7 years ago
The following blog is based off a post I wrote a few years ago, with some changes and additions. I thought it was definitely a good idea to post this updated version here on CubeSkills. In this blog, I’ll outline a few basic tips for effective practice. Our CubeSkills module titled “Practicing” goes into some more depth across a wider range of topics. The tips outlined below should give you a few pointers when thinking about how to maximise your practice time.
These tips are all based on my opinion and experiences, I’m always interested to hear if people have different views and ideas, so please feel free to leave a note in the comments section below!
Only practice when you feel like it.
Most, if not all cubers, solve cubes entirely for fun and enjoyment. Many of the fastest cubers in the world only practice because it’s fun, or alternatively, they enjoy being really competitive and the corresponding amount of practice that is required to do so.
Cubing should never be a chore, and I think that forcing yourself to practice isn’t the right mindset. You need to be self-motivated, and enjoy what you’re doing. If you’re reading a cubing blog, then that’s probably a good sign that you like cubing! Practicing when you don’t want to will only lead to frustration at bad solves, and sucks all the enjoyment out of speedcubing. That’s not to say that it may not be productive, but if you aren’t focused and motivated, it won’t be as effective.
Personally, I find that the amount I practice can really vary – some days I’ll be too busy with other things to practice cubing, and on others, I’ll sit down and cube for several hours. I don’t think it’s possible to practice ‘too much’, assuming you don’t burn out down the track.
“Breaks make you better” – Stefan Huber
Never be afraid to take some time off cubing. More often than not, I hear stories of people actually getting a PB average after not touching a cube for a week. I don’t really know how or why this happens, but it can definitely be beneficial to not cube for a short period of time. There is some literature which suggests that stepping away from a task with the intention of returning to it actually causes subconscious processing to occur in your mind
For the most part, cubing is a cumulative activity, in that it’s very hard to regress and actually get slower, as you have already built up a certain level of skill. It doesn’t take too much effort to return to your former speed after taking a long break – not that I’ve taken many long breaks from cubing.
Conscious (Deliberate) vs Subconscious (Repetitive) practice
I’m going to define conscious (deliberate) practice as anything you do to improve your overall speedcubing knowledge. Examples of this are:
Learning and practicing new algorithms
Learning new methods
Solving the cube in different ways, experimenting
Watching example solves and figuring out your inefficiencies
Focusing on improving one aspect of your solves
Any sort of drill or practice that isn’t complete solves
Learning new fingertricks
I see subconscious (repetitive) practice as simply timing solves and taking averages, in which your sole aim is to solve the puzzle as fast as you can. In doing so, you’ll be implementing things that you previously learned in your conscious practice time, and they will eventually become automatic in your solves.
I think it’s pretty important to get the ratio of conscious to subconscious practice right. If you’re satisfied and comfortable with your techniques and overall method, then you should probably be spending at least 50% of your time just subconsciously practicing. Many who have researched practice and skill-attainment generally reach the conclusion that deliberate (conscious) practice is most important to improve any skill. I agree, but I also think that it takes a long time to master specific aspects of speedcubing (algorithm execution, lookahead, efficiency), and that a lot of grinding and subconscious practice is necessary to do so. From my experience, it was subconscious practice that led to most of my improvement, but that was perhaps only because I was lucky enough to make the right decisions regarding what I learned, and didn’t form too many bad habits.
if you’re wanting to fundamentally improve your solves and solve more efficiently, then you should spend a lot more time doing deliberate practice. If you aren’t comfortable or happy with an aspect of your speedsolves, then it makes complete sense to drill that element. I discuss examples of these over in the practicing video module.
I would say that at least 50% of my practice is subconscious practice, and as you get faster, more and more of your practice should become subconscious practice.
Practice schedules?
Personally, I have never followed a strict practice regimen. This ties into the first point, which is that you may not want to practice a specific event at certain times. If you schedule 5x5 practice during a time where you’re really in the zone for 3x3 and feel like doing that, it’s counterproductive. Unless you really like routines and actually enjoy planning practice, then probably avoid this. If you’re very quantitative, and enjoy tracking and watching your improvement, then perhaps it’s worth giving it a go!
For me, loose schedules work a bit better. The closest thing I do to scheduling practice is planning which events I should practice over a certain timeframe, so I don’t neglect anything. If you do lots of events, something like this can be useful when preparing for a big competition. For smaller competitions, I’d recommend practicing only the specific events held at that competition for a few weeks beforehand.
