This month I’ll be detailing my preparation for the Rubik’s Cube World Championships, with daily entries.
June 1:
Had an ok competition yesterday (Cube for Cambodia 2015), the most pleasing results in 3x3, with a worst average of 7.54. If I can perform like that at worlds I’d be very very happy. One thing that I’ve noticed in the last few comps is that I tend to inspect poorly in 3x3, often pressured to start the solve before 8 seconds is called. I’m trying to avoid doing that, and keep my inspection as relaxed as possible, which I think sets a good tone for the solve itself.
Each day I’ll give an overview of what I practiced, and maybe a bit more. Today I practiced 5x5 for about an hour with pretty average times, as well as 3x3 for about an hour.
June 2:
Tried to get 12 sub-30 solves on 4x4 in a row. It took 3 hours but I finally got it in the end. That was enough practice for the day. I don’t do this sort of thing often, but I think it was good this time – the pressure builds up throughout the average, and a few times I got to 8 or 9 in a row and couldn’t complete the job.
(29.88), (23.45), 27.33, 27.92, 26.60, 27.35, 28.83, 26.25, 28.65, 27.92, 28.78, 28.26
June 3:
Minimal practice.
June 4:
About 90 minutes on 7x7, and 90 minutes on 3x3.
June 5:
A few random solves here and there, maybe 30-45 minutes total.
June 6:
1 hour of 7x7, 1 hour of OH. Got a sub 10 average of 5 for OH which was nice!
9.07, 10.39, 10.34, 12.39, 8.35 = 9.93
June 7:
Did a few hours of 6x6 practice in the afternoon.
I decided at 11:30pm to do a full run through of a competition (the worlds schedule). I definitely underestimated how long that would take – I finished up at 2am. My results are in the table. This was a good session, particularly for 6x6, 7x7, and one-handed. Tallied 5 ‘world records’ – if only it were that easy!
For the 3x3 final I tried my best to emulate the atmosphere and environment in a worlds final.
- Really tired – Yep, it was 2am and I just wanted to go to bed
- Solve gaps + competition atmosphere – I played the finals video from the European Championship 2014 and did my solves in time with one of the finalists there, so I could replicate the gaps in between solves, and just hear the crowd noises. This is something I did before the 2013 worlds as well.
- Nerves – I can’t find a way to replicate nerves – I might do a little bit of research into it.
|
2x2 Round 1: 2.38, 1.46, 1.87, 1.48, 2.65 = 1.91 Round 2: 1.97, 2.42, 2.92, 2.67, 2.25 = 2.45 superWR Round 3: 2.29, 2.16, 1.58, 2.65, 0.91 = 2.01 Final: 1.88, 2.96, 2.02, 2.56, 1.83 = 2.15 |
|
3x3 Round 1: 6.76, 8.07, 5.41, 6.51, 6.48 = 6.58 Round 2: 5.49, 8.61, 7.35, 6.35, 7.44 = 7.05 Round 3: 7.58, 6.48, 6.62, 7.26, 7.68 = 7.15 Final: 6.03, 6.39, 8.98, 7.55, 6.30 = 6.75 |
|
4x4 Round 1: 36.42, 33.10, 27.32, 32.43, 27.94 = 31.16 Round 2: 28.00, 30.04, 29.44, 31.70, 29.65 = 29.71 Round 3: 25.43, 29.57, 36.22, 32.04, 26.74 = 29.45 Final: 28.95, 30.27, 27.05, 29.26, 26.03 = 28.42 |
|
5x5 Round 1: 1:01.95, 57.44, 56.59, 58.82, 59.23 = 58.50 Round 2: 53.28, 45.92, 57.37, 54.67, 57.95 = 55.11 Final: 59.49, 56.66, 51.25, 57.71, 57.70 = 57.36 |
|
6x6 Round 1: 1:47.40, 1:38.19, 1:44.44 = 1:43.34 Final: 1:48.53, 1:57.60, 1:52.31 = 1:52.81 |
|
7x7 Round 1: 2:37.83, 2:41.75, 2:31.52 =2:37.03 Final: 2:39.71, 2:41.58, 2:46.84 = 2:42.71 |
|
OH Round 1: 12.01, 10.03, 15.94, 12.09, 12.91 = 12.34 Round 2: 12.45, 12.84, 11.18, 11.56, 10.44 = 11.73 Round 3: 10.89, 11.10, 14.00, 13.35, 9.03 = 11.78 Final: 11.12, 12.60, 12.46, 9.39, 9.11 = 10.99 |
|
Mega Round 1: 49.56, 49.52, 52.82, 58.10, 57.92 = 53.43 Final: 1:21.43, 57.95, 1:00.95, 52.10, 55.59 = 58.16 |
June 8:
Around 1 hour of 6x6 today.
June 9-11:
Forced myself to stop practicing so that I can pass my exams – Probably a good idea.
June 12:
An hour of 5x5 and an hour of 6x6 today.
