# How to increase success rate in BLD solves?



## c4cuber (Sep 24, 2014)

hi. i was thinking about increasing my success rate in BLD solves. usually i get 1 DNF in every 5 solves on avg. so, avg12 is so rare for me. one way could be reciting my Letter Pair list. i can also recite my algs to make it handy. but you guys may have some more tips on improving success rate. hope you reply! thanks.


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## cmhardw (Sep 24, 2014)

I've always believed that if you want a solve to be successful badly enough, then it will be successful. As an extreme example, if I said I would give you $1,000,000 if your very next BLD was successful, I'm pretty sure you would win that bet. Think about how you would approach a solve like that. Really, stop for a second and think about it.

I do public demos a lot for 3x3 BLD, and I have a much higher success rate for those solves than I do in competition. I've done solves everywhere from at a bar with friends all the way to as the official speaker for a Pi Mu Epsilon induction at a University near me. The secret to my success rate in these situations is to g...o...... s...l...o...w....l...y and be very mindful during the whole process. Being mindful means to remain highly focused on the task at hand.

Ok, so to improve your competition success rate (to get a fast average of 12) you still need to go quickly, but have confidence in your ability to get the next solve. On each solve be very mindful during the whole solve (it will feel kinda like you turned your brain off of economy mode and have started burning the nitrous). Your brain should feel tired after a successful average of 12 from remaining so focused for an extended period of time. Also, go very slightly slower than your full speed. The best way to describe it is relaxed-fast. Memorize relaxed (but still sorta fast), then solve FAST (but still sorta relaxed, i.e confidently). Make sure each solve is just slow enough to still be fast, but you still feel fairly confident that you're gonna win my $1,000,000 bet on each solve 

I have gotten a fast (for me) average of 12 in 5x5BLD using this mindset, so from personal experience this does work.

If you practice solving this way, I have no doubt that you would get a successful average of 12 soon, and one that is not that much slower than your global BLD average.


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## Mike Hughey (Sep 24, 2014)

I like to do post-mortems on my failed solves. Try to figure out exactly what went wrong. Find out what your mistake was, and then also try to understand why you made that mistake, and then try to correct the behavior that caused it. When I'm in practice doing post-mortems, I've been pretty accurate. 

Sometimes a post-mortem can be challenging. Look at the pieces that are off. If it is just 3x3x3 and you have 4 edges and 4 corners off, it's probably that you missed or added a single turn somewhere in the solve - that can be hard to work out, so I usually assume there's not much I can do when I hit that case. For other mistakes, you can probably eventually figure out the problem - whether it's a memorization or execution mistake, and what the mistake was. If you can't figure it out, one option is to reapply the scramble and step through both the memorization and solve and see if you find any differences. You can usually figure out where you went wrong on most solves if you try hard enough.


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## IRNjuggle28 (Sep 25, 2014)

Advice that Noah gave was "memo, and then solve without a blindfold." The idea was that you would realize what mistake you were making while you were making it, instead of afterwards.


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## Noahaha (Sep 25, 2014)

IRNjuggle28 said:


> Advice that Noah gave was "memo, and then solve without a blindfold." The idea was that you would realize what mistake you were making while you were making it, instead of afterwards.



I approve this message.







Sighted solves are useful for more than just accuracy though. IMO it's the most effective way to practice.


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