Just use the finger next to your pinky to do what your pinky would've done. :)

readjust your left finger to your middle finger to the oint where it is almost like that replaces your pinky fingers stand point on your keyboard. If that does not work use one finger typing and practice so that you learn how to type fast with one finger typing

Whatever you do, do not try to invent a new way to type. The method that has been developed with your pointer fingers each beginning on the f and j keys is used by everyone who can type faster than 80 WPM because it is the most efficient means of typing. What you will have to do is learn to stretch your ring finger out to touch all of the keys that are normally hit by the pinky finger. If you haven' yet begun to touch type (typing without having to look at the keyboard) then begin typing and from now on ALWAYS type like this: http://inttips.com/…

Line up your fingers in the row that has the asdfghjkl; keys with your fingers along the sdfjkl; keys (as you won't be able to start off with a finger on the a key as you are missing your left pinky finger)

I looked at your profile and it seems that you have very little practice if any at all. This is going to be difficult, just do not try to tackle it all at once under any circumstances. Set time before bed or sometime during the day that you don't do anything EVERY day and practice a little bit during this time. It does not matter if you look while you type - BUT - YOU MUST DO YOUR BEST not to move your left hand over when hitting the qaz keys, you must learn to hit them with your left ring. You can move over your hand to hit these keys but when you do this, especially during this point in time while you are not familiar with the keyboard, you will have trouble keeping track of where your hand is when you begin to type without looking. The whole meaning on this position of your hand is so that you will be able to know where each key is in respect to where you fingers are at all times. In theory you will never move your hands, although you will most likely have to move them every once in a while to hit the backspace. Although you shouldn't ever have to to use the backspace it is something that will happen eventually. This time is crucial as you are beginning to train your mind as to what to do when you want to hit the letter a, and if you tell your brain to do the same thing every time you will learn relatively quickly, while if you didn't you might never have learned without lots and LOTS of practice. If you continue to have troubles buy a program for typing (there are countless and many aren't really all that expensive although lots are meant for little kids (it's no big deal if they are because these programs are the best way to learn)) and you should be set, as the practice will be put into small steps that you will learn to do.

If you do not buy a program then just follow this two rules and practice a little bit every day.

1. Under no circumstances are you to move your fingers from their home positions (left ring on s left middle on d left pointer on f ; right pointer on j, right middle on k, right ring on l and right pinky on semicolon / ;) unless you are moving let's say your middle finger up one to hit the i key. You will find that if you have assigned fingers to certain keys then you will learn much more quickly to type without looking (a skill that is extremely valuable when typing) and you will be able to type more quickly. You will have to learn to always use your left pinky to hit the shift key for when you need to capitalize a letter (coincidentally I only ever use my left pinky when hitting shift to capitalize a letter out of habit, so this shouldn't be something that will hinder your speed.)

I have tried typing without my left pinky, and although it is rather difficult it is perfectly doable and if anything the problem will be in your head. It will be like learning to do anything else without your left pinky. It will be difficult but certainly not impossible. I believe in you, and WHATEVER YOU DO DO NOT GIVE UP. I know that you will most likely think "hmph, well you know that this is a skill that isn't really necessary," but it will be very useful.

SUMMARY:

Regarding your question on finger position, exactly the same. Use your left ring for any keys that you would normally hit with your left pinky. Hit shift with your left pinky. DON'T GIVE UP. Enjoy it ( you will find yourself improving, and when you do relish in this achievement ), and understand that you will hit barriers in typing the same way you will hit barriers in any activity that you can improve in. It is like running, when you will hit a point in time that you will believe that you will never be able to go any longer. At one point in your life you may believe that your body is physically incapable of running a marathon, only to learn after more practice that you really can. Although it is important to know that just like a marathon your mind will tire from typing for too long so if you practice a lot and you find yourself slowing this is only normal. Also, never ever try to go too fast, only try to type perfectly and get 100% accuracy.

I hope I was of some help. This forum sort of sucks so a lot of people here will try to help you and make no sense. Maybe I made no sense, but don't be discouraged by all of us dummy heads. Have a great day.

This is interesting. I would simply use the ring or pointer finger to try and hit all the keys that the pinky would normally hit. It will ultimately be about as fast once you learn the muscle memory.

I'm in a somewhat similar situation, having amputated my thumb in high school (wake boarding accident).. It's taken quite a bit of practice, but I can touch type now. I fee like I've maxed out at 65-75 WPM, but after looking at youtube videos of one hand typers going above 100 WPM, I've got to believe that I can get faster with practice. There have been two main challenges for me: one is breaking bad habits formed, because of parents / teachers enabled me as a "disabled" student who shouldn't have to do what everyone else was doing (i.e I never had to type reports I just needed to take tmul Who would've thought that real life isn't like that. Once you're in the workplace you better know how to type and have proficient conversations over email / chat clients / etc... As you can tell, my writing is definitely not there yet, but it's getting better and I'm proud, you'll get there too. The second part is that there is some challenge using my non-dominant thumb, I've heard some people say that it really shouldn't be an issue which thumb you use to hit space bar, but for some reason I kind of pause for a moment before I reach over with my left thumb. It could be because I got used to using my index finger, or it could be because it would feel more comfortable using my dominant right thumb.

A few months ago I switched to using my left thumb to hit space bar, because I figured that the right hand is already busy with the mouse, enter, backspace, delete, home, end, cursor keys,... and so I delegated the space bar to the left hand. This has made me slower, but I keep improving slowly. So yeah, it's possible to adapt to changes, but it takes some time and much practice.

Learn to use the right shift only instead of the left shift for capital letters, and use your ring finger instead of your pinky finger for "a" and "z". I think you can easily get 120+ wpm without a left pinky finger.

You're more prone to hitting the enter key by going for the right shift key. You're much less likely to mess up using the caps lock key or left shift key.

Justin,

Thanks for sharing.

It's interesting to hear that you chose to willingly switch to using just one thumb. From what I've heard it's typically advised to use both thumbs while touch typing, depending on the last letter that you typed, but i can see where you're coming from. Working in software sales my workflow is all over a couple monitors and I spend quite a bit of time travelling around with my mouse, so I could see how you would get tired and just move forward using a one thumb.

I'm interested for comparison..how long have you been typing with just the left thumb so far? How many WPM are you able to type? I hover right around 60-70, but would like to get much faster...my mind moves a lot faster than I can type, which is much more annoying than I could ever explain.


Thanks in advance for your feedback.

user630395, yeah, no problem.
I tried once to use both thumbs, but I just couldn't. Thinking back I suppose that maybe with more practice I might have done it, but now I like using only the left one, because of the reasons mentioned.
I probably started typing with the left thumb somewhere between march 2016 and june 2016, so its between 3 and 6 months. I think I lost about 10 or 15 WPM when I switched to using only the left thumb, (and when you type at 40 WPM, being 10 WPM slower feels like a big deal)
My recent speed average is 58.09 WPM, and I have been progressing very slowly. My goal is to type at 80 WPM, or faster if possible.

Thanks for the details. Best of luck improving on your typing speed.

All the best,
Ben

When i am typing my fingers hurt really bad because it's this one finger that hurts so bad and it be makeing me very upset so what i have to do is rape my hand up