When I was taught typing over 40 years ago, they taught that you were supposed to use the thumb of
the opposite side of the last letter typed, to press the space bar.
Is that still true in Qwerty.? In Colemak does the difference in keys affect the dynamic.
Anyone come up with a formula about proper Thumbing?
Just did a search on the Internet and so much conflicting information.
this post on quora was interesting.
John Buginas, I touch type very fast
Written May 14, 2015
Originally Answered: Typing: Which thumb do you use to hit the spacebar?
I use my right thumb for the space bar. I wish I had been taught to use either thumb, as I have worn out the cartilage in my right thumb from 30 years of typing and will need surgery.
That guy is typing wrong if he has worn out his cartilage. Don't listen to him. Take advice from healthy people who are typing fast and comfortably, not people who are injured. They are injured for a reason: probably poor technique
I'd never heard of this "alternating thumb" technique for space before. I doubt that many people do that. According to some Microsoft research, supposedly 90% of people use the right thumb only.
I don't think the argument for it is very convincing anyway. The thumb is extremely strong, and I'd say it's equally easy to hit keys on either side of keyboard both before and after hitting space, regardless of which thumb you use.
Plus, using one specific thumb for space becomes very worthwhile if you then start using your other thumb for something else (e.g. on a split space bar, or using AltGr with the Wide Mod)
Using Colemak-DH with Seniply.
I think I use only the right thumb for space. I use the left thumb for Extend Enter! :-)
I, like Steve, can't imagine that it matters much or that alternating would help speed or comfort. I'd think that to the contrary, having to think about which thumb to use next would trip you up more often than not! I often get into silly situations with Shift that way.
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I'm trying to re-learn to use my left thumb for space instead of right thumb. There are couple of reasons for that. First, I feel a little discomfort in my right thumb and just want to unload it, Second, I'm thinking of using right thumb for AltGr remapped to Shift modifier.
According Amphetype statistic I'm having so far, Space is the most used key, it is used 1.7 times more than "e".
This is probably the only key which I pressed automatically even at the time of hunt-and-peck typing in qwerty. So re-learing is hard, I just keep pressing it with the right thumb without thinking. When I start to force myself to use left thumb for space, typing speed drops to 10-15 WPS right away. Probably I should to re-learn by using a keyboard with split spacebar or so.
So I've been keeping a list of errors I make, or words that I'm slow at.
I'm noticing these spacing errors when I'm at 110wpm+
"th e"
"an d"
"fo ryou"
"doin gthe"
"goin g"
"o f"
Do you see a pattern?
In ALL of those cases, I type the space AFTER a right hand letter and before a left hand letter. (qwerty)
I also only use right thumb for Space.
Something is happening here. I don't really know what. My guess is that my right hand just continues to roll inwards to the thumb, pressing it a key too early. I'm not yet sure about the solution. Should I use left thumb, and if so when?
EDIT:
I think what is happening is that all of those grams are common word endings:
th
an
oin
So I'm trained to quickly space after those
I'm trying to re-learn to use my left thumb for space instead of right thumb. There are couple of reasons for that. First, I feel a little discomfort in my right thumb and just want to unload it, Second, I'm thinking of using right thumb for AltGr remapped to Shift modifier.
According Amphetype statistic I'm having so far, Space is the most used key, it is used 1.7 times more than "e".
This is probably the only key which I pressed automatically even at the time of hunt-and-peck typing in qwerty. So re-learing is hard, I just keep pressing it with the right thumb without thinking. When I start to force myself to use left thumb for space, typing speed drops to 10-15 WPS right away. Probably I should to re-learn by using a keyboard with split spacebar or so.
Sound like a good idea.
Relearning space: ironically, I went through the reverse process. I had always used my left thumb for space, and had to retrain to use the right thumb after getting my split-spacebar keyboard. As I recall, it did slow me down for a short period, but it was still fairly quick and easy to switch, only really took a day or two.
Using Colemak-DH with Seniply.
