typing speed
 

Any suggestions on how to increase typing speed? I want to get certain projects done quicker so I can spend more time working on my tennis game.

I’m stuck at 30 wpm and want to get up to 45 or 50, any suggestions are appreciated.

a lot of it is just muscle memory and knowing the words. i think anyone that can touch type would be around 40-50. 20-30 is what some of hunt and peck type friends do.

you can try looking it up online for free programs, but knowing the word and doing it repeatedly is traditional way of typing faster. take for instance how long it takes you to type your username and password, probably faster than 30wpm because you do it so often.

Typing is like tennis my fellow topspin loving friend! It just takes practice. The most useful semester of my life was a typing class in high school. I hated it at the time but I'm a solid 50 WPM typist now.

You MUST be able to do it without looking at the keys.

thanks for the suggestions ...... :)

Try incorporating a few words automatically, like the simple "the", and go onto more and more words that just type automatically without conscious effort. As said, keep typing, keep the fingers loose by tapping them when not typing (one at a time, in sequence, then backwards in sequence, like a piano player), and soon you'll be typing around 150 per minute, .....with a few dumb mistakes, of course.:):)
My sister worked as a temp (secretary) and typed about 220 wpm.
I always tapped my fingers, and go about 120 with lots of mistakes nowadaze.

What's your current setup? You need a desktop with a comfortable keyboard.

B.S.
 

220 WPM, laugh. Even 120 is absurd for a non-professional. No way you can even approach 120 "with lots of mistakes". I'm sorry, but you really seem to have no clue about typing speed. The world record is only 216 WPM:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Words_per_minute

"The fastest typing speed ever, 216 words per minute, was achieved by Stella Pajunas-Garnand from Chicago in 1946 in one minute on an IBM electric.

and

"An average professional typist types usually in speeds of 50 to 80 wpm, while some positions can require 80 to 95 (usually the minimum required for dispatch positions and other time-sensitive typing jobs), and some advanced typists work at speeds above 120."




Personally, when I was in college and I used to type for several hours every day writing reports, my record was around 95 WPM (which is REALLY fast) and I can now regularly type approximately 80 WPM, including corrections of an error or two every few sentences. The bottom line is that you cannot increase your typing skills without good technique (using the proper fingers for the proper keys) and practice. There are several online typing tutors, as well as commercially-available practice tutor software packages to use if you want to increase your typing speed.

Hunt and peck won't cut it. You need to slow down, learn the proper touch-typing technique, then gradually increase your speed once you learn where the keys are and which fingers to use.

But honestly, unless you type constantly for several hours every single day, you're going to be stuck in the 40-50 WPM range, which isn't really all that bad. For reference, 90+ WPM is ridiculously fast, having your fingers moving at full speed constantly, making very few, IF ANY, errors. If I'm typing very short (not complex) words, with no numbers, and I'm feeling really good that day, then I can manage 90-100 WPM. But otherwise, I'm in the 60-80 WPM range. And that's fast. Really fast. Trust me.

My friend has been a computer programmer for 20 years and he can type about 80-90 WPM on average. And he has done that every single day, for 8-10 hours per day, for a living. Draw your own conclusions.

What tests are they using? From random typing tests online I've gotten results around 120 as well, which is maybe what LeeD is referring to. But I guess those are easier than the ones you are talking about. Is there some kind of official test the professionals use?

I type over 120+ wpm. There is no such thing as 220+ wpm. If you want to type faster you need to learn the proper way to type. If you are only typing 30 wpm you aren't using all your fingers. Like tennis, make sure you have the proper technique, and then practice, practice, practice. You should be able to type anything without looking at the keyboard.

