You’ve seen the videos. Some teenager with a hoodie and a stone-cold expression flicking their fingers so fast the colors blur into a gray mist. It looks like magic. It’s not. Most people think solving a cube is about being a math genius, but honestly, it’s closer to muscle memory and a few clever tricks on the Rubik's cube that the pros use to shave off seconds.
I remember my first cube. It was a sticky, clunky thing from a toy store that felt like it was filled with sand. I spent three days trying to get one side. I thought I was brilliant. Then I realized I’d messed up every other face in the process. That's the barrier. Most people hit that wall and give up because they think they lack the "brain power." In reality, they just lack the right finger tricks and a basic understanding of how the plastic actually moves.
The Secret Geometry of Finger Tricks
Stop using your whole hand. Seriously. If you’re grabbing the cube like a sandwich and twisting your wrist every time you want to move a face, you’re doing it wrong. This is the first "trick" anyone needs to learn: the U-flick.
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Instead of rotating your entire right arm to move the top layer, you use your index finger. You just hook it on the back corner and flick. It’s a tiny movement. It feels weird at first, like trying to play a piano note with a finger you didn't know you had control over. But once you get it, your speed doubles. Speedcubers like Max Park or Feliks Zemdegs aren't necessarily thinking faster than you; their hands are just doing less work.
There's also the "M-slice." This is where you move the middle layer of the cube using your ring finger or middle finger from the bottom. It sounds niche, but it’s essential for some of the most common patterns. If you watch a world-class solver, their palms barely move. The cube stays steady while their fingers dance around it.
Why Your Hardware Is Holding You Back
You can't do high-level tricks on a $5 grocery store cube. You just can't. Those things are held together by friction and prayers. If you want to actually perform tricks on the Rubik's cube, you need a "speedcube."
What’s the difference? Magnets.
Modern cubes have tiny neodymium magnets inside the pieces. When you make a turn, the magnets pull the layer into perfect alignment. It prevents "lock-ups," which is when the cube gets stuck because a layer is slightly misaligned. Brands like GAN, MoYu, or QiYi make cubes that feel like they’re floating on air. Some people even use specialized lubricants—silicone-based oils—to make the turning even faster or "gummier" depending on their preference. It’s a whole subculture.
The "Sune" and Its Variations
If you want to impress someone, learn the Sune. It’s an algorithm that rotates three corner pieces on the top layer while keeping the rest of the cube intact. It’s short, it’s fast, and it looks incredibly complex to an outsider.
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The notation for it is $R U R' U R U2 R'$.
Wait, don't close the tab. Notation is just shorthand. $R$ means turn the right side clockwise. $U$ means turn the top (up) side clockwise. The little apostrophe means counter-clockwise. Once you memorize that "trigger"—a sequence of 4-7 moves—your hands just take over. You don't "think" the moves anymore. You just "feel" the Sune.
There’s also the Anti-Sune. It’s the mirror image. When you can do both, you start to see the cube not as a puzzle to be solved, but as a series of states you can navigate through. It’s like a map. You aren't lost; you just need to find the right path to the exit.
Finger Tricks for the Sexy Move
Yes, that’s actually what it’s called in the community. The "Sexy Move" is $R U R' U'$.
It is the most fundamental building block of speedcubing. If you do it six times in a row, the cube returns to its original state. It’s the ultimate "trick" to make people think you’ve solved it in seconds. You start with a solved cube, perform the move six times lightning-fast, and it looks like you just did a multi-stage solve.
But the real trick isn't just knowing the moves; it’s the regripless execution. A pro will do the $R$ move with their wrist and the $U$ move with a finger flick without ever changing how they hold the cube. This "home grip" is the holy grail of efficiency.
Looking Ahead: Color Neutrality
Most people start by solving the white cross. It’s the standard. It’s what every YouTube tutorial teaches. But if you want to be truly fast, you have to become "color neutral."
This means being able to start your solve on any color.
It’s surprisingly hard. Your brain gets used to seeing white as the bottom and yellow as the top. When you try to solve with a green base, everything feels "off." The red and orange pieces look wrong. But color neutrality is a massive advantage because it allows you to pick the easiest starting point. Sometimes the blue cross is already half-finished. Why waste moves making a white cross when the blue one is right there?
The Mental Trick: Inspection Time
In official WCA (World Cube Association) competitions, you get 15 seconds to look at the cube before the timer starts. Beginners usually just look at it and go, "Yep, it's scrambled."
Experts are doing something else.
They are planning the first 5 to 8 moves. They aren't just looking at where the pieces are; they are simulating the movements in their head. They know exactly where the "cross" pieces will end up. By the time their hands touch the plastic, the first phase of the solve is already finished in their mind. This "look-ahead" is what separates the sub-10 second solvers from everyone else.
It's a mental trick that takes years to master. It requires you to solve the current step without looking at it, so your eyes can focus on finding the pieces for the next step. It’s like typing on a keyboard while looking at the screen instead of your fingers.
Common Misconceptions About Speed
- You need fast fingers: Not really. You need efficient moves. A slow person doing 30 moves will beat a fast person doing 80 moves every time.
- The center pieces move: They don't. On a 3x3, the center piece defines the color of the face. The white center is always opposite the yellow center. Knowing these fixed relationships is a huge shortcut.
- It’s about memorizing millions of combinations: Nope. It’s about memorizing about 50 to 100 patterns (for the advanced CFOP method) and recognizing which one is in front of you.
Actionable Steps to Improve Your Game
If you're stuck at a two-minute solve or can't solve it at all, here is the path forward.
First, get a magnetic cube. A MoYu RS3M is usually the "budget king" and will cost you less than a lunch. It changes the game entirely.
Second, learn the notation. Stop following "turn the left side up" and start reading $L, R, U, D, F, B$. It opens up the world of online algorithms.
Third, drill the "Sexy Move" ($R U R' U'$) until you can do it without thinking. Do it while watching TV. Do it until your fingers feel like they’re on autopilot.
Fourth, stop timing yourself for a week. Focus only on "slow turning." Try to solve the cube as slowly as possible without stopping. This forces your eyes to look for the next piece while you're still finishing the current move. It feels counterintuitive, but slowing down is the fastest way to get faster.
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Finally, check out the J Perm YouTube channel. It is widely considered the gold standard for learning these tricks on the Rubik's cube. He breaks down complex movements into visual triggers that are way easier to digest than a wall of text.
The Rubik's cube isn't a puzzle you solve once and put on a shelf. It's an instrument. You don't "finish" a piano; you learn to play it better. The cube is the same way. Every flick, every rotation, and every algorithm is a note in a much larger performance. Start with the finger tricks, and the speed will follow.