Don’t be discouraged by slow progress
As long as you’re practicing the right things, then all practice is good practice. If your times have been the same for several months, don’t worry at all. On the whole, improvement in cubing is very gradual, but is often characterised by relatively large jumps in your times. Obviously at the beginning, your improvement rate is quick, but the faster you get, the harder it becomes to improve.
Often you’ll have a long period where your times are stagnant, and it is easy to become discouraged. Just remember that the practice you’re doing eventually pays off, and it’s very common for your times to decrease by 1-2 seconds in a matter of days. I remember I was stuck at around 17-18 seconds for a while, and then over the course of a weekend, I was magically averaging 16 seconds. Stagnating, or in some cases, getting slightly slower, is completely natural and happens to everyone.
Happy cubing!
Feliks
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Jaxon Clough Posted 7 years ago
Thanks for this practice blog. I have trouble motivating my cubing and finding time to. I always get motivated at comps, and it can last like 3 weeks where I love cubing. But then it's like I've got to prep for my next comp and stuff, so do you have any tips to stay motivated? I think maybe having cubing friends would help, but I live where there is no people who actively go to comps, that I know of. Hope you can help.
Vidhur Jagadeesh Posted 7 years ago
Thank you for the tips, i as doing some of the things that it said not to do!!!
Zachary Miller Posted 7 years ago
Thanks for the excellent practice tips!
Marty Magaletta Posted 7 years ago
Wow! This has really motivated me to start practicing the way that you said! I am averaging around 16-18 and I want to get down to about 14-15
Corner Cutter Posted 7 years ago
Great tips from the best in the world! I have experienced that taking breaks can improve your times.
vichet lbong Posted 7 years ago
Thanks for this great tip
Ben Clark Posted 7 years ago
Thanks Feliks, this is incredibly helpful, and please keep up the good work. (I love your HTML/CSS on this website by the way)
Diptoneel De Posted 7 years ago
Great!!!!?
KHANISH KAUSHIK Posted 7 years ago
Thank you feliks
Amelia S Posted 7 years ago
I can't do the F2L quick. Using the F2L method is slower than my previous method to solve the cube.
Harold Kwok Posted 7 years ago
One little issue I've had with motivation is hardware, whether it be the Valk, or my new (month old) Gan 356 UM, the cubes wear out way too quickly. The UM, for example, has gotten looser over time, and has lost the solid feel it originally had for a hollow looser feel. I'm sure you've solved your UMs more than I have, have you come up with any workarounds for that? Thanks
Ian Jamison Posted 7 years ago
Nc
Aditya Krishan Posted 7 years ago
It's a very cool effective advice by the world's number one...Thanks Feliks
Ian Fischer Posted 7 years ago
I like this way to practice and I will start doing that! Thank you Feliks!
- Ian
Nimish Kashyap Posted 7 years ago
its cool..... But what about the Roux method? Can you make a tutorial for that??
Feliks Zemdegs from CubeSkills Posted 7 years ago
Jaxon - I quite like watching cubing videos on Youtube to stay motivated, and I'm subscribed to heaps of channels.
Ben - Cheers! I'll pass on your kind words to the web developer haha
Amelia - This is natural, check out the F2L tutorials on this website, and elsewhere :)
Harold - A hollow looser feel? I'm not a cube hardware expert, but I suppose there are always a few variables you can change and play around with - including the GES nut type, the tightness, and lubricants.
Nimish - I'm not a Roux method expert, but I am hoping to add some Roux/ZZ/Petrus method overview videos to this website in the future.
Cuberious The SpeedCuber Posted 7 years ago
I can comment?
Pablo Cuber Posted 7 years ago
Feliks, I have a regular Gans 356 Air, and when I turn it slowly, there is a bumpy feeling and you can feel resistance when it is aligned.
I was wondering if you knew how to fix this, since I have not been able to.
Thanks
Albert Gabriel Camac Asca Posted 7 years ago
Feliks do you think the cube depends to have good times? Since I have a friend with a rubik's and manages to get a sub 20 time with full fridrich but it compares with my times with reduced fridrich .... maybe he has errors ....
