track 1 or 2 pieces in a jumble of other colors and not being distracted by those other colors. I think the idea of not looking at the cube is useful as well interms of understanding how your moves affect particular pieces on the cube, however I think practicing multislotting is a better exercise for that. 

Try doing this for about 2-3 minutes and then do a solve at your normal speed and watch how slow and easy your f2l feels. Not only does this exercise warm up your fingers, but it also tests your mind and keeps you aware during your F2L so that you don't loose concentration (I used to have this problem often)



JonnyWhoopes said:


> Does anybody care to create a text-based description of what this is?


 
Basically, the concept behind Turbo Tracking is that by tracking pieces that are moving at a rapid rate, you will find tracking pieces at a normal rate is incredibly easy. The benefits of this particular method of practicing is that you can do it every time you hand scramble. As to the actual implementation of this training, you basically choose one piece, whether it be an edge or corner (I recommend you do which ever one you have the most trouble finding in solves, so for me this was corners) and then track that piece as you mix up the cube as rapidly as you possibly can. As you get better at this you can add more pieces or even an edge and an corner at the same time.


----------



## Godmil (Oct 20, 2011)

Can't wait to try this, sounds fun


----------



## RTh (Oct 21, 2011)

This is very interesting. I'll start scrambling whilst tracking a corner, and in a week or so I'll come back and post the results.

Subbed =]


----------



## Stefan (Oct 21, 2011)

Interesting idea, I'll try that. I like exercises like that and I can't imagine myself being good at tracking two at the same time, but I guess I should be so I'm looking forward to that. Are you always tracking the same two corners, or do you switch? And do you have any way to somehow measure your progress? Cause I like measuring to see whether and how I'm really progressing.


----------



## mrpotatoman14 (Oct 21, 2011)

Great idea, it helps me to realize how few areas a corner or edge can end up in.


----------



## collinbxyz (Oct 21, 2011)

This is fun, and fairly easy, I just HATE when it goes to the Bottom-Back area, and you can't actually see the pieces


----------



## RTh (Oct 21, 2011)

Already tried in a few scrambles. It's hard at first but I think it'll be fairly easy after a day or two.


----------



## Thompson (Oct 21, 2011)

I really like this idea! I'm going to try it right now.


----------



## emolover (Oct 21, 2011)

I like this idea! The thing is, I am great at tracking where corners are during the cross and F2L. My problem is that I suck at tracking edges. Basically the way I do F2L is that I am tracking and looking for other corner pieces then when I see an edge that goes with the corner piece, I solve that pair while tracking other corners and trying look for other edges. 

The way I do it is inefficient.

Thanks for the shout out.


----------



## RaresB (Oct 21, 2011)

did u see instant results i think i read somewhere that you went from 15's to mid 13's <3 how


----------



## JyH (Oct 21, 2011)

pwnAge said:


> did u see instant results i think i read somewhere that you went from 15's to mid 13's <3 *how*


 
By using this "technique" he showed...

BTW, I have no clue how that "<3" fit into your post at all lol.


----------



## macky (Oct 21, 2011)

Interesting idea, especially tracking more than one piece at a time at faster-than-normal speed! I'll try this out for my bad cross colors.

[edit]
You said you do this while scrambling, but you track corner orientation using a sticker, which means after having chosen a cross color, right? When I track anything, I have the cross color in mind and really track that sticker. I can't really imagine doing this another way.

What I find so interesting about this is that it's really an exercise designed specifically for the modern burst-of-tps fast-turning style.


----------



## Andreaillest (Oct 21, 2011)

I will definitely try this to see it it works. Interesting concept.


----------



## RaresB (Oct 21, 2011)

JyH said:


> By using this "technique" he showed...
> 
> BTW, I have no clue how that "<3" fit into your post at all lol.


 
As *** as the heart may be it was meant towards the from 15 to 13. I've been trying at that for quite a while now and he did it in a day... So it's <3


----------



## pjk (Oct 21, 2011)

This is an interesting idea. I just tried it for a bit now, and it is actually pretty difficult - more than I thought it would. Using only RU's wasn't bad, but when I do any random moves faster than solving speed, it gets tough.


----------



## jskyler91 (Oct 21, 2011)

pwnAge said:


> As *** as the heart may be it was meant towards the from 15 to 13. I've been trying at that for quite a while now and he did it in a day... So it's <3


 
Good to here that people are enjoying this. It is extremely important that you stay focused while you are doing this so that your mind gets used to being fully concentrated. I used to space out a bunch while solving and this really helped me. Just to make sure everyone know, I went from 15 seconds to 13 in a few days, not 1.



pjk said:


> This is an interesting idea. I just tried it for a bit now, and it is actually pretty difficult - more than I thought it would. Using only RU's wasn't bad, but when I do any random moves faster than solving speed, it gets tough.



