# How do you avoid freakout/over speeding?



## aridus (Mar 13, 2011)

I'm wondering this because I can't seem to shake it lately. The obvious answer is just "calm down and do it" or "go slower" but I can't seem to help it when the timer is on. 

I'm perfectly fine when not timing, but it seems as soon as I have the pressure of the clock, my F2L goes to crap. 

You can see it quite clearly here:


Spoiler



12:	01:06.13	x
11:	01:02.79	x
10:	01:01.95	x
9:	00:59.45	x
8:	01:04.98	x
7:	01:18.52	x
6:	01:11.41	x
5:	01:20.47	x
4:	01:19.14	x
3:	01:32.24	x
2:	01:26.94	x
1:	01:09.41	x

Average: 01:12.79 Best: 00:59.45
Avg. 5: 01:03.06 3 of 5: 01:03.24
Avg. 10: 01:11.71 10 of 12: 01:12.17



The first solve is an ok time for me, considering. But you can see where it quickly spikes by about 30 seconds, that's where I'm freaking out going "OMG WHERE IS MY PAIR" *go fast go fast go fast freakout - finally done with F2L after a minute passes* and then you can see where I begin to calm down and even get under a minute.

How do you deal with this? I do just fine without the clock, when I'm really in the zone with no clock is probably some of my best solves: but I have no way of knowing "hey, I got faster than <insert time>" that way.


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## rishidoshi (Mar 13, 2011)

You are trying to run before learning to walk. I suggest you keep the timer locked away. practice for a few months and occasionaly 'measure' yourself. get to 30s - 40s before really timing.
ummm.. ok i guess all of us go through that 'timer phobia' phase. you'l get over it once you know how to look ahead.


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## Cool Frog (Mar 13, 2011)

You can get sub one if you just flow with it... 
Don't care about your times just try to get a flow going.


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## choza244 (Mar 13, 2011)

don't time yourself, just solve it a lot of times and when you think you are fast, time yourself to see if you are progressing, then keep practicing without the timer.


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## qqwref (Mar 13, 2011)

After some time you'll learn that thinking about the timer can only slow you down. I mean worrying about how fast you're going, looking at the timer to check on your progress, thinking "this is gonna be a fast solve!", all that. It's really important that during your solve you are concentrating on the solve itself as much as possible.

Oh, and I don't mean learn as in reading it here. I mean that you really have to understand it at the deepest level, unconsciously. You really have to convince yourself that thinking about the timer during your solve will slow you down (and it will, so you're not lying to yourself or anything). This will take a while, of course, but it's ultimately worth it in the end. Don't let your curiosity get the better of you


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## Akuma (Mar 13, 2011)

Timing yourself before even knowing how to do F2L properly is just a plain bad idea.
You are literally learning how to sprint before you even know how to take your first few steps.

Put away the timer for good for a couple of months.
Learn how the cube works, get a good cube, lube it and take your time to learn how F2L works.
After you've learned AT LEAST 2-look OLL and 2-look PLL and some decent F2L you can start timing yourself again.

I didn't start timing myself until I was sub-40


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## Gold_A (Mar 13, 2011)

I never had an issue with that. As far as I'm aware, timing my solves had never influenced the quality of my solves. Maybe cuz my mindset wasn't so much "Let's go as fast as I can" rather it was "Let's find out what my current solve speed is". 
Performing for people however, is when I'll experience what you're talking about


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## aridus (Mar 14, 2011)

Yeah I guess all of this is true, I know it too. Maybe I just needed to hear it from someone else. I think my problem is that I'm very self critical and a bit of a perfectionist, and it's hard some times for me to go without knowing my progress in very precise terms.

So I guess the clock goes away for now.