WIley Frank Posted 7 years ago
I have only been cubing for about two years, and have an average time of about 30-40 seconds. Should i try to get a really good fast cube now. or wait until i improve. Right now i am just using the Dayan ZanChi. Should i get the Gans 356 air, Valk, or any other good cube now, or wait until i am faster.
kingb0b VII Posted 7 years ago
Having a better speedcube doesn't change your time much if you already have a decent cube. Try to work on your F2L, since that's usually the thing holding most people back.
vishnu nair Posted 7 years ago
hey feliks thanks for the initiative you hv taken for this . now we can all get the tutorials we've been waiting for .
Elmer Nayberg Posted 7 years ago
Hey Feliks great blog! I have a question though. How do you know something is a bad habit? I started out on an old and really tight cube and i started learning fingertricks on that cube. Because of the really tight tensions it was hard for me to do U' with my left index, so i started to do U' where i bend my finger weirdly into the cube. I still do this and i see a clear difference between U and U'. I don't know if this is a bad habit and if it is how do get rid of it. Hope you can help with this weird problem. Thanks :)
Jasbir Singh Posted 7 years ago
Feliks...First of all thanks for uploading such a nice tutorials...
I want to ask that I have qiyi wuque 4x4 but it is not so good because corner cutting is very less....What can I do...
Devanshi Mehta Posted 7 years ago
Hey Feliks, I am not really comfortable with the F2L method or I would rather say that I am not able to understand it. Also the arrangement of the cube is different, the white and the yellow sides are swapped!i would really appreciate if you could help me out. And yeah, this is a really good site for cubers and great blogs. Appreciate the work:)THANKS!
Zion Panz Posted 7 years ago
Dear Feliks Zemdegs,
Awesome blog! I've been waiting for some practice tips! But I was wondering that if you wanted to improve on an event, do you just focus on that event really hard? And not focus on your other events, because you won't loose your "skills" from the other events? Sorry if this didn't make any sense, but I'm happy with my 3x3 time now and want to improve my 4x4! Thanks
Shankar S Posted 7 years ago
Agreed with what u say, keep it going new cubers
Hint u don't need a hand air or a valk 3 or a GTS being a 15 second cuber. U never unlock the benefits of it. I'd suggest a thunderclap till u hit 10 secs. Remember feliks's used a zanchi and a weilong and broke wr several times before hand existed.
Arian / KanariKjewbs :D Zia Posted 7 years ago
Hey Feliks,
Could you please fix that we can use Paypal to become an premium member?
Greetings Arian.
Kissinger Smithers Posted 7 years ago
Hi Feliks, I have been cubing for 3 months and averaged around 30 seconds with a Gan 356 Air. I want to get faster. Should I practice fingertricks ?
Or is it important for my F2L and OLL to improve fingertricks?
Kelly Curtis Posted 7 years ago
Great points!
Fred Lang Posted 7 years ago
For some reason, I can do D2 really easily with my ring and middle finger but I can't do U2 properly. Could you help me out please?
Anurag Thayya Posted 7 years ago
asd
Anurag Thayya Posted 7 years ago
Nice tips.
Kelly McGucken Posted 7 years ago
Hi Feliks,
Nice post; I can tell you put a lot of effort into it! I just wanted to say I'm really excited for what's to come on this website, specifically the tutorials. I haven't gotten my hands on a 3x3 yet, and I only own a 2x2 and Pyraminx. I favor the latter, as I find it more interesting and I have better methods for speed solving, resulting in faster solves on the Pyraminx. Anyway, I was really hoping you could post some Pyraminx (and maybe Megaminx) tutorials in addition to the standard actual "cubes". Thanks!
-Kelly
Dang Nguyen Hai Posted 7 years ago
What is PB
Thorsten Gragert Posted 7 years ago
@Dang PB = Personal Best
Marcos Aparicio Iliquin Posted 7 years ago
Hi Feliks
I think you explained very well all the tips but what would you recommend me to learn full fridrich?
Lorenzo novembre Posted 7 years ago
Marcos, yes, if you (us, im a little cuber yet,too) would become a speedcuber, it needs also a speedcube, pro, i m trying Valk 3. Bye
Matthew Martelli Posted 7 years ago
Would CFOp be easy if i know beginners method?
