# Are your times faster while people are watching or not?



## Rook (Oct 26, 2009)

Hi all,

The other day, I decided to show off my cubing awesomeness at school (*Mumbling* 45 second solves are awesome for non cubers...). My science teacher, who's quite fascinated by the cube, asked me if I knew how to solve the cube, so I decided to demonstrate.

I took about a minute and a half :fp (twice as long as it normally takes, my friend was timing me) to solve it. Not that my class wasn't impressed, but the solve could've been faster. F2L seemed to take ages and I messed up the PLL twice :fp 

I suppose it was just my nerves; I get nervous when in the spotlight 

anyway, I thought it might be a good discussion question. Do you perform better alone (in front of your timer, for example) or when people (be it 1 person or 100) are watching you? Or maybe it doesn't affect you at all?

~Rook


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## DavidSanders (Oct 26, 2009)

Exact same thing happened happened with my science teacher. It was a really slow solve, but it was also with a crappy cube. 
I have found that I do worse in front of people, so sometimes I get my mom to watch during practice, in order to ease my nervousness in future situations.


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## rob558 (Oct 26, 2009)

i actually do better in front of people for some reason


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## IamWEB (Oct 26, 2009)

Rook said:


> anyway, I thought it might be a good discussion question. Do you perform better alone or when people are watching you? Or maybe it doesn't affect you at all?
> 
> ~Rook



I would assume most people would be affected, but what do I know?


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## HumungousLake (Oct 26, 2009)

yes i tend to get nervous in front of people. Even though my friends are speedcubers my palms often get sweaty. I guess it is because I am the fastest out of my friends and I don't want to seem bad. idk. I will take Davids advice and start cubing in front of people.


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## Andreaillest (Oct 27, 2009)

Definitely slower. I get nervous.


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## TioMario (Oct 27, 2009)

i'm way slower, yeah.
But actually, the fact of solving a Rubik's cube itself is impressive for most of the people.
I was once on the bus, playing with my cube, and a guy who was sitting next to me said: "that's a miracle !!!, how did you do that??" (and my times are like one minute and something =P)


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## V-te (Oct 27, 2009)

Always slow. The thing is, If i have a computer in front of me, and a timer, I do the same, no matter how many people are watching.


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## Daniel Wu (Oct 27, 2009)

Doesn't make too much of a difference. I got a 11.23 on a cube in school the other day.


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## Cyrus C. (Oct 27, 2009)

Hmmm... I used a horrible unlubricated store bought and got a 23 second time, 2 seconds below average.


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## (R) (Oct 27, 2009)

I do a little worse, but Today on the bus timing w/ my ipod i got a new pb by two seconds


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## dannyz0r (Oct 27, 2009)

The nervous twitch I get actually makes me a little faster.


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## Edward (Oct 27, 2009)

Im about 2 seconds slower than average. Im fixing this by always bringing my cube in public.


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## Edmund (Oct 27, 2009)

If they stfu and don't tell me they sticker peel half way through my F2L. My execution always seems faster because I feel pressure and a lot of times that leads me to misinsert a lot I guess.
Tip: Never tell people I average 16 (which I do) right before a solve. It makes nervous feeling you have to live up to that and if you get an off solve they call you a liar.


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## cmhardw (Oct 27, 2009)

It depends on the event. In blindfolded solving I tend to do better in competition, so under pressure and with people watching me. However, for speedsolving I usually do better at home with no pressure. This isn't always the case for me, but it tends to be a good rule of thumb.

Chris


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## AREScuber (Oct 27, 2009)

for some reason i get lucky only when people are watching but not in competitions. out of the 50 solves that i have gotten in all cubes i have not gotten lucky.


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## cmhardw (Oct 27, 2009)

AREScuber said:


> for some reason i get lucky only when people are watching but not in competitions. out of the 50 solves that i have gotten in all cubes i have not gotten lucky.



If you're referring only to OLL or PLL skips then the chance of doing 50 solves and getting no kind of skip is:

[(215/216)*(71/72)]^50 = 39.4% chance

Just do more solves in competition and you'll eventually get one. Doing that many solves without any kind of skip has a roughly 40% chance to occure, so that's not unusual at all.

Chris


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## AREScuber (Oct 27, 2009)

it is still below the average.


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## endless_akatsuki (Oct 27, 2009)

Slower. takes like 16-18 seconds instead of 14-16.


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## TheMachanga (Oct 27, 2009)

My cube locks up ALOT when people watch.


