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The Secret to Typing Without Looking at Your Fingers

Last updated on August 29th, 2022 typingcom

As Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps stepped up to the block in Beijing, he felt confident he was to win the gold medal.

But just seconds after his dive water started to seep into his goggles, and pretty soon they were completely flooded!

For most of us, that would be cause for panic. But Phelps wasn’t phased as he swam his final two laps completely blinded to set a world record in 200 meter butterfly!

His muscles didn’t need his eyes to make stroke after stroke. They already knew exactly what to do.

What was his secret? Muscle memory.

Phelps has practiced swimming butterfly in an olympic sized pool so many times that his body had built up muscle memory on what to do.

It’s the same concept that allows you to jump on a bike after not riding for years and pedal away. Once you’ve trained yourself, you never forget.

The same concept can be put to work to learn to type very fast and without consciously thinking about it.

Despite its name, muscle memory isn’t stored in your muscles, it’s stored in a part of your brain called the cerebellum. Although the cerebellum only makes up 10% of your brain volume, it contains over 50% of the brain’s neurons.

When you learn a new movement, your brain creates a memory of the pieces that make up that movement and stores it in your cerebellum. Scientists call this motor learning.

Committing typing to muscle memory frees you from devoting mental energy to thinking about each letter as you type it. You’ll be able to focus on the content of what you’re typing rather than thinking about (or looking for) the next key to press. When your fingers just know where to go, it’s very relaxing.

Want to learn how to build up your own muscle memory in typing? Follow these 3 basic steps—

Step 1: Lay the Foundation

Motor learning doesn’t happen just by performing an action once, instead it occurs in stages.

It’s just like learning to ride a bike. First, you learn how to position yourself and where your feet and hands should go.

Then you practice individual movements, such as peddling with someone else guiding the bike so that you don’t have to worry about balance or steering.

Once you’ve gotten that down you can practice with balancing yourself, and then steering, until you can eventually put it all together.

That’s why in our typing lessons, we break the process down for you.

First, we teach you where each of your fingers go, and the best movements to take to press each key.

You see, each letter has a finger that is responsible for it, and you don’t want to mix them up.

You wouldn’t change between your feet to press down on the right pedal of your bike, would you?

Once you’ve mastered that, you can build on it by practicing words. And then by gradually building up your typing speed.

Step 2. Correct Your Mistakes

From the beginning, it’s important to take the time to do things right. After all, you want your muscle memory to deliver proper technique to your fingertips, not bad habits you accidentally stumbled into.

If Michael Phelps had bad swimming habits written into his muscles, you can bet that they would have all come out when he was distracted by his leaking goggles.

Practicing the wrong way can be dangerous, as bad habits tend to crop up when you’re under pressure. And they are much harder to correct later.

To prevent that from happening, our system tracks your problem keys as you learn! So we can help you retrain yourself early on to avoid repeating the same mistakes and hardwiring them into muscle memory.

To take advantage of this, we recommend you to take a custom practice lesson made up for your problem keys at least once a week.

You’ll find this at the top of your lessons page, just click “Practice” below your Problem Keys:

Step 3: Strengthen Your Muscle Memory

Each repetition slightly strengthens your brain’s memory of “the right way” to perform the task and consolidate the results into muscle memory. Thus, the more repetitions you’ve performed, the more your brain has to analyze.

Put simply—the more you practice, the stronger your muscle memory will be.

More practice also helps cement what details constitute the action and which are extraneous, environmental factors.

For example, a different keyboard may have a slightly different feel, but the motions to reach particular keys don’t change. Your brain will identify what matters and is integral to accomplishing the task.

Each practice session reinforces and strengthens the stored pattern, making it ever easier to recall. Eventually, you won’t even have to consciously think about it; your body just knows what to do.

World-class coaches have been using the principles of muscle memory to help develop phenomenal athletes, like Michael Phelps, for decades.

You too can harness the power of the muscle memory to help you unlock the skill of typing fast. And you won’t have to pay a professional coach, because you can do it for free with us!

Or, really drive that practice in with one of our fun typing games.

The fastest typists in the world

Last updated on August 29th, 2022 typingcom

Fun Facts

Typing speed in the age of the typewriter

Rose L. Fritz was just 17 years old when she won the world’s first official speed typing contest.

The World Typewriting Championship held in Chicago in 1906, catapulted the young girl to fame to become the most recognized typist in the world.

From *The New York Times*, March 7, 1908 – courtesy of Oz. Typewriter

Word of her skill traveled so far and wide that when she arrived in London, the Prince of Wales himself asked to see her type.

In just 60 seconds she typed up a 130-word letter for him. Perfectly punctuated and without mistakes.