SHUBHANKAR DESHPANDE Posted 7 years ago
michael vicbert khuang Posted 7 years ago
this is the nice tips
Feliks Zemdegs Posted 7 years ago
Hi guys
Denis Price Posted 7 years ago
Great blog. Progress can be slow. It's important to "take your time, learn good habits". (Quote: F Zemdegs)
Try the PDF download sheets from the tutorials. They are excellent.
Vishant solanki Posted 7 years ago
Good I usually do every thing written in the blog
Avash Biswas Posted 7 years ago
Hi guys! would yuo guys like to share your average time and you are cubing for how many months or years. This is some time helpful to analyse ourselves.
Orhan Tasci Posted 7 years ago
wow amazing! Feliks this website rocks I got from sub 40 to sub 30 in a week!
Emil Andersson Posted 7 years ago
Feliks, you did a really good job, creating this website.
Me and my cubes are looking forward to learning alot more.
I'm excited for the website to grow, so thank you :)
P.s. Respect from Denmark!
Riley Sage Posted 7 years ago
When do you think you'll be able to make tutorials for bigger cubes or even other puzzles, if you do so?
ASHISH KUMAR VERMA Posted 7 years ago
hey tell us about your screat method zeroing
xuan lin Posted 7 years ago
大家好
Eoin Dowling Posted 7 years ago
Really good advice, my solve times were stuck around the same for so long but, hey.. there you go.. I practiced whenever I could to try improve and did.
Sure if it was easy everyone would be doing it.. ha
Carlos Suarez Posted 7 years ago
this is an awesome blog feliks, I got from sub 25 to sub 20 in two days and I am still rapidly progressing!
Good job Feliks!
Harry Wang Posted 7 years ago
It looks great,but I don't know why there's no subtitles. I love this website because I believe I can learn a lot.
han wang Posted 7 years ago
William Duncan Posted 7 years ago
Any tips for improving F2L?
Feliks Zemdegs from CubeSkills Posted 7 years ago
Riley - I expect a set of 4x4 tutorials to be up by the end of this month, if not earlier! :)
Harry - We may add subtitles to more videos in the future, but at the moment I'm focusing on more video content :)
耀辉 尤 Posted 7 years ago
中国人中国人，有没有中国人？
Faye Yu Posted 7 years ago
SO insightful. just wondering if there'll be tutorials on blindfolded solves cuz that'd be cool
and @You yaohui 速拧神人 yep im Chinese. i think there's a lot of Chinese ppl here :)
Roby Shaji Posted 7 years ago
Do you plz provide a Oll cp alg
kawshizk khanndoker Posted 7 years ago
i am sub 20.i know my oll and pll recognition is bad and moreover I fail all the time to make x cross and to track 1st pair.
please tell me what practice-technique i should follow to get improved.
Jakov Jakovac Posted 7 years ago
Thank you Felix, it means a lot to me to have some place where I can be sure I am doing it right, and not just learingng as i go!
Wesley Cooke Posted 7 years ago
This is some great advice! I knew a few of them. Especially the practice when you want and take breaks. When I started i forced myself to practice because I was bad and wanted to improve but then I got tired of no improvement. So then I took a break and when I came back, boom first solve I was already breaking my usual average. I also have super slow solves if I don't really want to practice but if I wan't to that is a completely different story.
Pablo Cuber Posted 7 years ago
Feliks, what GES do you use on your Gans Air UM?
Daeshunn Balisi Posted 7 years ago
Thanks Feliks :D
黃 奕銘 Posted 7 years ago
这有中国人
耀辉 尤 Posted 7 years ago
We all come from different countries, so we want language options.
Feliks Zemdegs from CubeSkills Posted 7 years ago
^ Language options as in different language captions for videos? It's certainly something on the list of things to do!
Wesley - awesome! :)
Pablo - I use yellow GES
wenbo Ren Posted 7 years ago
I'm nobody,and will participate in the college entrance examination in approximately two months.I've been give up the cubes for a year.Just like the others,preparing for this significant exam.But I love the cubes and you, Feliks.All I request is the bless from you.Will you?
Nick Wirth Posted 7 years ago
When should I start learning full OLL?
Louis Cornea Posted 7 years ago
I'm a one minute n a half sec and my rubik's cube move so slow.
Nick Wirth Posted 7 years ago
Do you learn the OLL alg name?
Liam Gerard Posted 7 years ago
Personally, I did not. I use 2 Look OLL, and muscle memory kicks in, but that does not give me time to look ahead.