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## teller (Oct 27, 2009)

There are two things wrong that can happen in front of people:

1) You're self conscious because you must live up to some expectation

2) You're self conscious because they are watching

Netiher 1) nor 2) has anything to do with speedsolving. Both are distractions that must be mastered, and both are rooted in a preoccupation with some sort of painting of yourself that you're presenting to others. I'm not saying there's something wrong with you if you screw up more in front of people (I do), I'm just saying that every time this happens it is a profound opportunity to polish your spirit. If you can beat this, it will be one of those enormous gifts from the cube that will pay dividends across the board in all areas of your life, for the rest of your life. And they say cubing has no value...pffft...


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## chahupping (Oct 27, 2009)

100% slower than normal, thats why i usually tell people i solve under 40secs when my average is 25..


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## Edward (Oct 27, 2009)

I think ive gotten over it.
Did an OH average of 3 in front of my old friends from football, and got 1:01~ 1:02~, and 1:10~.
I average about 1:16~ usually.


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## rubiknewbie (Oct 27, 2009)

No freaking way! Of course slower than normal. I forget the simplest of algorithms in front of people.

When people watch, you tend to become afraid of mistakes and think of your execution. Once you started thinking about your execution, you are GONE. It must flow naturally.

The only exception is when I want to impress and push harder.


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## Sa967St (Oct 27, 2009)

I only get really good times when no one is watching me :/


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## LNZ (Oct 27, 2009)

I only get really fast times when alone and with the radio and TV off. I get distracted alot when the TV and radio is on and can only solve cubes and other puzzles for fun in this way.


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## Chuck (Oct 27, 2009)

cmhardw said:


> It depends on the event. In blindfolded solving I tend to do better in competition, so under pressure and with people watching me. However, for speedsolving I usually do better at home with no pressure. This isn't always the case for me, but it tends to be a good rule of thumb.




I second that.

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday we have a local cubing gathering at shopping malls. At first, I DNF'ed a lot on my BLD solves when people are watching me.

After 3 months of such frequent gatherings, I'm way faster when people are watching me. I got a lot of sub-2 minutes BLD and sup-10 multi BLD. I get used to noise, distraction, and tension, and actually I like it.


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## trying-to-speedcube... (Oct 27, 2009)

I got my 11.02 competition PB when a lot of friends were watching  The rest was sup-15 xD


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## Chuck (Oct 27, 2009)

trying-to-speedcube... said:


> I got my 11.02 competition PB when a lot of friends were watching




And he can haz 5x5x5 BLD in a comp xD


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## driftboy_wen (Oct 27, 2009)

usually it makes me faster when ppl looking at me.


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## Mr Cubism (Oct 27, 2009)

rubiknewbie said:


> When people watch, you tend to become afraid of mistakes and think of your execution. Once you started thinking about your execution, you are GONE. It must flow naturally.




That is so true. And thats why I think training solves in front of people can make you mentally stronger/more relaxed, not only in cubing, but also in other situations with when people expect performance from you.


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## Thomas09 (Oct 27, 2009)

Yes and no. I usually do bad in front of people but at the Sydney meetup, I cut like a minute of my best time on the 5x5.


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## AvGalen (Oct 27, 2009)

I only solve in front of other people. Why would you sit somewhere, all alone and play with a cube?


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## Tim Major (Oct 27, 2009)

Thomas09 said:


> Yes and no. I usually do bad in front of people but at the Sydney meetup, I cut like a minute of my best time on the 5x5.



And POP


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## Lt-UnReaL (Oct 27, 2009)

I do better at 5x5 in competition all the time, but I do worse in everything else.


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## Meep (Oct 27, 2009)

When I'm in front of people it's not that I get slower but I seem to get more inconsistent; I sometimes get really good solves and sometimes really bad ones =(


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## Muesli (Oct 27, 2009)

I had an explosive POP last time I cubed infront of people. Pieces everywhere.

Other than that, I often get about the same if not a little worse.


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## trying-to-speedcube... (Oct 27, 2009)

Chuck said:


> trying-to-speedcube... said:
> 
> 
> > I got my 11.02 competition PB when a lot of friends were watching
> ...


But during my 5x5BLD I myself didn't even watch, and I didn't know others were watching, so that's why it was so slow


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## cmhardw (Oct 27, 2009)

AvGalen said:


> I only solve in front of other people. Why would you sit somewhere, all alone and play with a cube?



