I type strangely...

[kbkasey]

Hello,

I type with a QWERTY-Based keyboard and over the years of playing RuneScape I developed my own way of typing moderately quickly... But I never learnt the 'real' way - Have your fingers on the 2 little bumps and returning to your home row...
So I keep my fingers above the home row, but I don't actually touch the keys. I also assist each of my hands. so if I need to type 'Yellow' I might use my left hand for the 'y', even though my right hand is closer, although I do believe this may be better...

So I was just wondering if I should start learning the 'proper' way if you'd call it that... I've tried once but I've been typing since I was 10, I'm now 16.

Thanks for reading.

[qbZ]

<deleted>

[Soner]

In my opinion, it makes less sense to return to the home row everytime since the most frequent words aren't on the home row anyway. That might even slow down typing. Provided that you're using at least 8 fingers you should be able to reach high speeds after lots of training. If you're using less fingers, I would probably try to involve the remaining fingers.

[jallis]

I taught myself how to type using the home row. The only real difference from my style and the 'perfect' style is that I use caps lock instead of shift. Personally, I do not feel like it's slowing me down a bit. The reason I think that the home row style is superior to most (but probably not all) styles is that You get VERY accurate. You pretty much never miss a key; the only real thing slowing you down is how fast your fingers are. I found that before, when I typed without any real place to have my fingers when they're idling, I would have a hard time hitting the correct keys. But when you go back to the same point whenever you're not using the finger, you're always know where to move the finger to go to the correct key. This is what I think is the main advantage of using home row.

Now on whether you shoud use home row, it all depends if you think you type fast enough. If you mean that you need to improve your speed for school or other similar things, then if I were you, I'd do just that. If you feel like you're fast enough of a typer, then there is no need to change. If your speed is over 110-120 then there's no need to change.

It took me about a week to learn how to type without looking with a speed of around 30-40 WPM. Now, after about a year, I average about 104 WPM in the Norwegian test (which is my mother tongue). I do, however, believe that if you are more dedicated than me you could easily get a lot faster growth.

[shayanjameel08]

Learn the right fingers to use with the other keys. Consult the following guide below:

Left index finger: F, G, R, T, V, B, 4, 5

Right index finger: J, H, Y, U, N, M, 6, 7

Left middle finger: D, E, C, 3

Right middle finger: K, I, comma, 8

Left ring finger: S, W, X, 2

Right ring finger: L, O, period, 9

Left little finger: A, Q, Z, left shift, 1

Right little finger: semi-colon, P, slash, right shift, 0

Right thumb: spacebar

[Linkbane]

Using the home row on Qwerty doesn't help you, because it's not the most common row. A flaw of its design.
For any optimized layout, it becomes more necessary. But for Qwerty, it's less movement keeping your fingers on the top+home rows.

[Xatenev]

well - i am typing strangely aswell, with, idk 7 fingers which just type random letters - however - it works!

I reach a speed of
~900 keystrokes per minute
~160-170wpm

just take your method and master it!


greetings

[marcus898]

like probably most people to various degree, i also have my "own" way of typing. i've never had any official type of training or learning, just over a decade of playing various games that require typing as well as posting a lot on forums and chatting.

my average on the basic english test is pretty steady somewhere between 140 and 150 i'd guess, with an overall record at 166 i think (incase someone bothers to look me up to correct me it's currently a bit lower on this site as a result of a streak of drunk playing with friends and also letting my girlfriend play - oh the sacrifices we make!).

i have never even considered which fingers i use and had to slowly type out words several times to actually figure out which fingers were involved...

i'm using nine fingers overall (not using left thumb, probably the most normal about my typic habits as i can't see how anyone could ever fit a use for it) however, five of these are only hitting one key each. left shift (left pinky), A (left ring finger), backspace (right ring finger), space (right thumb) and enter (right pinky). so aside from these five keys, my index and middle fingers cover all other keys. as for those keys, they are not even really assigned to certain keys, for instance in "when" my left index finger hits the E key, while in "end" the left middle finger hits the E key. i don't know if this is normal, but from the quick look i've had at certain "maps" it seems like every key is always assigned to a specific finger, regardless of situation and word. basically i seem to have learnt how to type certain combinations of letters in, the for me, most efficient way. if i would be to try some sort of typing test where you should just copy random gibberish and unusual key combinations, i feel that my wpm would be, relative to other's, lower as i've never "practiced" these combinations and my brain automatically doesn't connect a certain key with a certain finger.

maybe normal, maybe strange, i'll let other's judge!

[Kid Typer]

I generally use the homerow way of typing except I use caps lock instead of shift and I press b with my right hand.

[spiffytippy]

There surely is a perfect way to type. I am also sure, that we haven't found it yet.

I am definately sure, that QWERTY with any own "doing it for years" system ist NOT optimal. Reasons:

• QWERTY is NOT designed for balance or speed or movement
• all "systems" I saw over the years are also imbalanced between the fingers or even hands

If you really want to improve your typing, I suggest

• using an optimized layout like http://colemak.com,
  
  • balance optimized
  • movement optimized
• learning touch typing
  
  • enables the use of all fingers
  • enables error free typing without looking
• and using a really ergonomic keyboard (like Truly Ergonomic or Kinesis Advantage)
  
  • not having to cope with the misalignment of keys
  • having often used keys in good positions (how much do you need caps lock vs shift, enter, backspace, control, etc.)
  • utilizing the thumbs more (instead of for just one key each)

With all three of those, you will be more happy than just changing one of them. It's like trying to win an offroad rally while driving a normal city car. Sure you can put wings on it or attach big ass tires, it will still not have the suspension or the engine to utilize those improvements.

In my eyes, using QWERTY and the standard keyboard is - when you think about it - the biggest anachronism in the history of IT. Comparable to having the waving of flags when turning your car evolved into on/off switches on the outside of the car, just because everybody is used to it that way.

If you have any idea, why we are so blind in this area, I would love to know.

SpiffyTippy