Who Can Space With Both Thumbs?

[Keylamity]

I type spaces with my right thumb only, which really speeds up the process of producing a one-spot shine on the keyboard.  So I decided I'd try to start spacing with the left, y'know, to space out the wear and tear and make it less impacting on the board.

It's like trying to consciously make your heart beat. All of my keyboarding is dramatically affected by trying to key with the other thumb....I lose like 50wpm.

I give up.  

Think it's doable? Try it.

I'd like know though, is it impossible to do?  I know there are people who can and do use both thumbs, but has anyone ever gone from being a uni-thumber to dual-thumbs successfully?

[daerid]

I've tried this numerous times. With the exact same results as yourself. Very frustrating to say the least. What I'd like to do is train myself to alternate thumbs each time i needed to hit the space bar.

But I think that most people only thumb the space bar with one hand.

[Tony]

I think we always press the space with the stronger hand. I am left handed, so I use left thumb.

Have you tried to write with both hands? Although it is doable, is it necessary?

[Wallach]

I'm the same way, man. Same with a few keys that I don't hit in the standard touch typing style - "p" with my right ring finger, "b" with my right index finger, "c" with my left index finger. I've tried changing my habits but it is frustratingly hard, so I just go with it. I still type around ~120 WPM in QWERTY so I don't bother messing with it anymore.

[BiNiaRiS]

haha, i never even realized that my right thumb is my space-bar thumb.

i do often change up Y and B though based on where my index fingers are right before i need to type a Y or a B

[hemflit]

A friend of mine solves these problems by biting himself on the offending finger (in your case right thumb) when ever he catches himself doing the thing he's trying to avoid doing. No exceptions. He says that can wean him off any habit.

But IMHO shinying up the spacebar is not enough reason to go through this. If you thought it would make you type faster or more comfortably, sure. But the spacebar is just a piece of plastic. There, I said it.

[elef]

I tried to do this in this post. It sure feels weird. I still hit the spacebar with my right thumb like 30% of the time and make a bunch of typos while typing like 30wpm slower than usual. I'm sure I could get used to it in a few weeks if I really wanted, though. My spacebar is not that close to my heart, so I'm not gonna try.

[xwhatsit]

Get an M Shiny keys? Pah!

[RiGS]

I'm right handed, yet I use my left thumb.

[redpill]

You want them to start biting young children?

[nebiki]

i use left thumb/right index depending which hand i typed the last key with.
examples:

ten - n = right hand, so left thumb = space bar.
twelve - e = left hand, so right index finger = space bar.

i actually never noticed this before, thanks for bringing this up.


actually, when typing this i've noticed it's not that easy. sometimes i still use the thumb even if the last character was typed with my left hand. i guess it depends on if i know which word i'll type after the space bar. and no, i'm not slow, about 110 wpm.

[Zet]

I press my space bar with my right index finger,

[False_Dmitry_II]

No I've never tried that. I'm actually ambidextrous but I always use my right thumb anyway.

[Tony]

Hopefully in the future the Space bar will be splitted, so that we can type another key with our thumbs.

[baller1308]

I'm in the same boat and predominately use my right thumb to type spaces.  But, obviously when I game I use my left.  So my suggestion, start gaming and jump a lot to even out the shine

[mmmty]

I'm right-handed but I spacebar with my left thumb 100% of the time. I guess it's how you started when you first learn how to type. Being able to alternate would make it faster but it's probably too late for me now.

[RAICHU]

I'm right handed, yet I use my left thumb.

 
Same. :/

[elef]

Being able to alternate would make it faster

I don't think so. The thumb is so far away from the rest of the action, I think that typing the letters and hitting the spacebar are mutually unaffected by each other.

[TheMightyGoat]

I alternate between my left thumb and right index finger depending on where my hands are at the time. I paid attention just now, typing this, and used each several times - not sure which I use more.

I'm right handed, by the way.

[mmmty]

I have a good example. Think of a boxer. Is it faster to punch with a left and another left or is it faster to punch with a left follow by a right? I can hit the spacebar with my right thumb as I release the key I hit with one of my left fingers and vise versa. Since I have to enter my password many times at work, I came up with a password that alternate both hands. mancow8$ is faster than Password! Now you just have to find out where I work  : )

[mmmty]

I don't think so. The thumb is so far away from the rest of the action, I think that typing the letters and hitting the spacebar are mutually unaffected by each other.

 
I have a good example. Think of a boxer. Is it faster to punch with a left and another left or is it faster to punch with a left follow by a right? I can hit the spacebar with my right thumb as I release the key I hit with one of my left fingers and vise versa. Since I have to enter my password many times at work, I came up with a password that alternate both hands. mancow8$ is faster than Password! Now you just have to find out where I work  : )

[CurtisLeon]

Rather hard to do for me, being as how half of my spacebar is a backspace key.

[Surly73]

I'm a right thumber when typing, left when gaming.  I also seem to exclusively use the left hand modifiers (SHIFT, CTRL, ALT)

[BiNiaRiS]

Haha, I talked to my buddy about this the other day. We both use the left shift only My right pinky literally doesn't know where the shift is.

I'm a right thumber when typing, left when gaming.  I also seem to exclusively use the left hand modifiers (SHIFT, CTRL, ALT)

Sent from my EVO

[Wallach]

I have a good example. Think of a boxer. Is it faster to punch with a left and another left or is it faster to punch with a left follow by a right? I can hit the spacebar with my right thumb as I release the key I hit with one of my left fingers and vise versa. Since I have to enter my password many times at work, I came up with a password that alternate both hands. mancow8$ is faster than Password! Now you just have to find out where I work  : )

This would be more relevant if your thumb had any other keys to hit besides space bar, or you ever really hit the space bar more than once before hitting another key.

[mmmty]

I guess this is a case for the MythBusters. At the very least it should make your spacebar hand less fatigue having the other hand sharing the load.

[chongyixiong]

I'm right handed and I space bar on the left too.

But I switch between them interchangeably when I'm conscious about it as I don't want it to be shineeeeeyyy

[hyperlinked]

I think we're all going to assume that your dominant hand is the reason why you choose to space with your left thumb or your right thumb, but it's possible that there are cultural factors in play too. In hockey, it's more common for American players to shoot right handed, but in most other areas of the world, people have a bias toward shooting left handed.

I've noticed that one person here mentioned that he's a lefty thumber when gaming and a right thumber otherwise. It might be that people who have grown up on FPS games that use WASD controls and a mouse are more likely to space with the left thumb since they get so used to it from gaming. Those of us who grew up with Atari Sticks and Zork wouldn't have had these experiences early on.

I'm right handed and my habits are pretty consistent with right handed people in most areas, except one. I'm a southpaw when doing martial arts. I'm not sure how I ended up that way, but it could be that the first martial arts class I took was three months of Wah-Lum Kung Fu (Praying Mantis style) which does a lot of parrying with the weak hand and a counter strike with the strong hand. I went on to other martial arts, but it's possible that the three month intro I had set me up to be a southpaw.

[BababooeyHTJ]

Think body parts.

 
I couldn't reach. :tsk:

[Silens]

I'm right handed; I only press the spacebar with my right hand when I'm typing English (QWERTY), but alternate when I am typing Korean (두벌식).

For shift, I also only use my left hand when typing English and alternate when typing Korean.