Feliks Zemdegs from CubeSkills Posted 7 years ago
Nick - yeah there isn't any need to learn the OLL name, I don't even know them myself, they're just there for reference :)
Angel Gutierrez Posted 7 years ago
hi, how many algorithms do you know?
i am sub 22 what should i do for be sub20 i am full fridrich since 2 mmonths ago
John Appleseed Posted 7 years ago
Honestly, you should focus more on the F2L than the last layer. It is the F2L that is really important. Try to plan a more efficient cross. When solving F2L pairs search for other F2L pieces and their corresponding "partner". It is possible to complete F2L in 10 seconds this way so even with a slow OLL and PLL you will still get sub-20. Hope it helped.
Sai Swayam Shree Posted 7 years ago
Poornash As Posted 7 years ago
Hey said swayam shree I am sub 26 and I use only 2 look oll and 1 look pll . So try to focus on f2l and pll first than to focus on one look oll . My best advice for everyone is to do slows olives with very good look ahead.
shaunte ong Posted 7 years ago
hey Feliks Zemdegs do you need a speedcube to be a speedcuber?
James Nguyen Posted 7 years ago
Hey Feliks,
i am really enjoying your website. you are my favourite speedcuber for me and now you got a website for tutorials so thankyou Feliks.
Sincerly,
James
Ahmad Rabiul Nawadi Posted 7 years ago
I already full oll and pll but I'm still sub 18. Any suggestion??
Terence Yeung Posted 7 years ago
Ahmad Rabiul Nawadi - my suggestion is to practice slow turn solves and building up your tps until you can go your speed with much less pauses in between the stages and in between each f2l case. I am full pll but not actually full oll, I only know a little more than half but I average 13-14 with a pub of 9. Just get super comfortable with how to solve, because you have everything you need, you just need to make them go together more smoothly.
Frank Zhou Posted 7 years ago
Hi Feliks. My interest in speedcubing in dropping down because I don't know how to setup a cube and my time are slower because my cube are always not good for me and I am way faster when I randomly settled up greatly. Any tips?
John Lewis Posted 7 years ago
you should make a comment on slow solves vs. Speedsolves. I know Kian and Kavin went the way of not doing a lot of slow solves and are just as fast as many others out there.
Aurora Pratt Posted 7 years ago
Hi Feliks I'm a Sub 40 but I'm making an XCross on the top lawer, but they say that makeing a cross on the bottom will be better.I'm actually really good in the top lawer Cross,it only takes like 5 seconds.But making cross on the bottom make my solving speed slow down a lot.Any Advice?
Aurora Pratt Posted 7 years ago
And totally agree with first one.I always get a really great score when i feel like it.
Faiz Hashim Posted 7 years ago
Hello, Aurora Pratt,
It is recommended to solve the cross on the bottom layer. The reason for this is rotating the cube will make you slower. And if you solve the cross in the bottom layer, you can also get an F2L pair ready!
Jean-Daniel Dumas Posted 7 years ago
Hello, I'm averaging between ~50sec, and curiously my cross take me >~8-13 sec. I see a lot of people do it in under 2-3 sec. So I think I really need to work on that even if my F2L takes me 20sec. I've tried multiple practice sessions, but I feel that I can run over 20 differents cases every time and it is hard to lookahead for the 6 next movements for a maximum of 15 sec inspections.
Is there a trick to do it easily ? I see people talking in the streaming while inspecting 2-3 sec and... there we go, they already finished cross+f2l in about 15 sec max!
I want to know their trick ;p
Caleb Draper Posted 7 years ago
Feliks, would you say it would be worth the money the get the gans 356 air um?
Yasa Zaheen Posted 7 years ago
Feliks,
Can you tell GANS or WCA to organize a competition in Dhaka,Bangladesh?
Yasa Zaheen Posted 7 years ago
I am a sub-16 and if I try a I can get some experience from the competitions.
nathan agan Posted 7 years ago
i average sub 20 and i am 13 is dat gud?
nathan agan Posted 7 years ago
13 yrs old
Stanley Wang Posted 7 years ago
Nathan Agan
Age doesn't matter. I'm 12 yrs old and I average 12. Tommy Kiprillis is 13-14 (I think) and he manages to get sub-7.5 in comp. It doesn't matter.
