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geekhack Community => Ergonomics => Topic started by: TheNerdFactor on Sat, 30 December 2017, 20:46:58
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This might be somewhat off topic, but I would like to know how I can improve my typing speed. I am at about 80 wpm on TypeRacer, and I find that what holds me back the most are mistypes, not raw speed. I am using MX Reds on a stock Masterkeys Pro L RGB
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Switch to tactile switches. MX Clear (clones are purple) or Blue.
If blue, use damping (O-rings etc) so that the click sound dominates and is not drowned in other keyboard sounds.
Browns are no good.
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TheNerdFactor,
The interface sucks, but TouchTyping.guru (http://touchtyping.guru/) is a good option for developing muscle memory. It essentially takes the keys you have trouble with and comes up with tongue-twisters for your fingers. Maybe this can help you with your mistypes.
Switch to tactile switches. MX Clear (clones are purple) or Blue.
If blue, use damping (O-rings etc) so that the click sound dominates and is not drowned in other keyboard sounds.
Browns are no good.
I personally believe that the switch should not matter — one switch might be less pleasing, comfortable or more fatiguing than another, you might even slow down or speed up a bit, but if you know how to touch type, you know how to touch type, regardless of the switch (technique vs. tool).
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removed.
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Don't type, copy / use text expansion. That's the least error-prone option.
But let's say you want to maximize your _typing_ speed. Then learn stenography (e.g., Plover). You might get to 100 wpm with regular typing, but over 200 wpm is normal with steno.
As for actual learning process, typing/steno is fundamentally similar to playing a musical instrument, thus look there for advice: focused practice, going slow and fast. Just googling these words "instrument focused practice fast slow" will yield plenty of decent overviews. That's the proper way to do it anyway—based on decades and centuries of empirical experiences.
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I personally believe that the switch should not matter — one switch might be less pleasing, comfortable or more fatiguing than another, you might even slow down or speed up a bit, but if you know how to touch type, you know how to touch type, regardless of the switch (technique vs. tool).
Yeah, a switch change might not train you to type faster, but personally I find that linear switches impede my typing. I also find that I make myself type more softly if a keyboard is loud.
BTW. As to training, I did find that in the short times that I have used columnar keyboards (Kinesis, ErgoDox), those keyboards don't make you type faster but they do forbid you to cheat when typing. You have to use the correct finger for each letter all the time.
I believe that training to type on one of those could help you acquire "good" habits that you could apply when typing on other keyboards later on .. but you could also acquire them anyway and once you have those habits the keyboard might not make that much difference.
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Switch type doesn't make any meaningful difference. It's practice.
- Get a good setup. Quality keyboard, quality desk, quality chair. Make sure you are positioned ergonomically.
- Remove distractions. Make sure it's quiet and you can take some time to concentrate on typing.
- Warm up. You have to get yourself ready to type fast, just like anything else.
- Practice practice practice. And don't always be timing yourself. Concentrate more on good form than rushing.
- To type fast you have to know ahead of time what you are going to type. In typing tests, that means reading ahead.
- Practice more.
Also note that if you're older (say, 35+), you are most likely going to be getting slower at fine motor tasks like typing for the rest of your life. Just accept it and make due.
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Practice.
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I would like to preface my post by saying that this is just "one way" that has worked for me to improve my typing speed. There are other "ways" of improving that may work better for you. I am 6'9" (205 cm) tall and have extra large hands. I had always been a slow typist at the range of 35 to 40 words per minute. Today I can type in the 70 to 75 words per minute range with good accuracy and without looking at the keyboard. My strategy to improve typing speed had 3 main areas:
First is the setup of my main work environment: I use a Unix workstation for my work almost exclusively (Linux and FreeBSD), I use Emacs for almost everything that requires long stretches of typing (coding, documentation and emails), and I use I3 or Sway as my desktop environments. My muscle memory is built around those tools with different shortcuts and the like. I think that one of the great improvements for me came when I learned to keep my hands in the home row of the "box" ... The "box" is the area delimited by the ~ (tilde) key on the top-left of a regular TKL keyboard and the right Control key at the bottom-right. Because my editor and desktop environment are keyboard-driven, my hands never leave that "box" and I rarely have to reach for a mouse.
Beyond the setup I described above, the other trick is to always practice. Normal use is not equal to deliberate practice. I use open source tools to help with that deliberate practice: TypeSpeed is a great game to improve speed and is available on most Unices and Windows with Cygwin; Gtypist is another open source tool that will teach you to type; and KTouch is an advanced tool to test your speed and also teach you from the basics. I do deliberate practice for about 10 to 15 minutes everyday (except on weekends).
