so ive been a ham for about three years now and always had my ticket but never really bothered with CW since its not required anymore. but i got bit by the bug after listening to some guys on 40m late one night and it just sounded so cool, decided i want to actually learn it for real this time.

anyway i picked up a cheap single lever paddle off ebay and hooked it up to my radio's built in keyer. problem is i cannot get the timing to feel right. i set the speed down to like 10 wpm thinking that would help but my dits and dahs just sound sloppy, sometimes the keyer throws in extra elements i didnt intend. is this a paddle adjustment issue or am i just squeezing wrong? my contacts on the paddle feel kind of mushy too, not sure if thats normal or if i got a lemon.

also been using the Koch method on an app to practice receiving and that part is actually going better than i expected, up to about 8 letters now. just the sending side that has me frustrated.

the mushy contacts thing is almost certainly your problem, or at least a big part of it. cheap ebay paddles can be all over the place with contact gap and tension. first thing i'd do is get in there and actually adjust the contact gap - most paddles have a small screw for that. you want maybe a business card thickness of gap, sometimes a tiny bit less. too much gap and you have to push too hard and overshoot, too little and you get chatter. and the tension spring if it has one, adjust that until the return feels crisp and positive, not sloppy.

also at 10 wpm the timing can feel weird because the elements are so long your muscle memory hasn't kicked in. some guys actually find it easier to start a little faster, like 15 wpm character speed with longer gaps between characters - that's kind of what farnsworth timing does. worth trying anyway. dont give up on it, once it clicks it really clicks.

im kind of in the same boat as you, been at it for about four months. one thing that helped me a ton was just making a straight key for a while before going back to the paddle - forces you to really think about each element and you stop relying on the keyer to bail you out. my elmer suggested it and i thought it sounded old fashioned but honestly it worked. anyway good luck, the Koch method is solid, stick with it