Finger Familiarity
Before you practise much actual typing, your fingers must learn to get into (& feel increasingly ‘at home’ in) the so-called Home Position (Stage 5).
This consists of the four ‘home keys’ on each side and the No Man’s Land that the index fingers are responsible for ‘covering’ when needed.
Also, each finger must become more & more capable of moving to and pressing “its” keys – quickly, accurately & without undue effort or tension.
The Dexterity App trains just your fingers without your brain needing to think about typing letters or words.
It’s purely a matter of Body Control.
Note: make sure you’re always in good Sittage (Stage 4). Not sitting or standing with good posture makes the finger work physically harder (and very likely damaging!)
Three Modes
Pressing the TAB key (it’s to the left of the “Q” on your keyboard) will cycle repeatedly between Dex App’s three modes:
Playground Mode
Any key you press on your keyboard will change colour on screen – from dark blue to light blue.
Pressing the space bar, with either thumb, will ‘reset’ all the keys to blank.
And of course: apart from glancing down to start with (for “Funny Jelly…” etc) … you should remain “Eyes Front!” throughout!
USING PLAYGROUND MODE
Start by getting comfortable on the HOME ROW, including the index fingers slipping into and out of No Man’s Land.
Press the keys individually and under gentle control. Don’t just tap away in an uncontrolled fashion. There’s no set drill as such. Press the home row keys in any sequence you like (ie ‘playing’ around in the Playground).
As you become more and more comfortable in the Home Position, consider starting to get used to the diagonal ‘territories’ (columns) each finger is responsible for:
Remember, all columns go forward to the LEFT – back to the middle – then back to the RIGHT.
NOTE
Your left hand fingers may find the diagonal moves harder (because all the fingers joints point in the wrong direction: forward to the right!!!).
And both hands will find the specific movements you need to get used to are odd and awkward… but only until they’re natural and easy (which will happen sooner than you might think!)
Useful tips for helping your body feel natural doing these moves as soon as possible:
- Don’t TRY harder.
The more you tense up your left hand/wrist/fingers, the harder you’ll be making it for yourself.
Go a bit Zen… bathe your whole left arm, hand and fingers with gentle mental ‘messages’ telling them all to relax, soften up and hold themselves really lightly, like they’re made of balsa wood or cotton wool!
- Allow the left wrist to ‘float’ inward, towards the right wrist a little
– not pushing it to the right, but rather letting it ‘drift’.
– you’ll find you can ‘pivot’ on the tips of your fingers, keeping them all on their home keys but letting them twist a little
– there’s more flexibility and mobility in your hand than you might realise (especially if you keep the hand fully relaxed!)
– this can help the fingers to point, and move, more in a counter-anatomical forward-to-the-left, and back-to-the-right direction.
Other tips include:
- Stay ‘in touch’ with all the home keys
Aim to keep all fingers on their home position keys as much as possible – especially the index and middle fingers.
- Lend your pinkies a helping hand
To help the little fingers go forward, when needed, FLEX the three other fingers on the same hand so they curve more (and as if they’re all trying to go onto ‘tip toe’ – on their nail tips in fact – on their keys). This will mean your arm (plank of wood) needs to “slide” forwards slightly in the air. And the little finger is effectively carried forward through the air…
Similarly, to help the little finger drop backwards when needed, RELAX the other three fingers slightly so they’re resting more on the finger ‘pads’. This will mean your arm (plank of wood) shifts backwards slightly and the little finger is carried backwards.
After some practice (more than you wish, but not as much as you might fear) you’ll be beginning to feel that you’re getting comfortably “in control” of your fingers…
When ready, press the TAB key on your keyboard – to the left of the Q – to switch to SEQUENCE MODE…
Sequence Mode
This shows one key at a time highlighted in Orange, and trains you to press a specific (and later very important) sequence of keys.
The sequence goes from left to right – finger by finger – with each finger moving Forward (to the left), Middle, then Back (to the right) within its relevant ‘territory’ (the keys it’s responsible for).
Remember: keep your Eyes Front! Even if you make a mistake.
Any wrong key shows Blue. Simply try again and resume the sequence. The app records your top uninterrupted sequence of correct moves within the current session.
Spend as much time as possible on this – following the sequence shown by orange keys – including the SPACEBAR.
Make sure that you know that you know, that you’re moving the correct fingers in the correct diagonal directions to press the keys.
You should feel the following pattern, finger by finger (it may even help if you say these words while you do it): “forward-to-the-left; middle; back-to-the-right; space” (use the opposite hand’s thumb for space)
With the index fingers both doing TWO locations (outside no man’s land and inside no man’s land)
Aim to get the highest possible HIGH SCORE for an uninterrupted sequence of the correct moves.
Enter your name and submit your scores to Jonathan at StarTouch as often as you like – especially when you beat your own previous ‘personal best’ score!
Random Mode
This mode also shows you single key coloured Orange one at a time. But rather than following the set sequence you’ve been training on, they appear at random across the whole keyboard.
Your job is to go slowly and carefully enough to use the correct finger and move it in the correct way, to press the highlighted key whilst keeping Eyes Front!
The app makes a separate record your highest uninterrupted sequence of correct random moves for the current session.
Submitting your scores to Jonathan will include separate scores for Sequence and Random modes.