Your Problem Could Be Mental
Switchstance, cross stance, heelsideand other fine kettles of fish
How to deal with your awkward side
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Switchstance is one of the many parts of skateboarding that deal in favorites. Almost every move has a counterpart, and one is always going to be your favorite. Like with a basic turn, toeside might be your favorite, then heelside you just try to get through it. But switchstance is different, because it's not just a counterpart like frontside/backside, it's a mirror image. It's going to feel really different. It may be possible to avoid switch, for the most part, which makes it even harder to learn. You can't really escape heelside, but you can avoid switchstance.
Like with most tough technique, switch has to be confronted and attacked, and not avoided. You can practice the basics and get them done roughly, even poorly. Just get through them. You can clean it up later. Confronting your weaknesses is the best way to improve on them. Start with the basic turns, then go on to kickturns, then slides. Then do the same with wheelies, cross steps, ollies, acid drops, kick flips, whatever your meat and potatoes moves are. Do them halfassed, make a mess of them, but just do them. Then go back and try to fix them up, over a period of weeks or months.
I think switchstance is particularly hard for longboarders, because there's less call for it in the core moves of longboarding than there is in shortboard new school tricks. You have to force yourself to do turns, kickturns, slides, and cross steps, all switch, even if it's not totally necessary.
Focus on how it looks, not how it feels
One thing you can do to use your mind to get past the awkwardness of switchstance, is to try to get outside your body when you're thinking about it. In other words, look at it from the viewpoint of the audience, and not the way it feels to you. Your goal should be that your switchstance is going to look about the same as your natural stance. That can be done fairly easily, although most likely your switch will be somewhat weaker. The point is that it's possible to get your least favorite side to look just the same as your favorite side, but it will never feel the same. Once you accept that, you can surprise yourself. On some of the slides where I started switch, I look at the picture and think "hmm, that looks just like my regular stance. Sure didn't feel like it!" So I knew I'd succeeded.
Look on the bright side
Another trick to dealing with your weak side is to try to concentrate on what is good about it. With switch, there's always going to be something about it that actually helps you instead of hurting you. Say you're sliding. Swithstance puts your strong pivot foot up front, where you can use it to help your rotation power and coordination. In fact, if you're having trouble learing a slide, you can try it switch and see if having your pivot foot up front helps.
For an example, when I do switch acid drops, several things about it improve. I end up holding the board with my right hand, my best hand. My right foot is up front to control the board in flight, my most coordinated foot. And I jump off my left leg, my dominant jumping leg. So everything is actually better, the only drawback is it's switch, and it feels awkward. By thinking about the positives only, I can suppress the awkwardness of it.
Be more technical and less sensitive
Another way of suppressing the awkwardness is to really think about the technique, and don't think about how it feels. Concentrate 100% on what your legs, body, etc are doing, and most likely you won't notice that it feels strange.
It feels so great when you stop
Learning switch gives you an edge when you go back to your normal stance. It may be so refreshing to go back to it, that you'll maneuver much better. Simply by doing something really hard, going back to normal seems much easier.
Use switch to set up a strong ending
A huge reason for doing something switch is that the end of the trick my come out on your favorite side. I think that the end of a trick a lot of times is more important, because it ultimately is what it comes down to in making the trick or not. Also the end seems to last longer, to the observer, because you skate out of it. So the end is very important for flow.
If you start any 180 trick switch, the landing or exit should be easier, because you come out in regular stance. Always go to a switch beginning if you're having trouble with the exit. I like to practice 180 jumps starting switch, because they're much easier to land. The takeoff will be weak, but my chances of getting through the whole trick are better.
Having said that the end is so important, I have to add that it's the takeoff or initiation of a move that is going to really make it good, if you're going for a big move. The takeoff is crucial and more important for power, but the ending lasts longer and is more important for control and flow.
Work on all your alternate stances the same way; cross stance, heelside, backwards, etc. Try to at least try all your basics with each stance, even if you can't master them. Praciticing them will go a long way toward getting that awkward feeling out of your mind. Someday you may actually do a move and completely forget that you were in your switchstance.
