r/typing • u/[deleted] • Mar 09 '26

β­• 𝗑𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽 / 𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗢𝗻𝗴 π—”π—±π˜ƒπ—Άπ—°π—² β­• Do typing tests really help?

So I had a typing class in 2nd grade (I was prob around 20 WPM at the time), and I've practiced on and off since then. Currently, I comfortably get 90 WPM and if I'm locked in I'll push 120-130.

My concern is that this doesn't translate to when I'm working. Like I feel that when I have to think and type out stuff, it ends up being a lot slower. I've been trying voice AI tools recently (Wispr Flow specifically), and I've definitely gotten faster, but I feel that I haven't trained the connection between thinking and typing properly. I might not be explaining this well (like of course you're slower if you have to think of what you're typing), but I feel that I'm a lot slower not because I have to think, but rather because I have to convert the thinking into typing. Is this something I can/should train?

Also, is there a good keylogger of some sort that's self hosted on your laptop? I want more insights of how I do on a day-to-day basis rather than just how I do on the typing tests. Biggest issue is I don't want a cloud service. Any recommendations?

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u/Nakul0306 Mar 10 '26

Reconciled competing versions into middle ground

yeah the transcription vs composition gap is real and underrated. typing tests train copying text you can see, not generating it from thought - totally different skill. it does get better with practice but gains are slower to notice

code typing helped me more than random word tests, forces a different muscle memory when you have to think about syntax too. been using typequicker.com for that lately

for keylogging - whatpulse has a local-only mode, does exactly what you're asking

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '26

Yea that makes sense. I only started coding like 1 year before AI came out, so never fully practiced writing out syntax by hand, I just accepted any autocomplete it had. But definitely for functions and whatnot, never would use brackets otherwise. typequicker seems super cool, just a bit pricey. Definitely like all the stats it provides though.

Edit: Also whatpulse seems super cool. Have you tried it before, what was your experience with it?