# Why are beginners so slow?



## Chrish (Jun 26, 2010)

--All of this is for the 3x3x3, of course;

I have noticed many people's first blindfold sold involve a 30-90 minute memorization period. What do they do to take this much time?

My first solve was 14 minutes total (memo and execution). At first I just numbered the pieces and remembered the sequence.

Now I just memorize the sequence, don't use numbers, shapes or anything.

What method do people seem to prefer that takes so long?


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## Gurplex2 (Jun 26, 2010)

I learned from Grintoth on youtube.
My first bld was like 15 minutes too.
Where did you get 30-90 mins from?
They probably just was using a failmethod.


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## Chrish (Jun 26, 2010)

People on youtube, only one that comes to mind is Thevt, I think his name is. Bob Burton's website gives a little story of his first attempt, believe it took him an hour.

They do something story related? I don't know the details.


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## shelley (Jun 26, 2010)

I don't think it has anything to do with the method, just lack of confidence on the first time. For some people memorizing an entire cube is daunting if they've never done it before. Nobody stays at 30 minutes for long if they're the least bit serious about practicing.

What a silly question. Why do some people take over 10 minutes to solve the cube for the first time? Even the less efficient beginner methods don't use much more than 100 moves, how can they possibly be that slow?


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## r_517 (Jun 26, 2010)

just as shelley said, some people may lack confidence when they do bld for the first time. as a result many of them would "recite" the code again and again to ensure he himself had memorised all codes.


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## Erdos (Jun 26, 2010)

Nobody focuses and tries to solve it as fast as possible on their first try. They just want it to be done. In other words, they find their memorization pattern, they check to make sure it's correct, and then they solve it, making sure they do no mistakes. The process of finding the memorization pattern is also much longer for beginners. For example, I assign each edge a letter and it took me a while to figure out which edge corresponded to which letter. Often when I first tried it, converting the edges to letters took more than 5 minutes in the beginning. THen I would constnatly have to repeat the pattern so it would be ingrained into my head.
Remember that the longer your solve, the longer you have to memorize the pattern. In other words, it's actually much easier for me to memorize the corners for example because I can do them right away and finish them within 30 seconds whereas solving for the edges still takes me over 2-3 minutes.

This post seems to make no sense to me as I read it back. Hoever, it's like 2:30 AM and I'm extremely exhausted.


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## Mike Hughey (Jun 27, 2010)

I think that a few years ago, when I started, not so many people had done BLD successfully, so it seemed really daunting. So people would take a really long time to go over memorization again and again, just to make sure they had it. Now, people regularly see 5 or 6 people in a competition get successful BLD solves, and there are videos all over the place of lots of people doing it. So it's no longer a big deal, so people now treat it that way. It seems easier, so it is easier.

At least, that's my theory. I recognize that I could be totally wrong about it.


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## Sa967St (Jun 27, 2010)

My first success had a 10+ min memo. I spent so much time because I couldn't quickly figure out where each piece belonged (I only started cubing about 6 months before I started to learn a BLD method) and it involved a lot of thinking which I wasn't used to.



Gurplex2 said:


> I learned from Grintoth on youtube.


high five!
L perm for corners ftw


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## PatrickJameson (Jun 27, 2010)

My first blindfold solve was 12 minutes long, with about an 8 minute memorization. Most people aren't concerned with the time when they are learning how to solve it blindfolded. They just want a success.


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## Feryll (Jun 27, 2010)

Sa967St said:


> My first success had a 10+ min memo. I spent so much time because I couldn't quickly figure out where each piece belonged (I only started cubing about 6 months before I started to learn a BLD method) and it involved a lot of thinking which I wasn't used to.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



What's with this L-perm meme?! It doesn't exist!


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## Sa967St (Jun 27, 2010)

Feryll said:


> What's with this L-perm meme?! It doesn't exist!


it's another name for the J(a) perm


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## iChanZer0 (Jun 27, 2010)

This question is like asking why are bad cubers bad


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## Weston (Jun 27, 2010)

Sa967St said:


> Feryll said:
> 
> 
> > What's with this L-perm meme?! It doesn't exist!
> ...



No it isnt!
Anthony got mad at me when I said L perm 

And my first blindfold solve was sub 5


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## Ranzha (Jun 27, 2010)

My first BLD solve was 6min 14, iirc.

Beginner BLDers are unaccustomed to remembering "so much" and they are afraid to DNF.


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## tanya33 (Jun 27, 2010)

I just did my first BLD solve today and it took me about 10 min. I did a few more and they were about the same time. I agree with Ransha, you're more careful on your first solves because you don't want to DNF.


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## Yes We Can! (Jun 28, 2010)

Easy answer: People are bad/slow when they start things. E.g.: When you started to go to school, could you read fluently from the first day? Or: When you learned how to solve the Rubik's cube: Was your first solve sub-20?

It's different from people to people. Some just can't get their memo in their head well enough. So they take time to repeat it over and over again.
Also, in the beginning the setup moves are a bit difficult for most people. It's all about getting used to it and practising. With practise you can get from 10 minutes to 2 minutes in 2 weeks, 1 weeks if you try really hard.

My first BLD attempt was something like 14 minutes DNF. My first success was 8:17. And now my PB is 1:10.


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## riffz (Jun 28, 2010)

I think it has a lot to do with confidence the first time. A lot of people aren't concerned with their time as any time will be their new PB. I, for example, didn't even time my first solve but judging by the clock I estimated it to be about half an hour. My memo system was garbage and I had to create a very detailed story in my head. I memorized while people were talking all around me, and then did the solve on a dollar store cube, turning very slowly to ensure no lockups.


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## rubiknewbie (Jul 1, 2010)

My 1st solve is 38 minutes! It is very difficult to make no mistake.


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## CuberN00b (Jul 11, 2010)

Sa967St said:


> My first success had a 10+ min memo. I spent so much time because I couldn't quickly figure out where each piece belonged (I only started cubing about 6 months before I started to learn a BLD method) and it involved a lot of thinking which I wasn't used to.



Me too, kinda more than 10 minutes.


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## dada222 (Jul 11, 2010)

30 minutes? 90 minutes? I'd never rather do it BLD than sit 30 minutes looking at the cube.


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