Should palms hover over the keyboard or rest on the desk?

By aayushpy - updated: 4 years, 7 months ago - 16 messages

Currently I rest my palm and wrist on the desk while typing, but some people say that the more ergonomic way is to hover it over the keyboard. Should I change my habit?
By toddhicks209 - posted: 8 years, 10 months ago

I think it's more natural and comfortable to rest your palms and wrists on the desk while typing.
By kaikaikaikaikai - posted: 8 years, 10 months ago

I have a gelfilled wrist pad, but I can type hovered if I have to. I think with most keyboards, you'll have a hard time getting a good angle for your fingers if you rest your wrists on your desk. That's why some keyboards have a built-in wrist rest. If the angle is comfortable to you, I see nothing wrong with resting your wrists on your desk. You can simply try typing hovered, and if it feels better for your fingers and typing, try getting something elevated to rest your wrists on.
By siddhant - posted: 8 years, 10 months ago

When you want to type your fastest, your hands should be hovering above the keyboard. A wristpad works fine. A straight posture can achieve that as well. It is okay to rest your palm while casual typing. But whatever you choose, choose a method which allows the carpal side of your hand to be concave towards the keys with your fingers at an angle of 60 -90 degrees. That's how I am able to type at around 90-100 wpm.
By teil0 - posted: 8 years, 10 months ago

This depends on the position of your hands. If you have an ergonomic keyboard, resting your hands on a wrist-wrest is usually not a problem. If you use the Kazantsev method, you can type on a normal keyboard ergonomically and wrest your wrists.

But if you use the traditional home row positioning, then you will have much more fatigue wresting your wrists than lifting them. It's just a matter of the unnatural position of your wrist joint. The most stressful position among the alternatives is normal fingering, wrists down. That's not to say you can't type that way, but you will be putting more stress on your wrist. For some people (not all), this can contribute to carpal tunnel syndrome.
By bitbat - posted: 5 years, 6 months ago

It's not comfortable to use a stand like hp ku, people say it's comfortable, but in fact it isn't for an improper touch typists like me. It hurts and gives me strain: and the keyboard is so silent it does not sound like a keyboard at all. It's overall a terrible designed keyboard. I don't care about the erogonomic way! I care about the way that is most comfortable for me.
By bitbat - posted: 5 years, 5 months ago

Wrist rest. I think that's why i get strain on my right wrist.
By u557051 - posted: 5 years, 4 months ago

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By k4r1n1t3_ch3m15t - posted: 5 years, 4 months ago

I think it really depends on how long you're going to be typing for. If you're gonna just slap a few words onto the screen (like when you're Googling something), then you might as well take the increased speed and accuracy. But if you're gonna type a whole paragraph or more, resting your palms on the desk (but preferably a palm rest) will be much more comfortable and the decreased speed compared to when your hands are hovering is easily justified by how you don't have to shake or stretch your hands because of the fatigue every 3 to 5 minutes.
By markthespark458 - posted: 5 years, 4 months ago

It usually depends on you, me that time, I rest my and wrist on my laptop keyboard, but then I started doing the ergonomic way to hover it over the keyboard. It will fasten up the speed for you when you hover your wrist and palm over the keyboard because you don't have to reach some keys just by your fingers stretching out. Today I use the ergonomic way they said and it made me type fast. But when you're keyboard is like a bit above the correct position when you type, it's okay to wrist rest but not rest the palm on the desk cause that's actually the wrong way to type
By bitbat - posted: 5 years, 4 months ago

Agreed, it feels comfortable while doing tasks.
By maxlucetyping - posted: 5 years, 2 months ago

dude just like lift both your arms in the air so that not even your elbows are touching the desk. I have a harness attacked to my ceiling so when I am typing I can make sure the only thing that touches anything is my fingers touching the keyboard. That way I can put all my energy into moving my fingers. It also helps if you hand upside-down so all the blood rushes to you fingers. This helps them not to get tired. Hope this advice helped!
By user555555 - posted: 5 years, 1 month ago

I rest my wrist too on the desk too. To make it more comfortable, I flipped the space bar and command key as well. :)
By rayclaire - posted: 4 years, 7 months ago

I keep my wrists afloat. From what I've read, having your wrists rest while you type puts undue pressure on your carpal tunnels, leading to CTS.
By ikasu - posted: 4 years, 7 months ago

Whichever is most comfortable for you. I rest my wrists and I'm in the 1st percentile of typists
Updated 4 years, 7 months ago
By ikasu - posted: 4 years, 7 months ago

If you're getting carpal tunnel or RSI you simply do not type enough to sustain the speed and force you're using.
By c0rrupted_ - posted: 4 years, 7 months ago

I use a mechanical and membrane keyboard. Hovering with mechanical keyboards seems.. wrong.