As far as I can tell, this can go in help; let me know if it should be moved.
But here’s the rundown: I was never taught how to touch type as a kid (insert rant about decline of tech literacy here). I’m trying to teach myself now but I suffer extreme wrist pains. I could just be doing something wrong, but when I rest my hands on the center row to type from there it always hurts a lot. Small movements become repetitive and straining; stretching my hands to far-away keys also strains.
Are there other ways I can rest my hands on the keyboard that are not discussed as often that I could experiment with? Are there other ways I can learn to type without having to look at the keyboard? Because that’s all I want to do: type fast and not look down while doing so. And also not hurt my wrists while doing so, ideally.
Any way you could send us a picture or drawing of how you’re resting your hands? How’s your desk setup? How are you sitting and how high is your chair? How’s your posture? A lot of stuff can affect the ergonomics of keyboard use and it’s really hard to tell what’s causing you pain without more info.
Are you able to use wrist braces? Because for me I cannot use the mouse or keyboard without a wristbrace (on my right arm specifically) otherwise it causes me great pain in my whole arm. You might also benefit from a silicon keyboard rest (I do not, personally)
The other thing is to consider how close you are to the desk, not just in distance, but in height. I have to a tall chair, such that my keyboard is closer to my legs and my hands are angled down. If the keyboard is too high it causes me great pain. I also have to have a chair without arms because having my elbows caught on the armrests also causes me pain.
So as you can see, the use of the keyboard is more than just where you rest on the keyboard, you have to consider everything about how you are sitting and the desk the keyboard rests on.
a wrist rest is crucial! i just rest my wrist there when i type.
honestly, the best way i learned to type without looking is typing tests. i prefer the ones that pull from a novel or other published works. you’ll be slow at first as you keep looking down to type but as you learn the muscle memory, it helps so much!
This is probably my problem, then. I don’t have an actual desk and instead am using a fold out table that’s being raised by books to make it just high enough that I can get my chair under it RIP. I’m also bad about having good posture. And my chair doesn’t properly support my arms :,) arm rests are too far away from where I naturally rest them.
Some kind of wrist rest will probably help me a lot. As would having better posture. I am. Way too prone to shrimping and sitting cross-legged in my chair which. Yeah. I was so focused on my wrists I didn’t think about the rest of my setup… I’ll be moving soon, so that’ll be a good chance to shop around for new furniture at least.