HARDIK BHADAURIYA Posted 6 years ago
hey feliks.....i have entered the stage of "tracking" in look ahead.....i don't look at my current pair and i am able to track only one piece of my f2l pair#2 or so....i want to track both of the pieces.....what should i do then feliks.......help.
ben vanderhoff@gmai.com Posted 6 years ago
Do u have to learn CFOP to solve a 4x4x4? Or would it just make it easier? Plz answer.(:
Amir Akhtar Posted 6 years ago
Hello Feliks, this is the first time I am posting here. I just wanted to know how to bring a cube to a WV state for able to execute the algorithm on it. For eg. for PLL and OLL, If you continue to execute the same Alg for a couple of times, it brings it to that state, and then execute one more time to complete it. How do we the same for WV algorithms. Thanks for your reply in advance.
Feliks Zemdegs from CubeSkills Posted 6 years ago
For WV, just do the inverse of the algorithm for the case :)
Yash Raj Posted 6 years ago
HEY FELIKS,
I'm sub 15...till now i haven't started attending competitions....whats your opinion....would i start attending...or wait for some time...please help me out........thanmk you
Yash Raj Posted 6 years ago
THANK YOU....????
dajskdjak snncansicia Posted 6 years ago
If I move the middle layer up is that a M or M' please help me I want to get the right fingertricks for Z perm.
Øystein Vikesland Posted 6 years ago
If you move it up its M´
Joseph Rodriguez Posted 6 years ago
i am getting solving times around 50 seconds to a minute and 10 seconds. any tips on how to get faster
Silas Lickliter Posted 6 years ago
learn CFOP
Ghalib Haider Posted 6 years ago
Hey Feliks,
This is the most useful website for speedcubing.
I average ~50sec, i know full pll and oll, but F2l and cross is slowing me down
Do you have any tips for me?
Also what cube should I buy?
Thanks
Noah Marsh Posted 6 years ago
I'm not Feliks, but I hope I can help!
What cube do you have currently?
For cross, work on planning it out completely in you solve, and j perm on youtube has a couple videos on how to do cross efficiently. For F2L, do a lot of slow solves, so your look ahead is better. I know most PLLs, and like 10 OLLs, and I'm sub-20, so it's not completely about the algs that makes someone fast.
Hope this helps!
-Noah
diego gonzales Posted 5 years ago
Can you make tutorial to pyraminx please ?, I know that you don't practice a lot , but you are really good solving it
Nicholas Bond Posted 4 years ago
In February my best was 10 seconds and my average was about 18 seconds. I have taken a 4-5 month break and now I have slowed down. I am now averaging 28 seconds and a 22 second solve is now considered really good for me. I am trying to get back to normal speeds but I've lacked motivation to.
Mikhael Ridzwan Posted 4 years ago
Try to remember how you were getting sub ten was it look ahead? Or did you have a fast cross find out what it was and practice those things till you get good at them by the way I’m sub 25 and I’m trying to get to sub 15 I’m learning full OLL then I’ll learn full PLL then more efficient f2l solutions and I need help getting faster once I’ve learned that
Al S Posted 4 years ago
@Milkhael Ridzwan- It is advised to learn PLL before OLL as PLL has less algorithms than OLL
Dibyojyoti Bhattacharjee Posted 4 years ago
I had a question, as a beginner, I had learned the beginner's method to solve a cube(not CFOP) so is it better to practice with a speed cube or with the one I started cubing as I have a target with the beginner method i.e. to reach to the one minute mark with that
Note:- As a beginner, I started to use a cube which was pretty decent in turning and the corner parts.
Thanks and regards...
Stay Safe and Happy cubing.
Al S Posted 4 years ago
I think you should stick with the cube you already have. Maybe when you get better like sub 45 or sub 30 then maybe buy a new speedcube
bob bill Posted 4 years ago
I would say to buy a speed cube when you reach the past 1 minute and want to start maybe learning cfop. only don't spend too much on it buy a cheap one until you get better
Zayden Liew Posted 3 years ago
@diego pyraminx is very easy. If you can solve one side, just keep solving sides and it will eventually solve
Eli Carr Posted 3 years ago
I do solves all the time, and learning algorithms is really easy. I just have to see it on a screen, do it a few times, then slowly do it without looking at the screen, and BINGO! Learnt.