# When to start learning switch?



## blitzace5 (Feb 3, 2014)

Hey guys,
I picked up my first snowboard last year and completely fell in love. Now I'm heading into my second season, and was wondering if it was a good time to start learning switch.
I ride regular right now, and I'm pretty comfortable linking turns and doing some simple carves on beginner (and some mellow intermediate) runs.
Some of my friends said I should completely master regular before learning switch, but I wanna learn to do some butters and jumps - and it seems like switch is a necessity when doing those.

Any thoughts/tips?

Thanks!


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## ekb18c (Mar 11, 2013)

Now. The earlier the better.

Edit: Get a feeling of going switch before you get too used to going one way. Makes it easier later on.


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## snowklinger (Aug 30, 2011)

ekb18c said:


> Now. The earlier the better.
> 
> Edit: Get a feeling of going switch before you get too used to going one way. Makes it easier later on.


this or yesterday/too late


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## flow-boarder (Oct 23, 2014)

snowklinger said:


> this or yesterday/too late


Never too late! But yeah definitely start now I reckon. I waited 3 or 4 seasons before I started and really could have done it sooner. 

Never hurts to take a lesson either - even if it's taking a lesson for riding switch and the different turns you can execute when going switch


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## BoardWalk (Mar 22, 2011)

All of the above = do it now, don't wait.


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

+1

the sooner the better. As long as you're beginning, riding in the "wrong" direction will only mildly feel more akward than in the usual direction. But the more muscle memory you've built for one direction, the more confident you are, the more it'll suck to start all over again with the akward direction.


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## blitzace5 (Feb 3, 2014)

Wow, thanks for all the feedback guys!

I'm heading to the hill on Saturday. Gonna try to tackle all the beginner runs riding switch!


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## snoopy7548 (Jan 30, 2014)

As soon as possible, provided you are proficient at riding regular. I just started riding switch last night (this is my second season) and I think I progressed rapidly in the 5 or 6 runs I went down the hill (stuck to greens). I went from looking at the ground, leaning back, not making turns, and constantly catching edges to being able to link turns (mostly skidded) while keeping most of my speed without falling and finding a comfortable position. It really clicked on the last run, and almost felt as natural as riding regular. As someone on these forums (or a video I saw) said, a really great tip if you're serious about learning switch is to do _everything_ switch. I did that from the start. Strap in your switch lead foot at the bottom of the hill, skate switch, get on and off the chairlift switch, go down the entire run switch. Start fresh and get used to doing everything that way.

This is just my thinking, but I would say you (personally) should become better at riding regular before you attempt switch. At least be able to handle the steeper blues with ease and start carving. You'll have a better understanding of how you should be snowboarding, which will help you find and correct what you're doing wrong while riding switch. You'll also have more of a goal in mind; "when I'm riding regular, I can really carve across the hill on the steep sections by doing this and this. How can I mirror that while riding switch?" or "I have a tendency to do this while riding switch, which messes me up. Let me think about how I avoid that while riding regular."

It also helps having a friend come along for a confidence booster, especially if you feel like you might be self-conscious about falling all the time again. The scariest part for me was the fear of catching an edge, which was a huge surprise to me and incredibly easy to do.


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## chomps1211 (Mar 30, 2011)

It cannot hurt your regular riding to start learning switch early. If you are comfortable riding regular. By comfortable, I mean getting down blue/green slopes linking turns and without falling every 2 minutes?

I was trying to learn riding switch about half way into my second season. Maybe 45-50 days total time on a board since learning day one. I will suggest one thing. If you find that you just don't seem to be "_getting it_" by trying to apply same methods and tips for getting your turns regular and just reversing them? *Get a lesson!*

I _had_ to get a private lesson in switch riding. I was learning to ride on a big stiff cambered all mountain, *SET BACK & DIRECTIONAL* board. So whenever I got turned around switch,..? Every riding characteristic of the board changed. Switch I had a shorter nose, longer tail, camber placement and contact points different. I could ride it out a while straight when switch and heelside turn my way back to reg. But I f I tried to link that toeside? I crashed. _EVERY SINGLE TIME!_

Being NooB,.. I was *absolutely*, 100% *certain* that the problem was with the directional board! One lesson later,..! With proper instruction and a few good tips from the instructor on how to twist the board while switch to get better turns? And within a day or two I was comfortably going switch top to bottom on mellow runs! It was never the board that was a problem! 

You do not have to be an expert riding reg before learning switch. 4 seasons later, I know guys that can ride circles around me regular. Can't ride switch anywhere near as good as I can. :hairy:


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## blitzace5 (Feb 3, 2014)

Didn't know I would get such great feedback, thanks a lot guys!

I would say I'm pretty comfortable riding regular right now - linking turns and some carving. I can go down greens without breaking a sweat, and most blues pretty easily. Although if I were to start going too fast, I would slow down... But as any great painter, I obviously blamed my tools.

During my first season I was riding a 140 board I borrowed from a friend who used it in high school, since I didn't really wanna rent for more than two days. I found that whenever I went too fast the board kinda started shaking and I would just slow down... [Note: I'm 5'8 and 175 lbs]

Since I really liked it last season, I went out and bought myself a new _size-appropriate_ board, so I'm hoping I won't have the same issue. But nevertheless, I'm gonna give riding switch a shot, even if it's just for 2 hours every morning so I can get a feel for it. Updates on Saturday I suppose!


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## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

It's weird when you first try switch. It's like everything backwards. You will feel like you are relearning everything.
I would get used to riding before riding switch.
I still ride goofy better than regular.