Last but not least is the keyboard itself. I use green switches exclusively, and I currently have 2 keyboards with Cherry greens and 1 with Gateron greens. The clicky feedback and heavy actuation of the greens work really well with my big hands. One keyboard is a KUL ES87 TKL and the other 2 are 60% custom builds. I also swear by spherical touch areas on my keycaps, so all my keyboards are currently using either SA or DSA keycaps.
Anyway, it has been 3 years of deliberate practice for me to improve my typing speed ... and a lot of trial and error in between with things that didn't work for me. I hope this is helpful to you and remember ... "Journey before destination"
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I wish I could add more value than what's already posted but accuracy is something that needs to be practiced at slower speeds to help muscle memory know where they are. You dont practice complex body movements at full speed. They are slowed down and perfected THEN speed is increased
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I think plover is too ascended. Maybe it's good for Steno, but that's a whole lot of work for your brain. Unless you need to do Steno, I suggest just practice for speed. Think about your whole body, and put in the work.
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This might be somewhat off topic, but I would like to know how I can improve my typing speed. I am at about 80 wpm on TypeRacer, and I find that what holds me back the most are mistypes, not raw speed. I am using MX Reds on a stock Masterkeys Pro L RGB
Just practice practice practice
In my experience I find mx reds to be a bit too light so consider switching to something heavier for typing.
I usually practice 75 minutes a day with exceptions on the weekends. Record is 141 wpm on 10fastfingers.
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I think plover is too ascended. Maybe it's good for Steno, but that's a whole lot of work for your brain. Unless you need to do Steno, I suggest just practice for speed. Think about your whole body, and put in the work.
I wish I had the money to build a plover board.
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Take your time when typing to avoid mistakes. The speed will pick up as you progress.
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Take your time when typing to avoid mistakes. The speed will pick up as you progress.
Exactly. If accuracy is holding you back, slow down and resolve that issue first. Speed will come naturally after that. Also I agree with Findecanor, MX Reds won't be helping with your accuracy due to how easy they are to trigger accidentally.
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Browns are no good.
really?
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I would argue that a different layout can in time also speed up typing speed. I started to learn Colemak two months ago and i'm now at 65% speed of what I could using qwerty. Sure it was only 35 wpm but that was non touch typing and now I finally can touch type. Still slow but getting there.
But most of all is practice practice and when you're done practising, do some more practising and don't give up! The ones who can do things at another level are never the ones who bumped into being good. It takes time and dedication. Go watch the Last dance on Netflix and see why Michael Jordon was so damned good. Same things can be applied to many areas.
One of my latest discoveries https://www.keybr.com/
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But most of all is practice practice and when you're done practising, do some more practising and don't give up! The ones who can do things at another level are never the ones who bumped into being good. It takes time and dedication. Go watch the Last dance on Netflix and see why Michael Jordon was so damned good. Same things can be applied to many areas.
One of my latest discoveries https://www.keybr.com/
This is the ultimate key to getting better [PUN INTENDED]
I can attest to practicing. I used to be a pretty terrible touch-typist growing up, using mostly only my index and middle finger on my right hand and barely using the pinky on both hands.
Using KeyBR was something I definitely had benefit from, starting off. However, it based a lot of your accuracy on speed. As in you could only advance to more combinations of letters if you met a certain speed together with key-press accuracy.
I much prefer using GNU-typist (https://www.gnu.org/savannah-checkouts/gnu/gtypist/gtypist.html) and Tipp10 (https://www.tipp10.com/en/). They cater to both new touch-typists and experienced typists looking to improve their technique.
GNU-typist is a cmd.exe-based program, so it does take some getting used to accessing it, but once you do, I think it's great for learning patterns and setting a typing pace.
Tipp10 is more user-friendly and goes by levels that you can adjust (time length, visible keyboards, tips, and other adjustable settings)
Also, they are stand-alone software, so you do not need an internet connection in order to use them.
Just keep at it and you will get better, faster, and more accurate with time :D
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Browns are no good.
really?
I think I type better and a lot faster knowing I have a solid tactile feedback to tell me how I am doing. Lots of people do. Like, literally, typing this comment on at work on the membrane keyboard is a lot faster and more accurate for me than when I type at home on my current daily driver using MX Browns (Yes, my daily driver is a stock keyboard and I am waiting for my first custom keyboard to come in).