so ive been doing CW practice for about three months now and im stuck somewhere around 8-9wpm. started with just code groups and now im doing some QSOs on 40m but honestly its slow going and i feel like i hit a wall. everyone says just keep at it but i feel like im missing something.

i use the lcwo.net site mostly and ive been doing like 20 minutes a day. should i be doing more? also i keep reverting to counting dits and dahs on some letters which i know is wrong but i cant seem to stop doing it for like the letter R and a few others. my elmers back at the club say farnsworth method but im not sure im doing it right.

did anyone else plateau hard around this speed and then break through? how long did the whole journey to 20wpm actually take for you realistically, not the optimistic version

oh man yes the 8-9wpm wall is completely real and i think almost everyone hits it. thats where your brain is still trying to decode individual letters instead of just hearing them as sounds. the counting thing is the exact problem - you need to basically starve that habit out by bumping your character speed up even if your overall wpm drops. like set lcwo to 20wpm characters but only 8-10wpm effective speed, thats the real farnsworth approach. it feels weird and uncomfortable at first because you'll miss stuff but thats kind of the point.

for me personally going from where you are to solid 20wpm copy took probably another 8 months of pretty consistent practice, and i was doing closer to 30-45 min a day. the jump from 15 to 20 was actually easier than 8 to 15 if that makes sense. just dont give up around 12wpm either because thats another rough patch. getting on the air and doing actual QSOs even slow ones helps more than any drill IMO.

same boat as you a year ago. honestly what helped me most was just listening to W1AW code practice recordings while doing something else, like washing dishes or whatever. not trying to copy every letter, just letting it wash over me. sounds dumb but after a few weeks things started clicking faster than when i was staring at the screen trying hard. also morse toad app on my phone for random times during the day, even five minutes here and there adds up