How To Become A Master In Speed Cubing ?

Arush Singh, a high school student from Bhiwadi, is one of the best speedcubers in India. He has won 2 national titles in cubing and became the youngest Indian cuber to solve a 3x3 cube in under 7 seconds in 2018.

He also placed 5th in Sum of ranks at Indian nationals and is known for his ability to improve at multiple events at an incredible pace. But that’s not all!! Arush also ranked top 100 in the world in megamix and has been an active part of the community.

Here are some tips by Arush Singh which are definitely going to help you become faster at speedcubing-

1. Fix your algorithms 

Most of the cubers, especially the new ones use non-finger trickable algorithms. For an event like 6x6 or 7x7, algorithms don’t matter that much but when you’re doing an event like 3x3 you really don’t want to be held back by bad algorithms!

The best way to address this problem is by timing all your algorithms. This will help you identify the really slow ones you use and to figure out a way to make them faster. You may want to make a list of your least favourite algorithms or those that take the longest and examine each one to see if you can find a better replacement for it or if you just need to work on executing it faster. Learning algorithms is a time taking process and requires a lot of patience and is one of the reasons whenever you learn a new set of algorithms you should always try to learn the best algorithms possible the first time because changing the algorithm is already a big hassle.

2. Practice a variety of events

Another tip I have for becoming a master at speedcubing is to invest some time to practice a variety of events. I’ve heard countless stories of people that have hit a wall in their improvement on a particular event. To resolve this problem they stopped practising it and started doing some other event instead and when they came back to the previous event they were able to easily improve again. Practising an event that really challenges your look ahead or makes you develop new finger tricks will certainly help you in becoming a cubing guru. I can’t stress enough how important this tip is for improving at cubing and even I used this tip to improve my cubing. For me personally, it was focusing on Big cubes and megaminx.

3. Focus during solves

The next big tip I have is to work on the level of focus you have in your solves. A lot of times while practising 3x3 I find myself just mindlessly doing solve after solve and not really learning anything. Gradually as you progress in your knowledge of the cube, you should be trying your best to do focused practise, meaning that you’re actively trying to incorporate new techniques into your regular solves!

4. Practice smartly with competition simulations and adapt to situations quickly!

One thing I wish I knew when I started out cubing was the importance of competitors simulations and smart practice. During my first year of cubing, I used to grind all day and didn’t find ways to prepare myself for competitions other than doing solves on the keyboard. This really troubled me for a long time as  I wasn’t able to get my desired results at WCA competitions. After a while, I started using a stack mat timer and created environments similar to real competitions by using audio from concerts or cricket games. This really helped me to do well at competitions and I was able to get noticeable results within six months. Usually, people try to make competitions feel like home but I personally find it easier to train yourself to adapt to competition environments by simulating competition environments at home.

Try to tone your instincts to adapt and perform at any place and situation at any given time.

5. Targeted practice

Last but not least is targeted practice, this practice technique has been used by multiple top-level cubers over the years and has given them staggering results. So what is targeted practice?  It is a practice technique in which a cuber finds his/her weaknesses and works specifically on it. Take my weakness in F2l, for instance.

I initially used to struggle a lot to find F2L pairs on the megaminx, so I  started doing slow solves and watched a lot of walkthroughs solves. I always tried to find better ways to finger trick and solve the pairs and never hesitated to learn new tricks from my peers and other resources. The biggest thing that helped me to evolve into a world class solver was not being rigid and always being flexible in learning new things and respecting every step and part of a solve. Whether it’s the at home prep or pre-solve mindset, everything needs to be perfect in order to become a master at speedcubing! 

In the end, it all comes down to consistency and practice. If a cuber applies these tips in his/her solves and practices regularly, no one can stop him/her from becoming a master in speedcubing.