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How to get faster when you already type fairly fast?
Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 4:41 pm
by KnightsOfNi
Hi,
I've been touchtyping for a few months now and I am sorta stuck between 80 and 90 WPM. I don't make many mistakes anymore, but I cannot seem to get over this. While I see others get speeds up to 160 WPM!? How is this possible? When you can already type blindly at 90WPM, what are tips to take it to 100 - 120 - 140 ...
I don't understand how it's physically possible to move my fingers faster than I am currently doing. I am using a Das keyboard 4 ultimate in qwerty mode.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
Re: How to get faster when you already type fairly fast?
Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 7:15 pm
by gria2591
KnightsOfNi wrote:Hi,
I've been touchtyping for a few months now and I am sorta stuck between 80 and 90 WPM. I don't make many mistakes anymore, but I cannot seem to get over this. While I see others get speeds up to 160 WPM!? How is this possible? When you can already type blindly at 90WPM, what are tips to take it to 100 - 120 - 140 ...
I don't understand how it's physically possible to move my fingers faster than I am currently doing. I am using a Das keyboard 4 ultimate in qwerty mode.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
I can not even faster to write because I focus on when writing to be less error than more words and letters.
This is the first priority for me , because it is less a result I get . I really like this typing test , because not long laze while practicing .
Thank you for the opportunity .
ria2591
Re: How to get faster when you already type fairly fast?
Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2015 10:36 am
by KnightsOfNi
gria2591 wrote:KnightsOfNi wrote:Hi,
I've been touchtyping for a few months now and I am sorta stuck between 80 and 90 WPM. I don't make many mistakes anymore, but I cannot seem to get over this. While I see others get speeds up to 160 WPM!? How is this possible? When you can already type blindly at 90WPM, what are tips to take it to 100 - 120 - 140 ...
I don't understand how it's physically possible to move my fingers faster than I am currently doing. I am using a Das keyboard 4 ultimate in qwerty mode.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
I can not even faster to write because I focus on when writing to be less error than more words and letters.
This is the first priority for me , because it is less a result I get . I really like this typing test , because not long laze while practicing .
Thank you for the opportunity .
ria2591
Say w0t?
Re: How to get faster when you already type fairly fast?
Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2015 1:36 pm
by Linsk
Hi KnightsOfNi,
Can we see your 10FF profile? Since when do you practice typing seriously? What was your speed at the beginning?
It's always possible to type a little faster, but this requires a proportional typing quality.
If you take a test by typing as fast as you can, without worrying about the quality of your typing, you will realize that it's very easy to move faster, but it often results in a catastrophic accuracy.
If you struggle to improve your WPM, it's not so much because your fingers are unable to physically go faster, but because of your technique that is not pushed enough to support this speed, which therefore slows you down.
The problem is that the brain likes to lock itself in his little habits, whether good or bad. This is often what gives the false sensation that you can't do better, because the habit of some way is anchored for some time, which is comfortable for the brain. It's therefore necessary to impose a repeated change if you hope get an improvement.
So if you want to increase your WPM, you must first force you to type a little faster so that your fingers get used to the new speed. And even if it means making mistakes temporarily, it doesn't matter, because you have to go through it anyway.
There are many factors that influence the quality of your typing (body position, hand warming, touch typing, number of used fingers, fingering, reading speed, state of mind, practice frequency, keyboard choice, keyboard layout ...). Accuracy is a major key and that's what I'll talk further.
The top 1000 mode is a very good tool for all who wish to improve their accuracy and make progress. The goal is to unlock all levels and as many stars as you can in each level, pushing up your speed to maximum.
After you have quickly passed the softcore mode, I advise you to focus on the hardcore mode (especially boss levels) and return to the normal typing mode only occasionally, until you finish the last level. Whenever you decide to type in normal mode, make sure you behave exactly as if you were in hardcore.
Once you have completed the hardcore mode, you can go back in normal mode as before, but the ideal is to keep practicing regularly in hardcore by typing only the boss levels. Of course there is nothing magical, but in this way, even though it may be long and difficult, your progress will be tangible.
Re: How to get faster when you already type fairly fast?
Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2015 6:08 pm
by KnightsOfNi
Linsk wrote:Hi KnightsOfNi,
Can we see your 10FF profile? Since when do you practice typing seriously? What was your speed at the beginning?
It's always possible to type a little faster, but this requires a proportional typing quality.
If you take a test by typing as fast as you can, without worrying about the quality of your typing, you will realize that it's very easy to move faster, but it often results in a catastrophic accuracy.
If you struggle to improve your WPM, it's not so much because your fingers are unable to physically go faster, but because of your technique that is not pushed enough to support this speed, which therefore slows you down.
The problem is that the brain likes to lock itself in his little habits, whether good or bad. This is often what gives the false sensation that you can't do better, because the habit of some way is anchored for some time, which is comfortable for the brain. It's therefore necessary to impose a repeated change if you hope get an improvement.
So if you want to increase your WPM, you must first force you to type a little faster so that your fingers get used to the new speed. And even if it means making mistakes temporarily, it doesn't matter, because you have to go through it anyway.
There are many factors that influence the quality of your typing (body position, hand warming, touch typing, number of used fingers, fingering, reading speed, state of mind, practice frequency, keyboard quality, keyboard layout ...). Accuracy is a major key and that's what I'll talk further.
The top 1000 mode is a very good tool for all who wish to improve their accuracy and make progress. The goal is to unlock all levels and as many stars as you can in each level, pushing up your speed to maximum.
After you have quickly passed the softcore mode, I advise you to focus on the hardcore mode (especially boss levels) and return to the normal typing mode only occasionally, until you finish the last level. Whenever you decide to type in normal mode, make sure you behave exactly as if you were in hardcore.
