I’m a speedcuber my average is about 45 seconds, and I want to memorize new algorithms. The thing is it’s really hard and I want to be able to recite the algorithm not just do it, so could memory techniques help?
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Maybe more a “cuber”… not so much “speed” 
OLL, F2L, etc… what are you looking at?
depends… usually you use them for BLD solves
1.Okay So 45 seconds is slow? 2.mainly One Look OLL and all cfop algorithms
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I only removed the “speed”… didn’t know that “cuber” already means “slow cuber”
But okay, let’s discuss what speed really is in terms of cubing. The world record for blindfolded is just over 15 seconds. So basically three times memorizing, recalling, and executing is equivalent to what you’d insist on calling speed.
Obviously, the world record is 3:47 and to make it to the podium, you usually need to be under 10sec. Most people that competitions that haven’t broken the 20sec mark yet, consider themselves “slow.” Also, most cubers refer to themselves as “cubers” not “speed cubers.”
You do you though… of you insist, yes… you “speedcube” (verb) so I have to problem with calling you a “speedcuber” (noun) if you prefer the term.
Are you sure that you mean CFOP? That acronym stands for Cross, First 2 layers, OLL, and PLL; which basically includes OLL (regardless of full or 2-look).
So, as far as your OLLs then… how do you have them organized? The way you execute them or the way you recognize them? That is to say… you either think of them grouped by triggers and finger tricks or alternatively, the shape that you see on cube.
So let’s get started with that last point and please clarify what you mean by CFOP. My apologies if you were offended by the term “cuber.”
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Hey Trey!
When learning new algs it’s much easier to split it up into smaller chunks. You might notice that a lot of the algs have common “triggers” such as R U R’ U’. These triggers are really fast and remembering these will really help you learn new algorithms! Another tip is to keep track of how your F2L pairs move.
Jperm has an excellent video which goes into more detail https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL4nOUWPabs
Hope that helps!
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Hi Trey,
As Lu has pointed out, probably the best way to memorize algorithms would be to keep track of how the pieces move around the cube as you do them. This is how I have memorized almost all of the algs I use when solving.
Once you have this down, quickly executing the alg will help get it into muscle memory. I know rote memorization isn’t something we tend to advocate on this forum, but I believe for memorizing algs to be used in a speedsolve, I believe this is the best way to go, for a number of reasons.
Primarily, when you’re executing an algorithm and trying to recall the moves from a memory palace (or some other memory system), this tends to mean you just memorized which sides of the cube to turn. However, as you get faster, the way you execute the moves plays a very large role in how fast you are. If you’re regripping the cube between each move, you can see how that would add to your times.Because of this, it is best to have the algs in muscle memory so that your fingers “just know what to do”. This will ultimately be much faster.
My recommendation would be to learn maybe a couple of algs a day until you have them down. I haven’t checked out the video @Jifabulix has linked, but Jperm has excellent content, so I believe it should be very helpful. Best of luck!
Also, I would experiment with other methods before committing to learning full OLL. I personally use ZZ, and it’s a lot more fun than CFOP. I would recommend trying out ZZ and Roux.
Edit: I looked back over your original post and noticed that you mentioned wanting to be able to recite the algs, not just execute them… If this is the goal, using memory techniques could be helpful. This also makes sense for things like FMC, so I can see why you’d want to memorize moves (although using algs in FMC should probably be done sparingly). Let me know if you want me to expand on some ideas I have for this 
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Wow, thanks for such help.
I would greatly appreciate tips on how to better consolidate my attempt to memorize, but these are my theories:
taking the first letter of each face R, L, F, T(top=u), D, B I have:
R-Ra - rag
R’-Re - red
R2-Ri - read
R2’-Ro - road
r-Ru - rude
same syllable system goes for every other face, slice, and rotation as well.
ex:
R U R’ U R U2 R’
U=T (top)
-
Not sure how effective syllables are in saying weird baby-like words as I move the cube around. Rata Reta Ratee Re as the above example.
1b: Can associate the above sounds with an image or 2 in loci (Rot a Red Tara Tea) -
Can turn these into actual word/images and memory palace every single movement. Rag Tag Red Tag Rag Tea Red
2b. after familiarizing myself with the territory of sequences, I can chunk multiple in one loci as triggers Rag Tag Red Tag is a simple image of a Red Rag on clearance. -
Use pre-existing triggers to create images and associations with said names and variations of each:
Sexy move = Jenna Jameson
-Sexy mirror = Brad Pitt (opposite gender)
-Ugly = ___
-Ugly mirror = ___
Sledgehammer= Thor
Hedgeslammer= Edward Scissorhands
I believe the last method to be the most effective as the triggers obviously chunk more information into one and they are universally known by other cubers in the community. please feel free to contribute to the collected triggers
This PDF of Triggers would be best to be set into precise images for association. In the upcoming weeks I’ll see if I can execute these triggers with precise images and create them in an SRS/Anki Deck.