What is Touch Typing?

Touch typing is the practice of typing without having to look at your fingers or think about where the keys are. It relies on muscle memory and a known starting position. This known position is commonly referred to as the Home Row. Because you know where your fingers begin, you will build muscle memory over time that enables you to know what keys are adjacent to your fingers. Your fingers should not leave their zones and they should return to Home Row after every key stroke.

How to find Home Row

Place your 4 left fingers on ASDF and your 4 right fingers on JKL;. There should be a raised notch on the "F" and "J" keys under your left and right index fingers. Feeling for this notch is how you know your hands are in the home position without having to look.

How to tyle with Zone Control

With your fingers on home row, only press keys with the finger in the color coded zone. After pressing a key return the moved finger back to home row. When using the SHIFT key to capitalize letters, always press the SHIFT key using the opposite hand than the character you need to press. Use this same tactic and press the SPACE bar with the opposite hand of the last key pressed as well. This will help keep your typing rhythm.

Tips to improve Typing Speed

1. Actively try to press each key without looking first. This will help build muscle memory.
2. It is ok to go slow while learning. Focus on accuracy first, then pick up speed as you build muscle memory.
3. As you get more comfortable typing without looking, start scanning a word or two in advance to help eliminate pauses between words.