A couple of days later, he sent me his critique. I was very excited to watch it and discover what had for me to help quicken my solves.
He told me that I should use my inspection time (you get 15 seconds to inspect the cube before starting the timer) more optimally to plan out further into the solve, and that I should turn faster.
So, I took that advice to heart and began working on it immediately.
Practice became fun again, and for the following two months, I saw improvements in my solve times.
My average was now just under six seconds, and I felt confident that I’d do well at the upcoming competition.
When the competition was just one week away, I got a personal best time of 4.12 seconds. “Amazing! If I get that lucky at the comp, I’ll surely be the best there.”