Here is a sample typing test I took.
125 test instructions
http://www.typingtest.com/testdone.j...err=3&hits=642
133 enchanted typewriter
http://www.typingtest.com/testdone.j...err=2&hits=676

^Cool test.

http://www.typingtest.com/testdone.j...err=1&hits=633

Gotta say, I am impressed with the doubting nellies.
Nice some of you back up my "120 with lots of mistakes". I learned in 8th grade, got A's both semesters. But don't play piano.
Sis played piano since 3rd grade, always the fastest typer of any group, class, or workplace. She'd cruise into new jobs, and in 3 days, was hired for full time, except she didn't want to work full time.
Me, wasted semi talent. I got into sports, but did type group term papers in college. I didn't do research, only typed the papers from notes.

My mother's job was all about speed typing, and she's clocked in at 135 WPM with only 1 error I believe. She's a ridiculously fast typer! Myself on the other hand is only at 70 on a slow day, up to around 100 on a good day!

-Fuji

Man, don't like these tests. Some of them don't even make grammatical sense. Totally throws me off.

Agreed. I just scored 69 at 98% accuracy( http://tinyurl.com/3g3zzdk) typing as fast as I could possibly manage, and I can definitely type significantly faster when I'm not copying. I'd estimate an equivalent speed to Fujii's - 70 when I'm just lazing it about on a regular day, upwards of 100 when desperately finishing a term paper in a caffeine-fueled frenzy at 3 AM. The less conscious activity I can plausibly devote to typing without suddenly forgetting to breathe, the quicker I type :mrgreen:

What bugs me most is the punctuation; sometimes the structure of what you're copying in these tests is just ridiculously and needlessly cluttered. They are internally congruent, however - I scored exactly the same in this 3-minute on astronauts as I did in a 1-minute on Aesop's fables.

Have you ever tried using an optimized keyboard layout? The commonly used QUERTY layout was originally designed to encourage a homogenuous slow typing speed to prevent the keys of a typewrither to be stuck. Since the existence of modern PCs this problem no longer exists, still the original keyboard design has never really been replaced. The design however remains to be rather inefficient (e.g. the most common letter in 'e' not being on the main row) and forces you to move your fingers very long distances. Nowadays numerous better keyboard layouts exist, the most famous being the DVORAK layout http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvorak_Simplified_Keyboard. For example Barbara Blackburn, the world typing speed record holder used a Dvorak keyboard.


I started using another layout after I hadn't really learned typing with 10 fingers after years of using a computer. Within two week, I was able to type faster with fewer errors and no looking on my fingers.
I don't think this step is necessarily a good idea for everyone, especially if you have already put great effort into practicing typing with the qwerty system. But otherwise, you might want to give it a shot...

I type much, much faster than most people. I think part of the reason for my speed is wrist position. I don't rest the pads my hands on the desk. My hands always "float" over the keyboard. This technique probably comes from playing the piano. But my hands always "float" over the keyboard.

A few tips that I think help my speed:

1) Don't rest your hands on the desk or a wrist rest. Let them float over the keyboard.

2) Do not intentionally try to type letter by letter. Start to feel the shapes of the words. Don't repeat letters in your mind as you read -- such as "T-y-p-e t-h-i-s s-e-n-t-e-n-c-e."

3) Read the words and transcribe as you read each word.

Overall, just keep practicing.

Here's my results doing "The Enhanted Typewriter". My normal typing speed is around 100. If I really push it, I'll go to 120. Anything faster and I lose way too much accuracy to be effective.

Oh, also. Get a good keyboard. I use the same style at work and at home. It is old school, but I still think it is the best keyboard ever made for keyboarding -- other than the Selectric itself:

This is a Unicomp clone of the original Model M 42H1292U. I highly recommend it for anyone.

Just took the astronaut test which had a lot of quotes in it that made it tough. Got 61 WPM with 4 errors which knock me down to 57 WPM. Not bad, I've gotten as high as 70 on typing tests.

It's been a weak era since Stella Panjunas-Garnand retired.

Yup, that's the gist of it. Talking smack is extremely satisfying, but you have to be quick if you want to win.