Describe your typing style...

[ASETNIOP]

Hi everybody,
I've realized that I don't quite adhere to the "traditional" method of touch-typing as it's taught, though I'm pretty close.  Here's the "standard" map for which fingers use which keys - we'll call this METHOD ZERO.

Left hand:
pinky: QAZ
ring: WSX
middle: EDC
index: RFVTGB

Right hand:
index: YHNUJM
middle: IK,
ring: OL.
pinky: P;/

Space bar: either thumb


Here's what I do - the biggest difference is the bottom row keys for my left hand, I pull them diagonally down and to the left instead of to the right; I just find it feels more natural for me. I also type the B using my right hand and only ever press space using the right thumb.  We'll call mine METHOD ONE. 

Left hand:
pinky: QA
ring: ZWS
middle: XED
index: CRFVTG

Right hand:
index: BYHNUJM
middle: IK,
ring: OL.
pinky: P;/

Space bar: right thumb ONLY.


How do YOU type?  If you do something different than the above described methods (and I'm sure many, possibly even most folks do), please share and give it a name!

[pyro]

I used to type all over the place on QWERTY, but still using all 10 fingers and not looking at the keyboard. I've read before that touch typing properly on qwerty doesn't make all that much sense and I obviously agree with that.

On Dvorak I now touch type properly most of the time, but do deviate slightly, which overall slows me down, but makes typing more comfortable at the same time. So in "but" I'd use my right ring finger to type the "t" ("k" in qwerty), because my whole right hand moved one key to the left to type "b" before.

This is all on a straight column keyboard (the TECK. The Kinesis Advantage pretty much forces you to type properly regardless of your preferences).

[badcop]

i had a very strict typing teacher in middle school who used to scream at people for using the wrong form and typing with the wrong fingers.  i can safely say i type in the "standard" map.

[Tym]

"Manly" I press everything hard and fast Usually make a lot I mistakes too :3

[davkol]

I used to cover one more column with my left index finger, when touch typing on QWERTY. Obviously—I'm left-handed. Apart from that, I did the same thing on the bottom row as you do, and I can't recall if I used right Shift at all.

Now, my typing technique on Colemak is... proper. The only deviations are on the number row because of my short fingers—I rarely use my pinkies there, but it's kind of an issue when switching between staggered and matrix layout, the latter is pretty much unforgiving in this area.

[CommunistWitchDr]

Been learning Colemak.

Left
-----
Pinkey- qaz backspace
Ring- wr
Middle- fsx
Index- ptcgdvb

Right
-----
Index- jhblnkm
Middle- ue,
Ring- yi.
Pinkey- ;o/'[]\ enter

[daerid]

I'm pretty much a standard touch-typist.

left pinky: 1 q a z l-shift control(caps) l-win
left ring: w s x 2
left middle: e d c 3
left index: r f c v t g b 4 5 6
right index: y h n u j m 7
right middle: i k , 8
right ring: o l . 9 - = backspace r-win
right pinky: p ; / [ ] ' \ enter r-shift r-win

left thumb: l-alt
right thumb: space r-alt

That's about right... might be some I missed.

[ksm123]

I'm pretty much a standard touch-typist too.

left pinky: Esc 1 q a z l-shift control(caps) l-win
left ring: 2 w r x
left middle: 3 f s c
left index: 4 p t v 5 g d b
right index: 6 j h k 7 l n m
right middle: 8 u e ,
right ring: 9 y i .
right pinky: 0 ; o / - [ ' = ] \ backspace enter r-shift

left thumb: space
right thumb: AltGr

I almost never use right Ctrl.
As you can deduce from letters layout, I've switched to Colemak layout, but after a month of using it, I'm still not comfortable with it. Fortunately I'm able to type fast enough in it for my work and posting here, and still getting better.

[vvp]

Standard key allocation to fingers (as it is taught). But I rarely use staggered keyboards so the standard is also the best for me.

[CPTBadAss]

I think I'm a standard ANSI touch typist except for the fact that I never use the the right shift or control.

[tipo33]

I hit the "b" key with either hand, apart form that I am a standard ISO QWERTY touch typist.  For Russian I use the phonetic YaWERT (яверт) layout.

[Turbo Slaab]

I'm a graceful pecker. )

[SpAmRaY]

I'm trying to figure out how to answer the question I'm not really sure what fingers I use to hit what keys. Maybe I need to get the security camera and record myself typing. And no I'm not trolling I'm serious.

[rowdy]

Chaotic.

[Mandolin]

Left hand: lazy
Right hand: overlord.

[nubbinator]

I'm a six finger, two thumb typist who occasionally hits a modifier key or something like the backspace key with his pinky.  Somehow I still manage to average 60WPM when I get into my flow when typing.

