Exercise 3: The Up & Down Homeless Hopper

This exercise makes you practise hitting keys with the same finger, skipping the home row. This is somewhat difficult, but fortunately you don't have to do this sort of jump too frequently in real-life situations. Like the other exercises, once you see the pattern it is quite easy to remember!

Please take the following to heart before typing:

• No mistakes. Always be sure and in control. Follow the principle of 100% correct practice: to make a mistake is to learn incorrect things, and to confuse that which you already know.
• Slower is faster. Speed comes from certainty. The more you type things correctly, no matter how slow it has to be, the more certain you will be, and the faster you will become a proficient typist. Increase speed only when you feel sure enough to do so.
• Don't look at the keyboard! If you don't know where a key is, look at the keyboard to find it, then look away and type the key. Do not guess; always be sure.
• Relax. No unnecessary or dysfunctional tension!
• Hit the keys squarely in the center. If you find you aren't consistently doing so, SLOW DOWN!!! It should feel good to type!

If you do not see the interactive exercise above, you may require the free Adobe Flash Player.
It is available for all major browser and platforms, and is a piece of cake to install. Click here to download it.