June 13:
Ok so today Hays got a 1:33 official 6x6 solve. That’s ridiculous. So I basically just practiced 6x6 for about 3 hours. I probably get my most inconsistent times on 6x6, which can be attributed somewhat to parities. I’m looking forward to competing in 6x6 in South America – but then again I usually choke when I put too much pressure on myself. We’ll see how it goes I guess. 1:33 single is very very good, but I feel like the average is certainly up for grabs.
June 14:
1 hour of 6x6, and 1 hour of 7x7
June 15:
1 hour of 7x7, and about 90 mins of OH
June 16-18:
Back to studying, needed to cram for my last exam.
June 19:
A couple of hours on 5x5 and a little bit of OH
June 20:
No practice
June 21:
Did around 5 or 6 hours in total today, just a little bit of everything – very productive practice.
June 22:
Perhaps a bit irrelevant, but Jordan Spieth is ridiculous - seems completely unfazed by pressure.
With that in mind, I did a bunch of 3x3 final simulation (alongside a youtube video + sounds) to try and work on that. My times were good, but I wasn't particularly nervous, so I'm not sure how much use it was.
June 23:
About 3 hours of straight 3x3
June 24:
90 minutes of 3x3
June 25:
3 hours - a bit of everything from 3x3-7x7 and OH.
June 26-30:
No practice. I think I’m reasonably well-prepared at this stage, and life got a bit busy giving me zero time to practice. Over the next 3 days before I leave I’ll complete a full run-through of the worlds schedule daily, and try to pick out weak points to work on.
July 1:
|
2x2 Round 1: 1.53, 2.71, 2.29, 2.11, 2.18 = 2.19 Round 2: 1.88, 1.09, 1.61, 1.42, 2.61 = 1.64 lolol Round 3: 2.49, 3.09, 2.51, 1.28, 3.41 = 2.70 Final: 1.98, 3.65, 1.25, 2.79, 2.21 = 2.33 |
|
3x3 Round 1: 7.78, 4.48, 6.85, 8.06, 7.37 = 7.33 Round 2: 7.52, 7.61, 8.49, 8.53, 9.07 = 8.21 ugh no concentration Round 3: 5.75, 7.20, 6.88, 8.71, 7.66 = 7.25 Final: 6.49, 6.79, 7.78, 6.04, 6.95 = 6.74 |
|
4x4 Round 1: 30.54, 28.58, 35.59, 29.54, 36.84 = 31.89 Round 2: 31.56, 25.54, 32.39, 27.46, 31.01 = 30.01 Round 3: 24.89, 30.20, 33.07, 30.61, 30.77 = 30.53 Final: 27.29, 32.55, 27.62, 24.70, 33.34 = 29.15 |
|
5x5 Round 1: 52.49, 59.11, 1:01.75, 59.87, 52.02 = 57.16 Round 2: 53.11, 57.50, 53.63, 1:03.46, 55.57 = 55.57 Final: 52.20, 1:00.30, 54.18, 55.07, 57.63 = 55.63 |
|
6x6 Round 1: 1:49.91, 1:58.33, 1:53.09 = 1:53.78 Final: 1:49.34, 1:44.67, 1:56.29 = 1:50.10 |
|
7x7 Round 1: 3:00.44, 2:49.71, 2:57.08 = 2:55.74 Final: 2:49.24, 2:44.81, 2:56.83 = 2:50.29 |
|
OH Round 1: 13.20, 12.15, 13.18, 12.99, 16.88 = 13.12 Round 2: 12.33, 13.88, 11.11, 11.45, 9.86 = 11.63 Round 3: 14.66, 10.31, 9.51, 14.56, 10.74 = 11.87 Final: 14.02, 11.79, 8.24, 11.49, 9.74 = 11.01 |
|
Mega Round 1: 1:10.75, 57.02, 1:03.02, 54.86, 58.19 = 59.41 Final: 51.46, 56.28, 54.38, 1:06.81, 47.40 = 54.14 |
Average results after the 5 day break. Only really completely satisfied with the OH times. It was to be expected though, and I'm sure tomorrow will yield better results.
