S and L: the ring fingers

Your ring fingers rest on S and L. Of the eight home keys these are the two that give people the most trouble, and it is worth knowing why before you start. The ring finger shares a tendon with the middle finger, so when it moves, the middle finger wants to move with it. That is anatomy, not clumsiness. It means that pressing S cleanly, without D dipping at the same time, is a small skill that takes a few days to arrive. It does arrive.

The fix is not to press harder. It is to press from the knuckle, letting the finger fall onto the key rather than jabbing at it, and to let the middle finger rest its weight on its own key so it has somewhere to be. If you find D or K getting pressed by accident, slow down until it stops, then build back up. An accidental key is an error, and the drill will wait for you either way.

With six keys you can already feel the shape of the home row: three fingers per hand sitting in a row, with the little fingers still waiting for their turn. Notice how the hands mirror each other. The left ring finger on S and the right ring finger on L make the same movement, just in opposite directions. Most of the keyboard works this way, and once you have learnt a key with one hand, its mirror on the other side comes quickly.