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Ask HN: Ctrl/Shift with same hand or opposite?

2 points by cammil ↗ HN
I have been contemplating the techniques in efficient typing. In particular, whether it is more efficient to press a Ctrl or Shift key with the same hand that you press a number or letter, or with the opposite one.

Have you any thoughts on this?

7 comments

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Change caps lock to control. It will be awkward for a day and then you'll probably love it. Especially if you are using OS X or *nix where you are doing a lot of ctrl+d, ctrl+e, ctrl+a, ctrl+k, etc.
pzxc
Same hand. Each hand should work independently, so the other hand can already be moving to the next key(s).
cammil
Is there any reason you believe this to be most efficient?

The downside to using the same hand is that it is slower for that hand to complete the depressions as it is more awkward.

yan
All left hand, and my Caps Lock is mapped to Ctrl. Life-changing.
cammil
I'm trying this out currently. Only problem seems to be when I need to use Ctrl with Alt. Then the original control seems to be more natural.

Do you have an opinion on using the right shift/control?

yan
I don't use the right modifier keys out of habit. However, using Ctrl+Alt with Caps Lock still feels natural (I press alt with my thumb and caps lock with my ring finger, feels very natural). Also, I leave Ctrl still mapped to Ctrl so effectively I have two Ctrls on the left side and use whichever is more convenient. (Still tends to be Caps Lock in almost all situations)