So i got my ticket back in the early 2000s and did a little CW back then but life happened and i basically dropped the hobby entirely. Just got back into it a few months ago and im trying to relearn the code. Im at maybe 8-10 wpm on a good day receiving, sending is probably worse honestly.

My old straight key still works fine but i picked up a used Bencher BY-1 paddle at a hamfest and im struggling with it. I dont know if its the keyer in my radio (its an IC-7300) or my technique but my dits keep running together in a weird way. Like i send what i think is an A and it comes out sounding more like a dit-dit-dit or something. I watched some youtube videos on paddle technique but i feel like im gripping it too tight or something. Does anyone have tips on how to actually get comfortable with paddles cause the straight key feels more natural to me still.

Also is there a good way to practice receiving that isnt just listening to W1AW? I find their transmissions kind of stressful for some reason, like i freeze up when i miss a letter and then i miss the next three trying to figure out the first one.

The running dits thing is almost definitely a tension issue, yeah. When i first switched to paddles i was basically white-knuckling the thing and your fingers cant feel the contact point if youre squeezing that hard. Try resting your thumb and finger on the paddles without actually touching them and just getting a feel for how light the spring tension actually is. The Bencher BY-1 is a pretty light paddle out of the box so you may even want to tighten the tension screws a tiny bit until it feels more deliberate to you.

Also check your iambic settings on the 7300 — if its set to mode A vs mode B that can really change how it feels, especially if youre coming from straight key muscle memory. Some people actually switch back to mode A when relearning because its a bit more forgiving.

For receiving — skip W1AW for a bit honestly. Just tune around 40 meters in the evenings and copy random QSOs at whatever speed feels comfortable. Dont try to copy 100%, just get what you can and move on. The freeze-up thing is totally normal and it goes away once you stop expecting perfection from yourself.

im in basically the same boat as you, been back about 6 months and just started using paddles in the last couple weeks. what helped me a lot was just slowing the keyer way down, like embarrassingly slow, and really focusing on making clean characters instead of trying to go fast. my elmer told me 5 wpm clean beats 12 wpm sloppy every time and i think hes right

also theres this website called lcwo.net that i use for receive practice and you can set it to random characters or words at whatever speed you want. its way less pressure than copying a real transmission