The prince was so impressed that he asked Rose for her signature on it to keep as a souvenir.

Rose won her first title with a typing speed of 82 words per minute, an impressive feat given how much more difficult typewriters are to type on than today’s keyboards.

Though Rose held her impressive title for 4 years running, she was eventually toppled off the list by H.O. Blaisdell. Nonetheless, she remained a legend and continued to travel around the world to demonstrate her incredible skill.

Which is the fastest keyboard?

Nearly a century later, another female typist rose to fame as the fastest typist in the world.

The year was 1985, when Barbara Blackburn became listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for her speed of 170 wpm. She was even able to manage an average of 150 wpm over the course of 50 minutes. Now that’s endurance!

Even more shocking to spectators than her speed was the fact that Barbara was not using your typical QWERTY keyboard. Instead she typed using the relatively unknown Dvorak keyboard.

This keyboard was developed by a Dr. Dvorak, who spent over a decade studying the English language and hand physiotherapy to design what he believed to be a better keyboard. One on which it would supposedly be easier to learn and faster to type.

Barbara claims that she had always struggled with typing in school with the QWERTY keyboard, and it wasn’t until she discovered the Dvorak keyboard that she was able to reach such remarkable speeds.

Her top speed ever recorded is an astounding 212 wpm.

Who is the fastest typist today?

With the onset of modern-day computers, more competitions and records have been held online through typing apps and other models.

While these records may be harder to verify and not as official, they still hold testament to the impressive typing speeds that are accomplished today with the modern keyboard.

On one online typing platform, Brazilian Guilherme Sandrini reached a whopping typing speed of 241.82 wpm.

Sean Wrona set another record at the Ultimate Typing Championship with a speed of 256 wpm. Wrona has also unofficially beaten Blackburn’s endurance typing record by maintaining a speed of 174 wpm over a 50-minute duration. Though this record is not recognized by Guinness because it wasn’t monitored by their team.

Both of these incredible speed typers used the standard QWERTY to achieve these top speeds.

How fast are YOU?

Have you ever wondered how fast you can type? Find out with our free online typing test here.

If you start a free account, we’ll not only help you keep track of your progress over time, but we’ll even show you which letters you mess up on most. You can then take practice lessons on just those letters to help you become faster and more accurate!

Try out our free touch typing test today and begin your journey to faster typing.

Typing Speed: How to Set Your Words-Per-Minute (WPM) Goal

Last updated on August 29th, 2022 typingcom

Education

It’s 9pm and you have a 1,500-word paper to write. It’s due first thing in the morning. If you type 50 words-per-minute (WPM) you could be done in just half an hour. That’s not too bad. You’d still have time for a good night’s sleep.

Instead, what if you type with just your two pointer fingers at a rate of 10 WPM? That same report would take you TWO AND A HALF hours to finish. That’s an extra two hours of your life that you’ve just lost!

Learning to type faster makes you more efficient and helps save precious hours of your life. For students, this can mean spending less time on homework and better scores on typing speed tests. For employees, this can make you shine at work by being faster and more efficient. Read on to find free typing speed tests.

What is an average typing speed?

The average typing speed is roughly 40 WPM, though this can change dramatically depending on how you type. For those who type with just two fingers—the “hunt and peck” method—you have to look for each key as you type. Sadly, no matter how fast you move, there is a limit to how fast you can type up words. For those using this method, the average speed is just 27 WPM.

Instead, typing with all 10 fingers you can train your fingers to type the right keys without looking down at them. Also, by moving shorter distances across the keyboard you can type much faster.

And it shows. The average touch typist using all 10 fingers types over 50 WPM, roughly twice as fast as you can go with just two fingers. Keep in mind that’s just the average. Using this technique, most are able to type MUCH faster. Sean Wrona, one of the fastest typists alive today types as fast as 256 WPM. He can even keep up a pace of 174 words per minute over 50 minutes.

Watch him dominate a race on our site NitroType.com with an average of 199 WPM.

How fast must I type to get a job?

Most jobs do not explicitly require certain typing speeds, but that’s because basic typing skills are taken as a given. Thus, you should aim for a typing speed of at least 40 WPM to keep up a standard level of efficiency at work.

For some professions, the standards are higher. To land a job as a personal or executive assistant, you might be required to type at least 60 words per minute. Word processors generally must be able to type in a range of 55 to 90 words per minute.

For other jobs that deal heavily with computers, from programmers to journalists, there usually isn’t a specified typing speed requirement. But, you can bet that if you take too long to type, it will hamper your productivity. Find out more on typing jobs, in our blog article on typing as a skill in the workforce.