[noisyturtle]

8-fingered pecker with a thumb.

[nubbinator]

8-fingered pecker with a thumb.

You've got a weird pecker.

[Turbo Slaab]

8-fingered pecker with a thumb.

You've got a weird pecker.

TWSS!!!!!!

[esoomenona]

I touch the caps and things happen on the screen.

[phx]

[Grim Fandango]

I am a completely standard touch typist, with only three things I do differently

-I use the left index finger to hit the C key. Not sure when I started doing this. Was unaware of it until recently.
-I use the B key with either the left or right index finger depending on which key preceded it. I do not do it consciously, but I think I use the hand that is closest.
-I will sometimes use my left thumb to hit shift (huh?). I think it was caused by using my thumb to hit Z,X,C when gaming or something. It could also be a result of when I broke my pinky playing basketball. Again, this was not a conscious decision, it just kind of happened. I can refrain from doing it if I want to, but I really do not mind.

[GeoTang]

Pretty standard with mistakes that are probably from typing faster than I should.

[Infallible]

I'm a six finger, two thumb typist who occasionally hits a modifier key or something like the backspace key with his pinky.  Somehow I still manage to average 60WPM when I get into my flow when typing.

This but 90-110wpm depending on the day. I'm not sure how it would limit you that much honestly.

[inteli722]

Left hand:

Pinky: Q A and Control (capslock position)
Ring: Z X S ans W
Middle: E D and C
Pointer: F R V G B
===========
Right Hand:

Pinky: / ; ' [ ] \
Ring: P O L . ,
Middle: K I
Pointer: J U M N H Y
===========

Right thumb always hits space, and I have to look down for numbers...

[Paspie]

Even on my ThinkPad I can't type particularly fast, and even during normal usage I find myself going back and forth with mistakes and stuff...drives my mum mad. Still, its something I'm used to, so yeah. It gets even worse when I try to use other keyboards (particularly membranes without a scissor-switch).

[Internetlad]

I can only type QWERTY, but I can type it rather well. As far as the letters, everything is in place, but I have a bad habit of not using the right shift, control or alt as applicable (I seem to only use the left by moving my hand one row to the left, so capital Z would be pinky left shift, Z ring finger). I never learned to do numbers/symbols particularly well so I make a lot of mistakes there, but I do constistently try to replace my bad habits with good (when I took formal typing in high school, I never knew how to do numbers at all, but over time I forced myself to use proper finger assignments, and learned to touch-type row 1 to a good degree of accuracy.)

I still get confused about 567, and often use my left pointer for 7 and right pointer for 5, especially when typing 6,7

[lazerpointer]

Compulsive.... Extremely fast if I've got the sentence in my head already.

Also a bad part of my style is my left pinky gets little "proper" use besides shift / control. And the right shift is NEVER touched.

Again, just very impulsive / compulsive (I tend to edit my posts a lot... lol...)

[whiteduck]

im a fan of this thread since I found out I don't type "standard" hah:

Left hand:
pinky: a , control, shift
ring: wsqzx
middle: ed
index: RFVTGBC

Right hand:
index: YHNUJM.,
middle: IKLOLP/;' backspace
ring: enter...
pinky: right shift...

LOL!

[Internetlad]

FYI




I guess I type the 8 wrong too, that's middle finger for me, 7 is index.

[Tarzan]

I practice Zen typing.  Float my hands over the keys, hit random keys until I figure out where my hands are, then go from there.

Probably why I'm able to adjust quickly to all the varied keyboard layouts I've had on my desk lately.  IBM/Unicomp Model M's, 122-key terminal versions, ISO, ANSI, TKL variants (Noppoo Choc Mini and TG3-82), SkiData...

I touch-type most of the time, but sometimes I'm at a loss for words and find myself looking at the keyboard as a prompt for what to type next.   

[Piro]

Here's what I do - the biggest difference is the bottom row keys for my left hand, I pull them diagonally down and to the left instead of to the right

I do this too. It's much more comfortable and promotes better wrist angles. Trying to stagger your hands as the keyboard looks is folly!

I use a custom layout based on Dvorak with a wide mod on a normal (staggered) keyboard.

[Dubsgalore]

I hammer out on the keys, bottoming out on every keystroke.
I've always typed on ANSI
i used my right thumb for the spacebar 
i really push down hard and go as quick as i can..not sure my current wpm but it's getting better and better

the lighter the switch, the more typos i make. On my DAS with browns i constantly was making typos...let every few letters.
I get faster and more accurate with everyday i have been typing on mechs

[Rendom]

Bottom out, very hard smashing. : p

[Alessandro]

Something like this:


http://www.infinitelooper.com/?v=5pa6SGYWADU&p=n#/7;8

[dndlmx]

Um basic qwerty. No fancy stuff. I can touch type, but need to look at number keys periodically. Which fingers access them, can be all over the place. Sometimes need to look function keys. Trying to get used to HHKB layout now, so x2.

