[powersnail]

Whenever split keyboards come up, ulnar deviation is mentioned, and non-split keyboard users are depicted to be using the keyboard like this (image from the post):

https://www.justinmklam.com/posts/2026/02/beginners-guide-sp...

I don't know if it's just me, but I don't use the keyboard like that. I know the illustration is said to be exaggerated, but still. There is no need to squeeze your hands in front of the keyboard. Just naturally bring your hands in front of chest, the same as when you are reading a book or writing notes with a pen. No twisted wrists. No ulnar deviation. The idea that you can't do something with your hand in front of the center of your chest without hurting the wrists seem like a strange supposition.

Admittedly, I've never looked at a significant number of people typing on a non-split keyboard, so I don't have the data to refute the need of this invention. I just feel like the natural posture already doesn't have the problem of ulnar deviation.

[smeej]

I think a shockingly high number of people really do type Z with their little finger, X with their ring finger, and C with their middle finger. It's the only way I can explain how they end up that way in columnar layouts so often.

This is madness to me. That would wreak havoc on a wrist. Type Z with the ring finger, X with the middle finger, and C and V with the index finger, just like you type M with your right index finger.

I cannot for the life of me understand the claims by ortholinear fans that fingers travel in a straight line as they expand. Mine don't. My fingers are much farther apart when I extend them than when I pull them in, and I think I have a fairly ordinary set of hands.

[marcianx]

I do type Z with little finger, etc, because that's how the typing software I used long, long time ago taught it. But I don't accommodate by messing up my wrists, which are still in a natural position. My fingers just adapted to the needed flexibility. My left pinky hitting the Z is trivial and less effort, IMO, than my right index finger hitting Y. And yes, I use a conventional straight keyboard, not an ergonomic one.

[qmmmur]

I totally agree

[wodenokoto]

All typing guides I’ve seen recommend keeping fingers on home row. If you do that you end up pretty close to what that drawing shows.

Homerow centric posture is imho the main cause of keyboard related pain.

[jbstack]

> All typing guides I’ve seen recommend keeping fingers on home row. If you do that you end up pretty close to what that drawing shows.

I type at 130 - 135 wpm with my fingers on the home row. I don't have a posture anything like that drawing. In fact I have to make a conscious and uncomfortable effort to contort my hands into that position. It's far more natural (for me) to curve my fingers to hit the right keys rather than curving my wrists so that my hands are perpendicular to the keyboard. Like this:

https://p2.piqsels.com/preview/893/842/416/laptop-business-m...

[Stratoscope]

It's really quite easy to keep your fingers on the home row and avoid bending your wrists. I've done it for decades without any wrist problems.

It's even easier than the bent wrist position. Take a look at your hands. What is the shortest finger? Your pinky.

The straight wrist position lets you put your pinkies on the home row without the unnatural stretching that the bent wrist requires.

Try it: Keep your wrists straight and start by placing your index fingers and pinkies on the home row. Then let your middle and ring fingers settle into place.

You may notice that your middle and ring fingers arch higher than the index fingers and pinkies. That's fine!

Then start typing. If you're used to the bent wrists, the keys above and below the home row may not be where your muscle memory is used to. Keep at for a while and your fingers will re-learn where the keys are. Just don't let yourself slip back into the bent wrist position, and you will be back up to speed in no time.

Here's a comment from years ago with some crude ASCII art illustrating the difference:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20663540

[ihagen]

Many years ago, I was lucky enough to discover a keyboard training program called Stamina. The author suggested using a more ergonomic hand position: instead of placing your fingers on ASDF and JKL;, you place them on SDFV and NJKL. This way, your hands rest in a position similar to what you would use on an ergonomic keyboard. In addition, the characters on these keys are more frequent, so your base typing speed should increase (especially for cyrillic layout). It was over 20 years ago, and I wonder why nobody uses it and everyone still uses that uncomfortable orthodox hand position.

[tomjakubowski]

I don't know. Hands on the home row is pretty comfortable for me. My arms are coming at the keyboard on an angle though, so there's no real wrist strain. Certainly if I kept my hands at a 90 degree angle to the front of the keyboard like in the diagram, it would be uncomfortable.