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## freshcuber (Mar 14, 2011)

I don't get why people are saying don't time yourself. I mean untimed practice is fine but not timing for a few months seems absurd to me. I learned how to solve a cube over summer and it was midnight when I got it. The next day I had an eight hour car ride and timed myself the whole time. I was using the default stopwatch app on my iPod and remember going from five minutes down to just under two in that car ride alone. By the end of the week I was around where you are and I was _always_ timing myself. qqwref just gave awesome advice I couldn't find a way to articulate. That's such a big part at getting comfortable with the timer on. I tend to sneak a peak after I start PLL execution cause I don't really think it matters even though DNFs and +2's happen a lot more. Or I'll somehow lock up and have a four second T-Perm and kill a sub-20 time. 

I actually just got my first sub-20 Ao12 today and the whole time was really chill. Even as I crushed my PB Ao5 and was rolling in a ton of really solid sub-20s I wasn't really worried about the times until the last solve and then I got a bit nervous. Just don't worry about the timer. Right now you're pressuring yourself because you want to get fast. Dropping time doesn't happen in one session. You might crack all your PBs in a single session but you can just as easily come back the next day a second slower. Try to not worry about the timer but don't neglect it. At your speed you can set new records multiple times in one day and that's so exciting. I remember I broke my single record five times in one day. It was awesome lol. Don't be afraid to time yourself but realize that untimed practice is important.


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## Hodari (Mar 14, 2011)

I'd say no harm in timing yourself for the most part but don't let it pressure you too much and realize you will have good days and bad days and even on the best days, at this stage your times may vary widely. On the other hand from my experience so far, there are 2 times I would say you SHOULD put the timer away for a while.
1. When first learning a new method/technique(such as switching from 2 look to full OLL/PLL or first learning f2l) don't worry about timing yourself until you have the new method memorized and can execute it without having to think about it
2. When your times seem to plateau for a long time without improving. Put the timer away for a week or 2 and just focus on technique. Slow down a bit, figure out what part of your solve is holding you up the most, work on looking ahead, try out new algorithms or fingertricks etc. After a week or two, try several timed solves again(your first few will probably be bad so don't let that throw you off too much). I just recently did this myself and my fourth or fifth solve afterwards was a new pb with several other solves that day which were also faster than my previous best. My average meanwhile dropped from a little over 50 seconds to about 45.


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## rishidoshi (Mar 14, 2011)

I was just randomly thinking about this while in bed, and i have some (untested and unverified) solution.
The millisecond digits change too fast (obviously). so we feel (when we are new) that time is ticking too fast! and we tend to *panic* seeing that. On the other hand, if you have a display which only shows the seconds' digits, you might feel that everything is under control. Kinda *soothing* feel. 
Ofcourse this is (may be) a solution for slower people. Faster people on the other hand won't be affected at all. Rather they might like a 'fast' time display. It helps their tempo.
an example of what i mean is the display in this video. (it does show milliseconds AFTER being stopped)
Try covering the milli part of ur screen with some cloth hanging over the monitor. (or any way you like).
Again, I have no clue whether I am even remotely close to being correct with this philosophy. Please try it and post your experience. (Imagine a taxi meter going too fast. Makes you feel restless doesn't it  )





EDIT: Or rather cover the entire frickin display


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## ElectricDoodie (Mar 14, 2011)

rishidoshi said:


> I was just randomly thinking about this while in bed, and i have some (untested and unverified) solution.
> The millisecond digits change too fast (obviously). so we feel (when we are new) that time is ticking too fast! and we tend to *panic* seeing that. On the other hand, if you have a display which only shows the seconds' digits, you might feel that everything is under control. Kinda *soothing* feel.
> Ofcourse this is (may be) a solution for slower people. Faster people on the other hand won't be affected at all. Rather they might like a 'fast' time display. It helps their tempo.
> an example of what i mean is the display in this video. (it does show milliseconds AFTER being stopped)
> ...


 qqtimer also has an option to only show seconds, and no miliseconds. So no need for a cloth or anything like that.


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## rishidoshi (Mar 14, 2011)

ah! didnt know that!


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## stoic (Mar 14, 2011)

My times are similar to yours and I find the temptation almost overwhelming to see how I'm doing after F2L...


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