Find out where your typing skills stand by taking one of our typing tests. Whenever you complete a test you can access a professional certificate that can be shown to teachers or potential employers.

Be sure to log in before you take it so that you can track your progress! Not only will this track your speed, but it will also take note of the keys you tend to miss. You can take a custom lesson based on your problem keys from the typing lessons page.

Advanced Typing

When learning to type, adults should aim to achieve the status of an advanced typist. Advanced typing is being able to produce over 80 WPM. As advanced typists, individuals will be qualified for any job that requires typing. Furthermore, job seekers should be able to be a touch typist. A touch typist is aware of all the keys on the keyboard and can type through muscle memory. Touch typing allows individuals to keep their production and WPM high because they will not need to look down at the keyboard and can keep their eyes on the screen while they work.

How fast do I type?

A typing speed test is an easy way to check your words per minute. Find your typing speed type with free Typing.com tests. With just a one-minute typing test or a five-minute typing test, you can easily find out your WPM score for free. Once you know your score, you can find free typing lessons to practice typing and boost your touch typing skills.

How can I type faster?

Just like most skills, it all comes down to practice. With every lesson you complete, you create muscle memory in all of your fingers. While practicing using all 10 fingers in the right positions to hit the keys, you can train your fingers to remember it on their own.

Working on this for just 15 minutes a day, after the first couple of weeks, you’ll know the exact location of every key without even looking down at the keyboard. But remember, the key is in learning the RIGHT way. Without learning the correct positions, you’ll just be wasting your time. You might even slow yourself down in the long run. Or if you’re ready to stop talking and start doing, you can jump right into our typing lessons where we take you through the whole process.

Whether you’re learning to touch type for the first time or you’re re-training yourself after years of two-finger typing, our completely FREE typing lessons will help you get on track.

Improve Your Technique and Speed

If you want to improve your skill in most any endeavor, teachers and coaches will probably suggest that you practice and learn more efficient techniques. Typing is no exception.

You probably imagine that the fastest and most effective typing method is the most common method: using 10 fingers. With the right practice, you can learn to effectively employ all 10 fingers in your typing by placing the thumbs in the optimal positions.

A Typing.com survey found that typing with all 10 fingers was the method used by 61 percent of respondents, allowing them to produce an average of 54.6 wpm. But as we also found, this wasn’t the fastest method in our survey.

Workers who used five to nine fingers comprised just over a quarter of those surveyed but averaged 54.7 wpm—just a little faster than those who used all 10 fingers. This implies typing speed can be achieved in multiple ways, but using improper techniques can lead to typos—and potentially costly consequences. With practice, though, even long-held bad habits can be ironed out.

To maximize speed and accuracy, typing experts suggest students train themselves not to look down at their fingers or the keyboard by developing muscle memory. Fortunately, over half of our respondents primarily used this technique, averaging 61 wpm and almost 17 words faster than those who looked at both the keyboard and screen when typing.

Less than 5 percent of typists primarily looked at the keyboard and trailed the other two methods with a lackluster 39.5 wpm.

If you’re looking to improve your skill and, ultimately, the number of words you can type per minute, regular practice can make a huge difference.

Typing Speed Improves in Every Generation

When we broke down typing speed by generation and gender, male baby boomers were the slowest, averaging only 38 wpm. Women in the same generation typed 14.7 percent more words per minute.

Overall, women’s typing speeds were slightly faster than men’s, but millennial men departed from that trend. Millennial men outpaced their female contemporaries by a small margin, typing 2.7% more words per minute.

While baby boomers typed over 8,200 words every day, Gen Xers typed 24.3 percent more (an extra 2,000 words). Millennials typed even more, putting in 8.7 percent more words than Gen Xers. Considering millennials spend 69.1 percent of their workweek typing, it’s no wonder they clock in more words across the keyboard than older employees.

Millennials also happen to make up the largest sector of working Americans today. Not only do they lend their fast typing skills to the workforce, but also they are notably versatile, flexible, and purpose-driven compared to past generations.

How accurately should my students type?

If you’re a STEM teacher, you know that correctly typed words and accurate typing skills are crucial for successful edtech students. As millions of students have gone through our typing lessons, we have developed a basic set of accuracy thresholds based on a student’s grade in school:

K-2: 80-85%

3-5: 85-90%

6-12: 90-95%

While these are the targets we recommend, they’re not set in stone.

If you’re a teacher, you can set the standards yourself by giving your students a few practice lessons and then tracking their average accuracy through the portal. Then you may use the results to determine standards for the class.

We really appreciate your help in reinforcing the importance of typing accuracy, not just speed, with your students.

And now you can make improving accuracy fun and start typing today with the help of Accuracy Drills, Keyboard Climber, and NitroType!