Arnaud, I definitely understand what you mean here, and I do think it's healthier to cube in a more social way not only for yourself but for your cubing ability. However, I think practice by oneself can be very productive as long as you keep a good balance. It's sort of like playing a musical instrument. If you always do recitals in front of people you never really improve much. Occasionally you just need to go to a practice room for an hour and practice where nobody can hear you so you can try new things, or work on things that need the most practice.

I think cubing practice can be a very antisocial activity in general (especially BLD cubing!). If you want to improve you must practice lots, but your practice must be productive. In order to be productive you should cube where you can focus well, but this leads to not focusing on other people nearby. It's hard to find a good balance for this I think. Cubing can be fun too, but trying to get faster I think takes work by sometimes cubing alone, in addition to cubing in front of people (which is not only more fun, but also improves your ability to control your nerves).

[/blabbering]

Chris


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## Mike Hughey (Oct 27, 2009)

cmhardw said:


> AvGalen said:
> 
> 
> > I only solve in front of other people. Why would you sit somewhere, all alone and play with a cube?
> ...



Actually, I was wondering who sits up with Arnaud when he does his 7 practice solves plus 5 solves of everything for the weekly competition all in one night? Arnaud, that is how you said you do it, right? I would think that could make your companion very bored. 

And I generally seem to solve faster in front of others, when BLD solving or speedsolving. Noise can sometimes distract me for BLD (especially multiBLD), but if that's not a factor, I go faster when others are watching, definitely.


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## Yes We Can! (Oct 27, 2009)

I'm about 1-2 seconds faster when people are watching me and when I'm very nervous, because I look ahead more.


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## d4m4s74 (Oct 27, 2009)

Yesterday I was cubing in the bus, I did a great solve and looked up. A cute girl my age was looking at me cubing and smiled at me. I "scrambled" the cube again (using a practiced scramble for high speed) to impress her and started the solve. It felt as if all lubrication was drained from the puzzle and all screws were changed, I simply sucked.

got out of the bus to grab the subway, in there I grabbed my cube again, turned perfectly.


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## JTW2007 (Oct 27, 2009)

Fastest: alone
Pretty Fast: with people I'm comfortable around
Horrible: around people I don't know


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## cubedude7 (Oct 27, 2009)

My times are mostly better when people are watching.
But, what I was wondering, at a competition, do your times get better when somebody is recording you? For me, yes, you can check that here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaGj4ojVNz4

My normal avg there was around 35 sec.

Maybe I should start a thread about it, hmm :confused:


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## sarank14 (Oct 27, 2009)

i get nervous and my hands shakes so usually it's slower than normal


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## PEZenfuego (Oct 27, 2009)

When I get nervous in front of people, things seem to slow down and even though solves aren't very enjoyable, I do seem to be a little faster.

Adrenaline maybe...


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## Zubon (Oct 27, 2009)

I always get nervous when people are watching. I often insert F2L pairs in the wrong slot or screw up the cross without noticing it.

It's pretty rare that other people ever watch me cubing as I don't do it outside my home. However the other day when a few people wanted to watch me, I misinserted 2 pairs and screwed up the OLL getting an abysmal 48s...


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## wrbcube4 (Oct 27, 2009)

In Competition it doesn't really bother me. I usually average just as good as I do at home. The adrenaline helps me a lot because I get all hyped up and everything.


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## Spyyder (Oct 29, 2009)

My times stay about the same, if im just cubing in public I don't even notice if ppl are watching, but if there's a group watching me and they asked me to solve it for them or something I'll slow it down a bit so i dont explode the cube which helps my look ahead so I get faster solves than normal sometimes. 

I've had enough ppl witness my failures over time(most when learning pen spinning in class with ppl staring at me xD) that I dont really care what happens or if ppl are impressed or not.

Also, after playing in the finals of a local quake tourney where ppl were watching me play on a big tv screen in the lan center nothing really seems to make me nervous or get my adrenaline going, kinda miss it. =\


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## reghrhre (Oct 29, 2009)

It's usually a mix, at times I'm faster and at times I'm just the same.


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## miniGOINGS (Oct 29, 2009)

So recently, because I havn't practiced in a few months, my times are around 25-ish. Today at school, someone handed me a storebought during spare. They scrambled it (at least 50 turns) and timed me twice. With no lookahead time, and on a new storebought I got 30 and 28 seconds which is good for me under the circumstances. I think I do better under pressure because I have to.


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