How To Improve Your Switch Snowboarding During The Summer
Hopefully the above video has given you some inspiration.
I got a comment from a reader recently who was interested in improving his switch riding. I’m going to show you how to improve your switch Snowboarding without the white stuff.
What does switch mean?
For those of you that are new to Snowboarding, “switch” just means riding backwards, with the opposite foot in front to the one you normally use.
To illustrate: if you ride regular with your left foot in front, switch would mean riding with your right in front.
Why is switch so different?
Almost all people – unless ambidextrous – have a dominant side of the body and a recessive (weaker) side. You will naturally favour riding with one foot in front. It might take you a while to figure out which way is better, but 99% of people are like this. Very rarely do you get people who can ride both ways identically from day 1.
Why do most people struggle with switch riding?
The main reason is that we get into a rhythm one way and find it so much fun, we just forget to practice the other way. To be honest, unless you ride a lot, it’s not really really worth focusing too much on switch. But if you want to take your riding to the next level, it really helps to improve your overall co-ordination.
How to improve your switch
1. Practice doing daily tasks with your weak hand or foot
How much time have you spent writing with your weak hand? Probably not that much, I know I don’t.
Using your weaker hand or foot helps to develop the opposite side of your brain. The good news is that the learning curve is much steeper, because you already have the information in your brain on how to perform the task.
2. Ride another type of board switch
Go try pushing around on a skateboard switch, try surfing switch, try mountain boarding switch. It’s a real hassle because you’ll suck at first, but if you just put the hours in it’ll come. You’ll really notice the difference next time you jump on your Snowboard.
I spent the whole of last summer skating switch, I wrote about how epic skateboard failure can improve your snowboarding last year.
3. Use a balance board
Snowboarding is generally a uni-lateral sport (one side of your body is dominant). Using a balance board or balance trainer helps to develop both sides of the body. It’s really important to keep your body equally strong.
Use the force
When I say “use the force”, what I really mean is that you are going to have to go out there and force yourself to practice more.
I raise the point with my Snowboard students that when they are first learning: if they want to change their lead leg after an hour of practice, they might as well carry on practicing the same way, otherwise they are effectively starting from the beginning again.
If you think about it, you have X number of hours practising riding regular, and a bunch less hours practising switch. It just takes time and commitment.
So check out this video of a Switch backside 1260 to give you some inspiration, and go out there and practice!
About the author: David Raybould is a Snowboard Instructor and Writer. You can connect with him on Twitter or Facebook.
Related posts:
- 10 Ways To Improve Your Snowboarding When There Is No Snow
- How Epic Skateboard Failure Can Improve Your Snowboarding
- How To Improve Your Snowboard Spinning: And My First Ever Cab 900
- The Simpleasiest Tip For Beginners/Intermediates To Improve Snowboarding
- 5 Tips To Snowboarding With Control In Spring Slush
It almost looks like a custom made article for me! What a service
Number 1 is really interesting. When thinking about it, it really makes sense! In the mean time I’m going to spent hours riding switch on my snowboard and skateboard and looking for a nice balance board. Thanks for the tips!
Great article David. Just like Jorg said it’s good to start at the beginning and put the hours and commitment in.
Jorg: I see that you also found this great website
Spread the word is what we’ll do. Let’s try for somw switch riding tonight during our practice session.
The article was actually written for you Jorg. I really appreciate comments. It also gives me a good focus to write about.
My brother actually suggested the first one to me a couple of months ago. It can be things like simply putting the opposite leg in your pants first. I thought about carrying trays at work today with my left hand instead of my right.
I’ll write a few tips for things to focus on when jumping if you like, also a couple of things I’ve found when hitting boxes and rails switch.
Balance boards are the way to go. I just built myself a backyard jib with some wood and using a skateboard deck. I’ll put a post together about that as well. It’s actually a really cool way to practice movements.
Thanks for the comments.
Thanks for the vip treatment then
After some great trampoline training with a skateboard deck attached to our feet, we also started with a backyard jib. Still searching for the correct setup, so an article is greatly appreciated. Cheers