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## snoopy7548 (Jan 30, 2014)

blitzace5 said:


> Didn't know I would get such great feedback, thanks a lot guys!
> 
> I would say I'm pretty comfortable riding regular right now - linking turns and some carving. I can go down greens without breaking a sweat, and most blues pretty easily. Although if I were to start going too fast, I would slow down... But as any great painter, I obviously blamed my tools.
> 
> ...


That 140cm board is definitely too small, even for a park board of someone your size. The new board will be a massive improvement. I bet you'll be able to ride really fast now. :happy:


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## mkbr (Sep 6, 2014)

Make a habit of spending one half of the day on the hills switch. Even when you are comfortable with switch riding.


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## blitzace5 (Feb 3, 2014)

Update: Got onto the hill for the first time in 8 months and completely forgot how to snowboard. After two hours, I was already better than my peak last year. I'm assuming this is because I upgraded my board. Spent that day going down every blue run with ease, and some black runs pretty easily.

Spent the morning of the second day trying to learn switch, and oh my lord did I fail. Couldn't do toe-side turns for the longest time. I began to feel the fear of going fast again. But by the end, I managed to get down the green run. Until next time!

Btw, thanks again for all the feedback!


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## radiomuse210 (Sep 5, 2014)

blitzace5 said:


> Update: Got onto the hill for the first time in 8 months and completely forgot how to snowboard. After two hours, I was already better than my peak last year. I'm assuming this is because I upgraded my board. Spent that day going down every blue run with ease, and some black runs pretty easily.
> 
> Spent the morning of the second day trying to learn switch, and oh my lord did I fail. Couldn't do toe-side turns for the longest time. I began to feel the fear of going fast again. But by the end, I managed to get down the green run. Until next time!
> 
> Btw, thanks again for all the feedback!



Nice! I upgraded my board to a more appropriate size this year as well. I was riding a board about 8cm too small...it was sized using the height method and I'm pretty short. So I was put on youth boards that were not only too short but too soft. I've already progressed more in the 12 or so days I've put in this year over the 40+ I put in last year. I know some of it's the board...but I also think it gave me a boost in confidence knowing I'm riding a board that's not going to wash out or go all chattery if I pick up speed. I'm getting some nice carves in rather than just doing what I call "swoosh" turns - I guess you could consider them skidded, but I wasn't "skidding" per se, just "swooshing" but not completely on an edge. Still getting the feel for getting up on that edge consistently - especially on steeper/faster slopes.
I also just put on some nicer bindings and I'm still weighing out the differences. I guess I thought I would feel a bigger difference in bindings that are double the price of my old ones - but I definitely feel a difference in response and comfort. I think once I progress further, I will begin to appreciate them more.


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## TimelessDescent (Oct 26, 2014)

snoopy7548 said:


> As soon as possible, provided you are proficient at riding regular. I just started riding switch last night (this is my second season) and I think I progressed rapidly in the 5 or 6 runs I went down the hill (stuck to greens). I went from looking at the ground, leaning back, not making turns, and constantly catching edges to being able to link turns (mostly skidded) while keeping most of my speed without falling and finding a comfortable position. It really clicked on the last run, and almost felt as natural as riding regular. As someone on these forums (or a video I saw) said, a really great tip if you're serious about learning switch is to do _everything_ switch. I did that from the start. Strap in your switch lead foot at the bottom of the hill, skate switch, get on and off the chairlift switch, go down the entire run switch. Start fresh and get used to doing everything that way.
> 
> This is just my thinking, but I would say you (personally) should become better at riding regular before you attempt switch. At least be able to handle the steeper blues with ease and start carving. You'll have a better understanding of how you should be snowboarding, which will help you find and correct what you're doing wrong while riding switch. You'll also have more of a goal in mind; "when I'm riding regular, I can really carve across the hill on the steep sections by doing this and this. How can I mirror that while riding switch?" or "I have a tendency to do this while riding switch, which messes me up. Let me think about how I avoid that while riding regular."
> 
> It also helps having a friend come along for a confidence booster, especially if you feel like you might be self-conscious about falling all the time again. The scariest part for me was the fear of catching an edge, which was a huge surprise to me and incredibly easy to do.



+1 All of this ^^^^^^^


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## flash (Dec 14, 2014)

*switch*

i would recommend you definitely are able to handle blue trails in all different types of different terrains (ice, slushy hero snow, powder, etc) first and having excellent board control before attempting to ride switch. 

i actually tried riding switch for the first time yesterday since I'm recovering from a sprained knee, so i can't work on jumps. 

it was good to have a friend see how i was riding switch, as they was able to immediately point out that i was leaning back. this is a natural response since your body is so used to riding regular. 

although im not an expert at switch riding by any means, the strategy i tried yesterday was the following:

1. start by going down regular to your right on toe side. once you traverse to the other side, link the turn to heel side but keep going even more until you are in switch mode and then practice toe side. it helped to figure out balance while riding switch this way.

2. practice ground 360's. go down the mountain and keep doing 360 degree rotations by going from heel side to toe side over and over again. kind of dizzy but fun. make sure to look up the mountain to see if people may be coming your way. doing 360's helped me be more comfortable with switch as well.

3. ride regular but when you hit some flat area where you can usually bomb it, instead go switch and then just get used to going down straight. from here, focus putting your weight on your front foot. (my tendency was to keep leaning back when i was trying switch). and then from there, try very very small turns left and right. your body will naturally understand switch a little better if you try it out in small increments like this.

let me know if you have any other strategies that worked for you. im definitely a switch noob still as well!


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## vajohn (Jan 12, 2014)

Just do it. I have no recollection of when I learned to ride switch since it was over 20 years ago. And I do ride switch on my big old custom x with bindings set back pretty far goofy...not that hard for me to ride like that, plus it is the only way I can do any kind of press on that beast anyway.


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