One-handed words

In ordinary text the hands change over after about every second letter. One hand can line up its next movement while the other is still pressing, and that alternation is what makes typing fast.

Some words, however, fall entirely to one hand. Then there is no alternation and the same hand has to make every movement, one after another.

left: database    right: opinion

Such words come out slower and collect more mistakes. They are also the most honest measure you have: if one hand is less practised, it shows up here at once, because the other hand cannot help out.

When the gap is wide, drill the hand that lags rather than both equally. Usually it is the left one, and above all its ring and little finger.

Practise

• Left little finger
• Left ring finger
• Left middle finger
• Left index finger
• Right index finger
• Right middle finger
• Right ring finger
• Right little finger

The drill mixes words for both hands. Notice which hand's words trip you up more. For the opposite case, where the hands change over after every letter, see the next lesson.

Touch typing lessons

Introduction

• Where speed comes fromFast typing is not about fast fingers but about overlapping movements and learned sequences.

Home position

• The home rowEight keys the hand never has to leave. Every keystroke starts here, and the finger comes back here.
• Home row wordsThe first real words, typed without moving a single finger off the home row.
• The extra index finger keysG and H are the only home row letters that make an index finger step aside.

Letters

• The top rowThe finger goes up and slightly left to the key above its home key, the hand stays where it is.
• The bottom rowThe most awkward of the three rows, and for that reason the one most worth drilling.
• The little finger keysThe little finger has the most keys and the least strength.
• All the letters togetherThree rows at once, in real words. This is where typing actually begins.
• Same-finger sequencesTwo letters typed with one and the same finger are the slowest thing in typing, and worth a drill of their own.
• One-handed wordsWords typed entirely with one hand. This is where the weaker hand shows itself.
• Alternating handsWords where the hands change over after every letter. This is where the rhythm comes from.

Capitals, punctuation and digits

• Capital lettersA capital always uses the Shift key on the opposite hand. That is the whole rule.
• PunctuationA comma or a full stop is part of the word, not something beside it.
• DigitsThe number row is far away and you cannot see it without looking down. The only thing that helps is a fixed finger for every digit.

Speed and accuracy

• Frequent letter pairsSpeed comes from a pair becoming one movement, not from a single keystroke getting faster.
• Frequent wordsA couple of hundred words cover a large part of what you will ever type. They are worth a drill of their own.
• An even rhythmAn even pace beats bursts and pauses, even when it feels slower.
• Accuracy before speedA wrong letter costs more than a slow one. In the game too.
• Whole sentencesA capital at the start, a full stop at the end, and everything you have learned put to work at once.

Touch typing