It is great practice, I have been doing one edge and one corner lately.


----------



## emolover (Oct 21, 2011)

I just can't see how you do this so well. I am struggling to keep track of a single piece if I go faster then 240 tpm(4 tps) and if I try to track an entire F2L pair I fail within ten moves.


----------



## jskyler91 (Oct 21, 2011)

emolover said:


> I just can't see how you do this so well. I am struggling to keep track of a single piece if I go faster then 240 tpm(4 tps) and if I try to track an entire F2L pair I fail within ten moves.


 
Practice, it sounds lame, but you will get better at it with time. Also, as you get better at it, you will also probably also notice that your f2l look ahead gets better as well.


----------



## chrissyD (Oct 21, 2011)

14.09, 15.12, 15.14, 16.94, 14.09 = 14.78

Avg of 5 after doing a bit of this. Definitely an interesting idea and I'm freezing so I would normally expect my times to be a lot worse.


----------



## PhillipEspinoza (Oct 21, 2011)

Wow. I really think you maybe on to something with this. 

Although I think for me, a lot of my lookahead also involves keeping track of the piece(s) by feeling their position as well as tracking. This exercise I think will definitely help with tracking though.

EDIT: Can we rename this technique Zero-ing? Like you're zeroing in on the piece.


----------



## nitay6669 (Oct 21, 2011)

this seems to work for me, im fine with tracing 1 piece. an edge or a corner but when i try both of them i fail miserably


----------



## StachuK1992 (Oct 21, 2011)

PhillipEspinoza said:


> EDIT: Can we rename this technique Zero-ing? Like you're zeroing in on the piece.


Don't you think that would be confusing with the other zeroing? 

On a more serious note, my eyes have been opened.
I haven't exactly been cubing recently, but I tried this out this morning, and I can feel something. I've been in the 'standard' mindless solving mode for a while now, and this definitley helped me actually be a bit challenged. I think a very important part of cubing is being able to still find things that challege you, even when you've done them a few thousand times (F2L).
I'm really looking forward to seeing how this goes. Thanks!


----------



## jskyler91 (Oct 21, 2011)

PhillipEspinoza said:


> Wow. I really think you maybe on to something with this.
> 
> Although I think for me, a lot of my lookahead also involves keeping track of the piece(s) by feeling their position as well as tracking. This exercise I think will definitely help with tracking though.
> 
> EDIT: Can we rename this technique Zero-ing? Like you're zeroing in on the piece.



That would be funny, but not really specific since you aren't just doing one piece in the more advanced stages of this technique. I am totally up for renaming this if others think the name is silly; I just came up with the name on a whim so that i could refer to it concretely. I think Turbo tracking is pretty good since it basically you tracking when you are going really fast, or Turboing. I also thought of calling it: Speed Tracking, Look Ahead Speed Tracking or (LAST), Turboing, and Skyler Tracking (a little to self serving in my opinion), but I thought Turbo Tracking was the most fitting. Any ideas would be appreciated. 



StachuK1992 said:


> Don't you think that would be confusing with the other zeroing?
> 
> On a more serious note, my eyes have been opened.
> I haven't exactly been cubing recently, but I tried this out this morning, and I can feel something. I've been in the 'standard' mindless solving mode for a while now, and this definitley helped me actually be a bit challenged. I think a very important part of cubing is being able to still find things that challege you, even when you've done them a few thousand times (F2L).
> I'm really looking forward to seeing how this goes. Thanks!


 
No problems, I am not the type of cuber who holds onto my new techniques, I would rather share them to make everyone better. I have also been working on a new 2 minute finger warm up video to give you guys some quick tips on how to warm up your fingers properly and fast without hurting/overstressing them. I figured you guys would like this one better though so I did it first.


----------



## Edward (Oct 21, 2011)

FOSP Tracking (said like Fawsp) 
(Focusing On Specific Piece)
"Hey man, any tips for lookahead?"
"Yeah bro, use FOSP"
"FOSP?"
"Yeah man, it's like, scramble the cube, while you track certain pieces. FOSP stands for "Focusing On Specific Pieces"


----------



## jskyler91 (Oct 21, 2011)

Edward said:


> FOSP Tracking (said like Fawsp)
> (Focusing On Specific Piece)
> "Hey man, any tips for lookahead?"
> "Yeah bro, use FOSP"
> ...




That is an interesting idea, I am not trying to be obstinant, but I actually think Turbo sounds better in those sentences. If we just shorten it to Turbo when we are referring to it than that would sound cool. Using your examples: 
"Hey man, any tips for lookahead?"
"Yeah bro, use Turbo"
"Turbo?"
"Yeah man, it's like, scramble the cube, while you track certain pieces. Its actually called Turbo Tracking and the Turbo refers to the speed at which you scramble"


----------



## choza244 (Oct 21, 2011)

Thanks, very good exercise, at first is harder than I thought.

