so ive been trying to learn CW for about 4 months now and i just cant seem to get past 5wpm without my brain completely locking up. i started with the Koch method and got through all the characters pretty quick actually, i thought i was making good progress but then when i try to bump the speed up even a little bit it all falls apart. like i can copy maybe 3 letters and then i miss one and then im chasing and suddenly ive lost the whole word.

i practice every day, usually 20 minutes in the morning before work. been using LCWO and sometimes just tuning around 40m and trying to copy whatever i hear. my goal is to get to 20wpm eventually, i know thats a long way off but i want to actually be able to have a QSO without it being painful for the other guy. anyone been through this and come out the other side? what actually worked for you

oh man i remember this exact feeling, it really does feel like a wall. the thing that finally clicked for me was someone telling me to just accept the missed characters and keep going instead of mentally going back to figure out what i missed. your brain wants to solve the gap and that's what makes you fall behind. just put a - in your head and move on, the next word is more important than the one you missed.

also 20 minutes a day is fine but try to break it into two shorter sessions if you can. i found 10 minutes twice a day worked better than one long chunk, something about the way the brain consolidates it i think. and honestly just get on the air even if you feel completely not ready, worked way better for me than any computer program. find someone running slow CW nets in your area, QRS nets are real and people are genuinely patient there. you'll get there, 20wpm isnt as far as it feels right now.

yeah the chasing thing is brutal i still do it sometimes and im up around 18wpm now lol. one thing i didnt see mentioned -- are you practicing at your target speed or a little above it? i was practicing at 5wpm trying to be comfortable and my buddy told me to set it to 8 or 9 and just get destroyed for a while. felt terrible but after like two weeks something shifted. also word recognition for common words like CQ DE RST 73 etc really helps, your brain starts to hear those as chunks instead of individual letters.