I rest my wrist on my keyboard, and I've never had any wrist pain. I don't put a bunch of pressure on it; just lightly rest it on the bottom part of my keyboard. It seems more comfortable than hovering my wrist above the keyboard.

~Maverick~

United States234 Posts

February 11 2012 05:01 GMT

#43

I used to rest my hand, but my new keyboard made it awkward for me to hit the keys while restign my hand, so now I hover while playing. At least with this keybaord, I can definitely say it is much faster and easier to hit more keys while hovering my hand. There is some fatigue at first, but its nothing serious.

Also, it is important to note that with a proper computing setup, the elbow rests for your chair should be level with your desk, meaning that you don't have to hold your whole arm up, and most of the support comes from the arm rest itself. That way, even if you hover it shouldn't impede your performance.

wunsun

Canada622 Posts

February 11 2012 05:02 GMT

#44

A bit of both. I have a resting position where I can hir 1-5, and most of the hotkeys to build, to attack and stuff. Then I hover if I need to use the other ones, I hover for a bit afterward, then rest it again.

MuR

United States25 Posts

February 11 2012 05:17 GMT

#45

On February 11 2012 13:03 Abort Retry Fail wrote:
cmon dude this is common sense.
try an experiment, play with you palms resting for 10 games
then try with your hand hovering for 10 games.

what did you notice?
even your body knows which one is more natural.
your brain should know this too.

I feel this is a terrible sentiment. Regardless of which way is better for you- there are things called bad habits, and many players suffer from recurring, debilitating wrist injuries as a result of them. In short, whatever is most comfortable for you at the moment might not be most healthy.

Nice contribution.

In any case, I think wrist strain has to do with keeping the forearm generally level. As long as your hand and arm don't seem to be meeting at unnatural angles, you should be fine. So, perhaps it is okay to play with your palms resting, provided your arm is resting on the arm chair, which is level to the desk? I'm not entirely sure :p, somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

As for why piano players need to "hover"... they don't exactly have anywhere to rest, do they (without seriously bending their wrists)? And they require a greater range of movement, since the piano keyboard is much longer. So to do anything else besides hover is not conducive to playing healthily, or proficiently.

I'm not sure the same can be said for playing Starcraft, since none of the above constraints apply. We have a lot of desk room on which to rest our hands, the keyboard is much smaller, and we have armchairs which we can adjust to keep our arms level. So... we can do both. Again, I'm not an expert on the subject, it just seems like both "hovering" and "resting" can be accomplished in a perfectly healthy manner.

Ownos

United States2147 Posts

February 11 2012 05:33 GMT

#46

Wrist rest people. Jesus.

Belkin Wrist Rest

Thank me later.

MuR

United States25 Posts

February 11 2012 05:41 GMT

#47

Oh wow I never addressed the OP... irregardless of health issues, I think hovering the wrist offers more flexibility, (i.e, you can reach the far parts of the keyboard easier, like you mentioned about the 6/7 control groups). It just takes a little bit more getting used to- it's not as comfortable as resting.

You can always rest, and hover as needed; or when you need to hit the far keys, you can slide your palm while still resting. All preference, I think.

Letall

Sweden384 Posts

February 11 2012 05:49 GMT

#48

On February 11 2012 14:33 Ownos wrote:
Wrist rest people. Jesus.

Belkin Wrist Rest

Thank me later.

I also use a wrist support, one that came with my mousepad. I cant imagine playing without tbh. I used to get really bad pains in my left wrist but ever since I started using it like two years ago ive been fine.

Tivu

United States244 Posts

February 11 2012 05:49 GMT

#49

I do a little bit of both depending on what situation I am in.

Lysergic

United States355 Posts

February 11 2012 07:01 GMT

#50

On February 11 2012 13:18 c_kAelle wrote:
what is the best way to position your hands when it comes to the keyboard and mouse? is it good to push your keyboard and mouse a few inches nearer the table or to have it on the edge? and how to align it - should be centered (keyboard) and the mouse very close to the keyboard?

Your keyboard should be around 1-2" from the edge of the desk, the main thing is to make sure your wrist is straight.

Your mousepad should be be touching the edge of your desk, and have your mouse as close to the keyboard as you can. Use your wrist bone (picture below) as the pivot point to control your mouse. Position your hand so that wrist bone sits at the edge of your desk. Make sure there isn't pressure on your wrist (your tendons, veins, etc).
+ Show Spoiler +

Your shoulders should be relaxed, falling naturally close to your body. Have your elbows bent at a 90 degree angle and wrists should be straight. Your arms should be in the same position (symmetrical).

Your monitor should be centered and the top of the screen should be at eye level.

How to position your keyboard/mouse:
-Put your hands in their natural resting position (left hand on ASDF, right hand on mouse) and align the midpoint of your hands with the center of your monitor.

Example: The left side of my keyboard is aligned with the left edge of my monitor. The right side of my mouse is aligned with the right edge of my monitor.

Note: Never use a keyboard or mouse wrist rest, they're terrible and can actually cause carpel tunnel.

Fencar

United States2694 Posts

February 11 2012 07:17 GMT

#51

On February 11 2012 16:01 lysergic wrote:

Show nested quote +

Like the one from the Logitech G110? D: I like this thing, I haven't had any pains or miscomforts...... I use the Optimus 1.3(search "darkgrid") hotkey setup; I don't have to move my hand very much to reach hotkeys. (farthest one is 7 I think, maybe 6.)

MaV_gGSC

Canada1345 Posts

February 11 2012 07:29 GMT

#52

well I know that in piano, the proper form is to hover your hands over the keyboard to maximize movement and speed. I'd say the same thing applies to a keyboard, but then again, the limiting factor of speed is your thinking speed

TelecoM

United States10670 Posts

February 11 2012 07:31 GMT

#53

I rest my hand on the mousepad but I know that it is not healthier to do so, it can form carpal tunnel over time i've been told. It is obviously better(Ergonomic) to hover you're hand but I cannot do that, so I rest it. I wonder what most korean pro gamers do, rest or hover, I bet most of them rest..I think it would be kind of hard to keep you're hands hovered at 200-300 apm IMO.

NoctemSC

United States771 Posts

February 11 2012 08:11 GMT

#54

I use the full size wrist rest that came with my corsair K90. My wrist used to hurt before that but with the angle it's situated at I've found that I can reach all of the keys quite easily.
I also just tried the "hover hand" in a game. APM dropped 30. Thanks a lot. Jerk.

Sylfyre

Australia222 Posts

February 11 2012 08:20 GMT

#55

I honestly have no idea what my hands do when I play I just realised. But at the same time between games I stretch and stuff while I find a game which is probably a good thing to do XD

ampson

United States2355 Posts

February 11 2012 08:21 GMT

#56

I find that when I hoover my hand I clean the floor with my opponents.

Insomni7

667 Posts

February 11 2012 08:22 GMT

#57

I have an arm rest on my chair which allows me to naturally hover, it works very well, but i dont use the number keys much as i have a naga.