BTW, I also like "Turbo Tracking"


----------



## Edward (Oct 21, 2011)

jskyler91 said:


> That is an interesting idea, I am not trying to be obstinant, but I actually think Turbo sounds better in those sentences. If we just shorten it to Turbo when we are referring to it than that would sound cool. Using your examples:
> "Hey man, any tips for lookahead?"
> "Yeah bro, use Turbo"
> "Turbo?"
> "Yeah man, it's like, scramble the cube, while you track certain pieces. Its actually called Turbo Tracking and the Turbo refers to the speed at which you scramble"


 Just don't like how it can be confused with this.
Turbo is def a nice name though


----------



## MiPiCubed (Oct 21, 2011)

I have come up with a way to practice this with computer generated scrambles. Pick a corner, and while looking at the scramble, try to track the corner throughout the scramble. After scrambling, check the cube to see if you correctly tracked the corner in your head the whole time. Works great!


----------



## tozies24 (Oct 21, 2011)

This seems to be a pretty good way for practicing. I haven't done too much of it, but I have noticed that it is "easier" to look for the next f2l pair. I think that it works because if you are practicing always looking for the piece at hand. It made my f2l seem a lot easier and a bit faster. My brain was able to just move on to the next f2l pair because i was used to constantly tracking a piece or two pieces. very good idea


----------



## Cool Frog (Oct 21, 2011)

Am I the only one that can do this easily?
I havn't necessarily practice this but I would sometimes randomly do this subconsciously while hand scrambling (Except I scramble with my eyes closed)

I can do this with my eyes closed rather easily.


----------



## jskyler91 (Oct 21, 2011)

Cool Frog said:


> Am I the only one that can do this easily?
> I havn't necessarily practice this but I would sometimes randomly do this subconsciously while hand scrambling (Except I scramble with my eyes closed)
> 
> I can do this with my eyes closed rather easily.



Add more pieces to make it a better exercise. Also if you are currently tracking corners, try edges and it may be harder.


----------



## Cubetastic (Oct 22, 2011)

I kinda do solves at night in bed, i close my eyes and imagine a cube and solve it while tracking all the pieces, but this is very interesting


----------



## avgdi (Oct 22, 2011)

I actually tried this yesterday before I even saw this thread. I had the idea and did it for like 10 seconds. I couldn't do it very well and stopped, I'm interested to try it again though.


----------



## teller (Oct 23, 2011)

I find that when I do it, I tend to "will" the piece I am tracking to follow some path I desire. I cannot always make it random...and yet I am not always certain about its rotation; trying to anticipate it is challenging at burst speed. I've only done it with a corner piece; I will do it with an edge when I resume.

Well done. I think "Turbo Tracking" is a good thing.


----------



## PhillipEspinoza (Oct 23, 2011)

I think this practice will help particularly with the transition from Cross to F2L that everyone always has a hard time with. Give it a try. Try to keep track of a corner (an maybe an edge too) while quickly making your cross. I think this will definitely help and I think this ability might be what makes Faz so fast which is why I suggested the Zeroing name.


----------



## Bubitrek (Oct 23, 2011)

Turbo Zeroing


----------



## CubingIQ (Dec 22, 2013)

Wow great video! I wish I would have found this a long time ago. I will work on this and post my progress. Thank you


----------



## ChaozCubing (Jul 22, 2015)

Also what you can do is scramble with a generated scramble with the cube under the table or something so you can track the piece(s) with your mind and not just . If you practice then you can track one pair with your eyes and a different pair with your head.


----------



## Akash Meena (Jan 2, 2016)

Definately should try this!!!


----------



## Jovanjarren (Jan 7, 2016)

nice idea jopefully I can reach sub 20 in another week or so


----------



## Thecuberrr (May 4, 2016)

collinbxyz said:


> Awesome tutorial! I'm around 15 seconds, so I hope this'll bring down my times too! I subbed


Wow. To think that you went on to hold the 3x3 single WR is pretty amazing. You are the reason that I still do speedcubing. Hopefully one day I'll be as good as you.


----------



## DELToS (Jan 19, 2017)

I've just realized that you don't even need a physical cube to practice this. just imagine a cube in your head and think about where the piece is going while simply reading a scramble


----------



## tacok (Feb 4, 2017)

It's actualy pretty effective for a newb like me, thanks man.


----------



## Sean Fei (May 29, 2017)

Will try it, hopefully works


----------



## ananonymouscuber (Jun 3, 2017)

sounds cool


----------

