I personally think that it's harder to type with the left hand in a comfortable position.

Dvorak doesn't really challenge the left either.  So it's probably got more work to do.

When I look down at my left hand I find it really hard to type with a straight wrist.  Due to the backwards stagger on the keys.

I think the angle mod would help here.  D and R on Qwerty taking the same finger.  And C moving to X's position, which will also move the B in by a key.   Which looks to be an awkward key to get to.  Don't think this is possible on a US keyboard.

Or use an ergonomic keyboard.

@pinkyache - I actually have my left wrist positioned just like my right, angled in as opposed to angled out like it is "supposed" to be.  I type keys on the left side of the keyboard just like the ones on the right.  ))))((((

My index finger presses C,V, and sometimes B (depending on the word), middle presses X, ring presses Z, and pinkie only presses shift.  It is a more natural position for me than trying to force my wrist to angle out.  This guy does it, too.  Pressing the keys on the lower left row is a non-issue with this technique.

http://www.onehandkeyboard.org/standard … placement/

@DreymaR - that looks like it would really slow a lot of the vowel digraphs typing them all with the right pinkie. (YO OI IO OY) It also leaves the left pinkie almost unused. 

Perhaps I will learn to tolerate the awkward Dvorak F and L

To touch type, ideally your wrists should be floating a bit on top of the keyboards and moving slightly, keeping the wrists moving up and down and using only your fingers to press the key.

If you are resting your wrists at one place and twisting your wrists to reach the desired keys, it may create RSI.

Colemak uses the left hand more than Dvorak, so the additional workload maybe part of the problem. Not mention the added stress of switching process.

For me, I am left handed, so sometimes I have the wrist sore, but only on the right hand. When it occurs, I switch the mouse to the left to alleviate some workload to my left, preferred hand.

You may want to try a mechanical keyboard as well, to get better typing feel and comfort.

Thanks for the suggestions, though. Colemak has started to grow on me, so I think I will stick it out for another month and see if anything improves.  I also bought an ergonomic keyboard, maybe that will help, too.

Well, I tried switching back to Dvorak and it just felt awkward what with the placement of L S and F, also the UP/PU digram.  However, I miss the TH lol.

I think I will give colemak a couple months before dismissing it.

One thing I have noticed is that my rate of improvement with Colemak is much slower than Dvorak.  I am not sure if that is due to the lack of alternation on Colemak or muscle memory of Dvorak as it was my first experience with touch typing.  Likely both.  My accuracy was much higher with Dvorak because with Colemak  I get into habits with rolls like "oul" and when "oun" or "out" come along, I still roll out "oul".  Then again, I still sometimes type "S" when I am meaning to type "E" (dvorak position for E in a colemak layout).

For me, at least, hand alternation really helped accuracy.  I suppose at the higher tier of speeds when all letter combos are practically subconscious, it is a non-issue and where Colemak and rolls are supposed to shine, but as for early progression (0-60) Dvorak seems easier and came faster.  With Colemak, I think accuracy is the key to work on for faster progression, where as with Dvorak my accuracy was great and I would just type to improve.

Interesting differences between the two layouts.

Dvorak and Colemak are not on the same level to compare, since you are already proficient in Dvorak when switching to Colemak.

No wonder that your Dvorak speed and accuracy is better.

Glad you've found something that works for you! :)

Using the Wide mod, the Backspace key is closer so I find myself using both the Caps and Back keys now. I often hit the Back key with my ring finger.

If I were a Colemak typist on an ANSI layout then I wouldn't shift the left bottom row, but I would rotate it instead:

ZXCVB => XCVBZ

or:

ZXCVB => XCVZB

I've added that shift for ANSI keyboards in my xkb patch, under the model name 'pc104angle-z'. If you want to combine it with a Wide mod you'll have to comment out/in a line pair in the keycodes/evdev file.

I think it's a good idea for some but vaskozl's points are also valid. I disagree that it defeats the purpose of the hotkey row: Z is still in the vicinity and it's the only hotkey that shifts fingers while XCVB stay where you'll expect them once you're used to typing on the Angle mod (unless you blind-hotkey based on the old distances). So I give you the option and the choice is yours. Myself, I prefer getting an ISO keyboard even though I'll ideally want one with US key markings and those are rare. I like configurable boards like the Unicomp.

I love the angle and wide mods, but I agree that they make life on other machines slightly more challenging. The point about colemak in full comfort on linux doesn't apply to me though, as my patch implements the ergo mods as keyboard *models* so you can use any *layout* combined with them without much hassle (and make them global for all users in case you've remodeled your keyboard accordingly like I tend to do)!