Once you have completed the hardcore mode, you can go back in normal mode as before, but the ideal is to keep practicing regularly in hardcore by typing only the boss levels. Of course there is nothing magical, but in this way, even though it may be long and difficult, your progress will be tangible.
Hi, thanks for your long reply.
This is my profile:
http://10fastfingers.com/user/731660/Before 6 months ago I typed with some weird 6 finger combination that I developed over the years. I reached 60-70 WPM that way. That was on AZERTY. So about 6 months ago I decided to buy a blank keyboard, switch to QWERTY and learn to type the proper way. I have done all the softcore levels in the 1000 words practice and got 4 stars (80WPM). It's the capitalized letters that slow me down to get to the 5 stars. When doing the normal typing test on 10ff I reach 95WPM. So it does all come down to practice and efficiency, there is no special way that these top typests of 150WPM moved their fingers differently? Press lighter on the keys or perhaps minimize their movement somehow by lifting their fingers less?
I am not sure what you mean by this:
"If you struggle to improve your WPM, it's not so much because your fingers are unable to physically go faster, but because of your technique that is not pushed enough to support this speed, which therefore slows you down."
Can you clarify more on that?
Re: How to get faster when you already type fairly fast?
Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2015 9:40 pm
by Linsk
You're welcome.
So, with more fingers, touch typing and new keyboard/layout, you already improved your speed by about 20 WPM, which is a good start. And the good news is that you've already completed the softcore mode. So you can now dive into hardcore mode, which is much better in terms of efficiency.
It's not only the capital letters that make the difficulty of the advanced mode but also the 800 words in addition to the normal mode. These words are generally longer and more complicated. So it takes more time to get used to them than the 200 most common English words.
KnightsOfNi wrote:there is no special way that these top typests of 150WPM moved their fingers differently? Press lighter on the keys or perhaps minimize their movement somehow by lifting their fingers less?
Each typist has his own way to move his fingers. You just have to find yours. If you think your movement is not optimal and that you know the reasons, then you know what to do to fix what needs to be.
Of course there are ways to move better than others. The shortest path between two keys is the one you have chosen, after finding the best compromise between comfort and efficiency.
You must take into account your preferences and not force you to apply a method literally, just because it's taught or because fast typists use it. What matters is that you are used to and comfortable with what you do. If this is the case, you will be more relaxed. And if you are relaxed, your typing will be lighter, and therefore more effective.
And if you want to change many things in your way of typing, it's better to make one change at a time and see what happens. If you try and fix too many things at the same time, it could cause a blockage that would be discouraging.
You should not immediately think of the 150 WPM. Think first of an average of 90, 95 and 100 WPM and then set yourself small increments of 5 WPM. Your work will be more motivating, and your efforts rewarded faster.
KnightsOfNi wrote:I am not sure what you mean by this:
"If you struggle to improve your WPM, it's not so much because your fingers are unable to physically go faster, but because of your technique that is not pushed enough to support this speed, which therefore slows you down."
Can you clarify more on that?
What I mean is that when you don't manage to type faster, it's not because your fingers can not go faster but just because you're not used to go faster. The speed is related to the technique and you are therefore constrained by your technique.
It's true that when you start, just by practicing regularly you can improve your speed by 10, 20 or 30 WPM. But quite soon you will reach your limits and this is where you are forced to work on technique. That's why I advise you to train yourself first in hardcore mode, because it was created to increase accuracy.
Sorry if I'm not very clear, my English is not great. ^^
Re: How to get faster when you already type fairly fast?
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2015 3:12 pm
by Leon
I've gotten 163 WPM with a competitive average of ~150 and I ask myself the same thing for those who are 200+!!
I surmise these factors play a role, ranked in magnitude:
- Natural affinity + anatomical? ; I was probably typing at 100 WPM at age 8 or 9.
- Typing style - I do not type completely in the "recommended" fashion, only some of the recommended rules truly apply. But this is hard to tell unless I analyse each finger movement, which I could not be bothered to do so.
- Practice - Discounting days when I do not use the PC, I operate a PC anywhere from 8-14 hours a day, for the past 10 years for games, work, chat etc.
- Neurological factors:
1. I've noticed that I'm more or less cognizant of the next 1-2 words by the time my thumb presses the spacebar. This is very apparent when I have to skip to the next line.
2. I don't aim to type with absolute 100% accuracy, but very close, maybe 99%. This 1% acceptable error probably allows my brain to process information quicker.
3. Anxiety - I get a little nervous when I've gotten a word wrong. That red highlight actually slows me down at a subconsicious level. This anxiety actually may cause my speed to fall by up to 20%.
- Mental exhaustion- I've definitely seen up to a 10-15% drop in speed when I'm mentally exhausted.
- Physical exhaustion - By the 5th test, my speed falls to 135 from a comfortable average of 150.
- Keyboard - Mechanical keyboards help significantly I think. I do suspect that keyboards with lower key-presses, mechanical or not, help increase relative speed.
- Wrist relaxedness
- Body posture
- Temperature and humidity
Hope that helps!
Re: How to get faster when you already type fairly fast?
Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2015 11:50 am
by stefano2015
At the moment i want type fastest I can. When I get 100 WPM I will focus on errors.
Re: How to get faster when you already type fairly fast?
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2015 10:23 pm
by toddhicks209
You are already typing incredibly fast. You might not be able to get much better. Those who are typing 160 wpm are probably using speech recognition typing software.
Re: How to get faster when you already type fairly fast?
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2015 6:21 pm
by Leon
toddhicks209 wrote:You are already typing incredibly fast. You might not be able to get much better. Those who are typing 160 wpm are probably using speech recognition typing software.
160 isn't that fast. Sean Wrona (world champion typist) will easily get 200 WPM on 10FF.