[fastasucan]

>If you do that you end up pretty close to what that drawing shows.

It doesn't have to. It will depend on the distance to the keyboard, the height difference between you and the keyboard, where on your desk the keyboard is placed. It also depends on the person writing ofc.

[alexpotato]

Sometimes you are forced into the ulnar deviation for other reasons.

For example:

- I have long arms (6'3" fingertip to fingertip)

- I have bad vision (20/40 is best I can get even with glasses)

- B/c of the above I like to have the monitor close to me (or I sit closer to the monitor)

- For a long time (5 years) I worked on a trading floor with a desk with very limited depth so my wrists were often turned inward

So I ended up getting a split keyboard (Kinesis Freestyle) so I could spread my hands farther apart so I didn't get the ulnar deviation.

[bunderbunder]

I’ve been a consistent split keyboard user for a quarter century now. My current daily driver is a Redox, which uses a columnar layout. I got into them when I first started having problems with tendinitis. I feel like they help, but I’m not sure what the science says about it.

Anyway, I’ve always hated that diagram because it’s so obviously hyperbolic. I also use standard keyboards on a daily basis, and while there are some posture differences, the bending to make hands perpendicular to the keyboard just does not happen. Comfortably placing your fingers on the home row requires angling your hands a bit because the fingers are all different lengths. Are there some posture differences? Sure. But from what I’ve seen they’re really quite minor.

What I would guess makes more of a difference is tenting. Which is admittedly only possible with a split design. But also, not all split keyboards do tent.

Also, and this one might be specific to my particular problem, moving keys the thumb strikes to a position that it can reach with less stretching has helped a lot. (I suspect that the space bar in particular might have been the source of most of my woes.) And that’s another variable that’s highly correlated with - but still not the same as - the keyboard being split.

[SV_BubbleTime]

So do you have advice? You’ve hooked me with this post I want to hear more.

[gudzpoz]

Unfortunately, many Qwerty typing guides group keys in left-leaning columns [1], requiring many to twist their left wrist. And this is why I hope the angle mod [2] from the Colemak community gets more mainstream recognition: instead of learning to twist your wrist, just shift the keys to let them adapt to you. This "un-kinks" the layout, allowing your left wrist to remain perfectly straight while your arm approaches the keyboard at a natural, relaxed angle like the person in the right side of the drawing.

[1] https://www.keybr.com/

[2] https://colemakmods.github.io/ergonomic-mods/angle.html

[urikaduri]

The guy on the right side doesn't even have elbows.

[RupertSalt]

The person on the right side is sitting in a more elevated position, and so with their shoulders relaxed and upper arms at their sides, they only need to extend the forearms to reach the keyboard.

The "numeric keypad" hazard also illustrates why I was motivated to switch my Sun mouse to the left-hand side, and I reversed the buttons in my X11 mappings. This was a reliable way to perplex my coworkers.

[vemv]

Yes. I'd swear that people that unfortunately fall into RSI also fall into a negative cycle of moving less and favoring a static position at all levels - fingers, wrists, shoulders.

Our bodies love movement and it's often a recipe for solving all sorts of issues.

[urxvtcd]

What gets me the most is that all the "correct typing posture" images seem to indicate that it's best to keep the keyboard low, close to you, elbows bent around 90 degrees. In this position the palms are naturally positioned so thumbs are pointing up, and you need to force the palms to be level with the keyboard (that's pronation/supination if I recall correctly). That's just madness to me, I can't last more than few minutes in that position.

[SebastianKra]

Maybe it's related to finger length. On the home row, my index finger is somewhat stretched and my little finger is bent.

[nvarsj]

Because ergonomics is largely pseudo science. Everyone’s body is different. I actually developed RSI for the first time using a kinesis advantage because it forced a certain posture that doesn’t work well with my long arms.

For me the best position is to move my non split keyboard fairly deep into the desk and keep my arms relatively straight. In my 40s and no issue with this after decades.