July 2:
|
2x2 Round 1: 1.91, 2.96, 2.84, 2.58, 2.77 = 2.73 Round 2: 2.64, 2.73, 3.03, 2.20, 2.36 = 2.58 Round 3: 3.31, 2.03, 1.88, 2.51, 2.18 = 2.24 Final: 1.52, 2.20, 1.53, 1.85, 1.16 = 1.63 lolol |
|
3x3 Round 1: 7.30, 7.69, 6.77, 7.06, 7.19 = 7.18 Round 2: 7.95, 6.72, 6.85, 6.81, 6.12 = 6.79 Round 3: 7.21, 6.85, 5.98, 6.42, 6.72 = 6.66 Final: 6.70, 5.50, 5.70, 7.31, 5.55 = 5.98 yeeeeee |
|
4x4 Round 1: 34.13, 30.18, 31.46, 22.86, 27.41 = 29.68 Round 2: 34.42, 26.00, 30.35, 30.40, 25.33 = 28.92 Round 3: 30.20, 26.34, 29.34, 29.36, 25.40 = 28.35 Final: 25.22, 27.70, 32.35, 25.83, 32.68 = 28.63 |
|
5x5 Round 1: 50.01, 49.22, 51.70, 59.77, 59.05 = 53.59 Round 2: 56.29, 1:01.03, 54.40, 50.41, 55.82 = 55.50 Final: 55.51, 53.26, 53.41, 56.18, 56.50 = 55.03 |
|
6x6 Round 1: 1:36.25, 1:40.91, 1:35.49 = 1:37.55 lol wut Final: 1:52.71, 1:55.18, 1:55.34 = 1:54.41 lol wut |
|
7x7 Round 1: 2:54.00, 2:40.14, 2:43.97 = 2:46.04 Final: 2:40.46, 2:43.47, 2:49.86 = 2:44.60 |
|
OH Round 1: 12.27, 14.09, 15.77, 11.36, 12.75 = 13.04 Round 2: 16.10, 11.03, 13.35, 11.87, 9.49 = 12.08 Round 3: 11.21, 14.90, 12.29, 13.29, 13.39 = 12.99 Final: 14.06, 13.41, 12.07, 13.87, 11.22 = 13.12 |
|
Mega Round 1: 1:07.85, 1:05.69, 1:03.53, 54.94, 1:00.48 = 1:03.23 cold hands Final: 48.95, 52.29, 59.39, 58.06, 50.20 = 53.52 |
Much better than yesterday. 6x6 went from really good to really bad. Otherwise, pretty happy across the board with these times. 3-5 were very solid.
July 3:
|
2x2 Round 1: 2.11, 1.33, 2.13, 2.19, 2.19 = 2.14 Round 2: 1.85, 1.88, 2.28, 1.94, 2.87 = 2.03 Round 3: 2.50, 2.56, 2.68, 1.96, 1.65 = 2.34 Final: 1.76, 2.70, 2.43, 2.13, 2.18 = 2.25 |
|
3x3 Round 1: 6.25, 7.03, 6.43, 7.30, 7.40 = 6.92 Round 2: 10.97, 6.25, 7.44, 7.56, 5.91 = 7.08 Round 3: 6.98, 7.22, 8.32, 7.86, 7.26 = 7.45 Final: 7.20, 6.48, 6.19, 9.19, 7.14 = 6.94 |
|
4x4 Round 1: 31.99, 30.54, 37.41, 27.94, 29.14 = 30.56 Round 2: 27.99, 28.29, 34.78, 29.74, 31.04 = 29.69 Round 3: 33.34, 33.22, 29.83, 32.40, 35.38 = 32.99 ugh wtf Final: 29.47, 31.63, 30.59, 24.35, 34.26 = 30.56 |
|
5x5 Round 1: 1:05.36, 59.55, 51.98, 50.19, 49.85 = 53.91 Round 2: 1:05.62, 52.01, 54.87, 51.00, 58.72 = 55.20 Final: 1:00.33, 57.01, 51.00, 52.43, 57.34 = 55.59 |
|
6x6 Round 1: 1:45.52, 1:48.37, 1:47.68 = 1:47.19 Final: 1:50.77, 1:41.59, 1:42.16 = 1:44.84 |
|
7x7 Round 1: 2:39.49, 2:45.67, 2:21.18 = 2:35.45 that single though Final: 2:41.22, 2:42.71, 2:33.81 = 2:39.25 |
|
OH Round 1: 11.78, 13.18, 10.66, 13.23, 13.17 = 12.71 Round 2: 8.22, 12.52, 14.02, 13.45, 23.17 = 13.33 Round 3: 11.79, 10.87, 14.30, 12.12, 16.67 = 12.74 Final: 14.88, 12.59, 10.75, 10.88, 14.03 = 12.50 |
|
Mega Round 1: 1:00.07, 58.50, 59.15, 54.32, 49.17 = 57.32 Final: 49.80, 52.96, 53.06, 57.83, 54.78 = 53.60 |
Great times on the big cubes, although 4x4 was a bit off. I've probably neglected megaminx and 4x4 a little bit in the lead-up, but I'll still have a bit of time to work on those whilst in Peru. I really enjoy being able to travel with cubers, it's very motivating being around a bunch of others who are also practicing.
Looking forward to a great trip.
4 comments
me
what’s a superWR?
jake
coool
Andrew
Feliks,
my birthday is on the 19 of July, the last day of competition. For my birthday I want you to give me a world record single. It does not matter in what, just as long as you don’t hold it already. No pressure. I’m counting on you.
Heechan Chae
Feliks at your home you do super at 3×3 but when you go to competitions you get bad times. Why is that?