I think the poll should be revised a bit. First thing is that unless you have a Nikon SLR with a waist level finder (or an old Exacta), then ground glass focus would not belong in a 35mm question. There is also an issue of scale focusing, which is not really guess focusing. A little bit of practice, and lenses mark with distance scales, can get quite accurate in focus images.
Other things would be the ability to change screens on some SLRs. The split circle screen on manual focus SLRs is sometimes called a rangefinder. There are also smooth screens for some SLRs, so perhaps those could be termed ground glass, though different from a waist level finder or large format.
As to your question on how to focus a rangefinder. I find there are two good approaches that work quickly. One is to have your lens at infinity, then turn it one direction until your viewfinder image comes into focus. The variation on that is to have the lens always at closest focus. This idea tries to get you to mostly move the lens in one direction, rather than hunting back and forth.
A little aside on this is that many old folder cameras can allow mounting of an external rangefinder. You focus with that device, read the distance, then transfer that to the distance scale marked on the lens. In a way that is guess focusing, since the rangefinder is not coupled to the lens, but in practice can be very accurate.
Your troubles with the old Rollei could be a result of somewhat dirty or fogged optics. When the rangefinder optics are clean, then the contrast is good enough to easily focus. Another technique issue is keeping your eye centred in the viewfinder, which can take some practice. Just keep using it more, and i think you will figure it out.
Ciao!
Gordon