[SpAmRaY]

The more I think about my typing style I realize how little I really type. Most of my keyboard entry is commands that are are really short

But I try to be very light on the keyboard and not bottom out.

[Hazel]

I used to be a chaotic tangle of fingers flying across the keyboard! 

I would peck furiously with my index and middle fingers, sometimes with my ring fingers, rarely with my pinkies, and never with anything resembling technique.  For me, typing was a frantic dance, always on the brink of disaster. My fingers were guided entirely by muscle-memory - I could type without looking, but only if I didn't think about typing.  Any time I lost my momentum, I needed to look down until I got the fingers flying again.  I was a destroyer of backspace keys.

This year I learned to touch-type on the Colemak layout. It's like I suddenly grew up.  My typing is now calm, serene, and mostly and error-free.

But I still cheat by hitting 'C' with my index finger.   

[Riddixk51PB]

i rage type in the "standard" map

[Photoelectric]

Thanks to my high school typing class (on loud, buzzy, very hard to actuate electric typewriters), I touch-type without looking most of the time.  In the class, I did not learn the number line very well and had to look often to check myself, but everything else was pretty solid.  It was actually playing games (like MMOs) later on that solidified my knowledge of the number row   I find that I mostly hit Space Bar with my left thumb, and my right thumb rests just under the Space Bar much of the time, providing support for my right hand. 

I enjoy typing softly without bottoming out, and I'm actually wondering if having a tactile bump has been a bit of a distraction...  Considering trying a soft linear switch now (MX Reds).

I'm useless with numpad (never need it), so I'm doing away with my full-sized keyboard.

[dndlmx]

In the class, I did not learn the number line very well and had to look often to check myself, but everything else was pretty solid.

I think that's pretty common. To this day, I can't 100% remember which symbols correspond to which number, either (for shift layer).

[Sniping]

Bottom out, very hard smashing. : p

Pretty much how I typed until I started buying expensive keyboards haha

[Photoelectric]

The only issue I have with touch-typing is that I became so dependent on knowing my reference points (F and J keys).  Makes it difficult to play games that have you put your hands on the number row (like MMOs).  I feel unwieldy doing more complex combinations that way, like alt + shift + number or what not.  And keys closer to the space bar, like c, x, z.  Basically irritating that I can't "touch play" as well as I can "touch type".

[Masterchief79]

I learned 10-finger writing pretty much by myself, without a teacher, so... I tried to make a list like everyone else, but my writing style depends to much on the words I'm typing. For some, I use my left pinky on Y (German layout = swapped Y and Z), for others I even use my middle finger on Y. Same with S: Sometimes with Ring, sometimes with index finger.

PS: I got to about 125 words per minute with this so I guess it can't be that bad^^ Strange when typing other languages (as this one) though ._.

[Ominorvas]

I learnt to type while playing games, I just type as feels natural to me and it makes me type really fast, although looking at people typing on youtube i get the impression that I'm doing it wrong

[Masterchief79]

Forget to add something: I don't use right Ctrl and Shift. I mean, not at all, the right shift on my QPad has been pressed maybe 5 times in half a year.

[Photoelectric]

I never use the right Ctrl either, unless I'm not actively typing and just need to go back to my keyboard and press Ctrl (then I choose whichever is closest, with my index finger).  I do use the right Shift for modifying any key on the right side of the keyboard.  I should add, my function keys have historically been rather far from my fingers (significant gaps on my older keyboards), so I never learned to use them.  I always have to look at my keyboard to use F1-F12.

[iAmAhab]

I've never bothered to learn myself touch typing. I primarily type using my two index fingers, but sometimes I manage to incorporate my other fingers. I use the right shift key and the left winkey. I always bottom out hard.

EDIT: Can anybody recommend a good way to learn touch typing?

[davkol]

EDIT: Can anybody recommend a good way to learn touch typing?

Just do it. Start right now. Set an image of the keyboard layout as your wallpaper, optionally cover your hands on the keyboard with a towel, and type. That's how I learned to touch type.

Another way is to do boring lessons in some specialized software or online, but it's sooo boring. Just type a bit more in something like Amphetype or play Typing of the Dead.

[Jack]

I jackhammer with all proper finger placement in Dvorak, except for not strictly shifting with the opposite hand. With just about any keyboard but a Model M I'm afraid I'll break something eventually. This HHKB isn't long for the world.