My absolute record is 25.48s and my best average for 10 cubes is 32.26s. So I'm not in the best position to learn you speedcubing. Indeed, several cubists can do a cube under 20s.
But all the same I can try to give you some tricks and advise you in the choice of a method among the existing ones in order to solve the Rubik's cube the faster you can, depending on your motivation and your goal.



 CUBE LUBRICATION

Some cubists lubricate their cube (I'm among them). Indeed one of the major problems when you want to turn the cube very quickly is its resistance. Note that if you have just bought your cube, the fact it is very hard to turn is absolutely normal. After a few weeks of intensive practice it is much easier to turn. Nevertheless it still has a rather important resistance which is particularly awkward for shortcuts users. It can be interesting to lube your cube. But you mustn't do it any which way and with anything.

I recommend you to wait a little before lubricating your cube after you have bought it : it has to be used during several days/weeks so that the biggest rough patches on the inner surface of the cube get smoother. You can possibly speed up the process by slightly sanding the rough patches inside the cube (but be careful not to sand too much).
In regard to all what I have read on the subject, silicone lubricants are the which work the best . You can find some silicone lubricant spray in do-it-yourself stores and in hypermarkets (in the car department). Concerning the other lubricants (especially petroleum based lubricants), be VERY careful : some of them may severely damage your cube and some others may speed up its wear.
You must clean your cube before lubing it. Then remove one edge cube as if you intended to dismantle your cube, then spray one small squirt of lubricant inside. Play a few minutes so that the lube spread everywhere inside the cube and then wait for it to dry.
You will have to re-lube your cube regularly, let's say every 200 to 500 cubes.
Afterwards, the cube is allows easier as you use it (until it has worked so loose that there are always piece pops and you have to buy a new one...)
The inconvenient of lubrication, is that the cube tends to dismantle itself accidentally more easily than before you lubed it.

One more remark : if you buy 2 identical cubes, one may be a very good cube for speedcubing and the other may never be a good one, whatever you do. I experienced it with a cube which has always been harder to turn than the others. In this case, change it.


 STICKERS

The Rubik's cube's stickers get easily damaged and don't last a very long time, especially if you practice speedcubing. I give some solutions to this problem in the FAQ section.


 TIMING, AVERAGE TIMES, ...

I'm going to inform you about several timing rules generally admitted by speedcubists.
Usually, if you time yourself with a precision of one second, if you are between two seconds you'll have to take the upper second. You mustn't count lucky cases (more than one step of your solving method skipped).
In order to have a correct idea of your level, an average of 10 cubes is more representative.
But once more, the best way to have an average close to your real level, you should solve 12 cubes in a row, then remove your best and worst times, and finally make the average of the 10 times left. Also note that you are not allowed to do more than one piece pop on the 12 cubes.
For this average, if you time yourself with a precision of one second, for each cube you'll take the lower second : if you are between 45 et 46, you take 45. At the end, when you count your average, add 0.5 seconds. Like this it is statistically more precise than choosing the closer second for each time.
But it's better to have an accurate timer. I recommend you this timer for example.


 SOLVING METHOD

How to choose one's solving method? Everything depends on your motivation, your goal and your better developed capabilities. Indeed, if you definitely can't learn algorithms, you shouldn't learn a method using about fifty algorithms.
Have a look at the page "The other methods" in the "Solution" section in order to have a presentation of the different existing solving methods.


 HARD WORK !

It can seem stupid to talk about that, but it deserves some precisions. You can learn all the algorithms you want, lube your cube, ..., you will have to solve hundreds of cubes before being able to do very fast times. If you think your interest in the Rubik's Cube won't last any longer than 2 or 3 weeks, don't imagine that you will be able to do it in 30s. In this lapse of time you can hope to go down to one minute if you cube regularly. Reaching the 30s barrier is rather a matter of months... Well, everything is relative, it depends on the time you spend on it, but I assume that you also have something else to do, thank goodness!


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Contact: godotcg-cubeland@yahoo.fr - URL: http://cubeland.free.fr