Learning to ride switch.
Now obviously just riding around switch will make me learn it well, but it’s really frustrating getting caught in flats in switch when I could ride natural through it no worries.
Would taking a beginner lesson in switch and say; riding t-bars, getting off lifts etc with my switch stance strapped in do anything for learning to ride that way? Or is it a waste of time as I usually won’t be riding a t-bar in switch anyway?
The best thing you can do to improve your riding is to work on switch!
Everything you’ve mentioned will help. Just gotta do it dude. Try to devote whole days to it. Maybe if you are riding with beginner friends or bad weather days. Even on the good days, if you’ve got a ‘A to B’ run to get to the park or somewhere, ride switch. Of course, no one wants to get stuck in the flats, so flick it around for that stuff.
My wife did the switch lesson thing (didn’t tell the instructor) and really enjoyed it, but we had a free lesson; I wouln’t waste money on a lesson if I were you.
Just ride switch son!
Word!
At Hotham when i was riding with my mate Ricko and occasionally K2 would pop his head around we would do full runs switch. Then when my lil bro and another mate came down (both relatively beginners) we would ride with them just going switch. I found after a few runs i was significantly more confident riding switch.
Now i couldnt bomb a run switch but i can safely cruise around.
Get er dun!
I would say just ride the whole day switch, no need to go as far as strapping in switch or riding a t-bar switch.
For shits and giggles you can watch Dan83 riding a tbar switch towards the end of this vid!
It was hilarious and I don’t think the vid does it justice! - lets just say without the awesome skier holding him up I doubt he would have made it! 
It doesn’t do HUGE things for your switch to one foot switch on t-bars… HOWEVER. I have found if you ride a T switch and then strap in and ride down switch, you will feel like your brain is re-wired. And trick your mind into thinking the foot strapped in was the front foot.
Try it! It’s really weird. Your switch riding will look totally different for that one run.
For overall switch improvements, the things AJ said were spot on.
ANY TIME you feel like you are cruising, you could be improving your switch instead. So go for it.
2 things I could add to that would be:
- The ground spin/ ground 360/ whirly bird/ whatever you want to call it/ spin on the ground thing… you know the one… do that in both directions.
I use this trick to teach an intro to switch, because it forces you to make switch turns but is easier because it’s aided by momentum.
For a rider like yourself however, it will help greatly by 1) making you quick on you feet and learning how to avoid catching while turning switch and 2) centering your switch stance, which is important because switch make everyone ride too far on their back foot.
- Don’t just make turns. Ollie! ollie and jump switch in the park if you can. And I don’t mean a comfortable switch 180 that lets you land straight. I mean jump switch and land switch, it’s actually harder than a switch 180. A switch straight air is called a “Zero Air”. It might make you look bad and not impress your friends but MAN, it is good for your switch riding.
Hope that helps 
Switch it up!
I feel very comfortable riding switch. That said, I feel very weird riding a t-bar (or even a chairlift) switch, and I don’t think it matters one bit to my riding. Maybe I need to practise those specific skills more to get more comfortable, but seriously, I don’t think it really matters much. As the other guys have said, just ride switch as much as you can. It’s super fun progressing and it will enable you to do so much more on the mountain and in the park. I really like Andy’s points and I will also add things like riding mellow bumps (training your feet to absorb in the opposite way to your usual stance is very important), challenging yourself on steeper runs as you get better, straight runs (flat base) switch, and eventually carving switch etc.
Here is a guide I wrote on riding switch a while ago: https://www.boardworld.com.au/snowboarding/content/category/switch
Best time to learn is when it’s crap conditions out. No powder days, ride switch all day and do runs. Praco make perfecto !
My wife did the switch lesson thing (didn’t tell the instructor) and really enjoyed it, but we had a free lesson; I wouln’t waste money on a lesson if I were you.
Just ride switch son!
If you must do a lesson, don’t bother with Level 1. Depending on your switch ability, aim for L2 for green terrain or L3 for Blue Terrain.
But truthfully, just ride switch as much as possible. I think the thing that has helped me the most is practicing all 180’s FS/BS/Heels/Toes/Cab/Reg. Best place to start doing it is on a wide green run, then progress to flat trails… makes them way more interesting, and yes it sucks when you catch an edge and lose all that speed! Just pop back up and toy soldier walk to gather momentum again.
On every run you do, ride at least a few 100m switch.
Each day you ride try to do a whole run switch.
Every time you enter groomers start switch (it’s easy enough to flick around if you get in trouble or your group gets away from you).
Mostly it’s about building up the muscles and their memory because snowboarding switch uses different muscle groups to your normal stance.
Much like rider I would spend about 30% of the time going switch. Rarely I ride chairlifts with my back foot only strapped in (to give my leg a rest) - never on T-bars.
The year I broke my knee I rode out the rest of the season switch (mostly) - to take the pressure off my unstable, dislocated knee.
Here is a video I shot 2 weeks after dislocating my knee, at the start of the run you can see me holding my knee when riding through a difficult section, once on the groomers, (had done about 7 days riding switch), I was able to ride at full speed switch with relative ease for whole runs (Crackenback to Friday Flat). You can see the effort I’m putting in using my trailing arm to balance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh3_8p094-o
I found my switch riding improve the most whilst teaching others. Whenever i was teaching students who rode goofy (im regular) i would always ride switch to clearly demonstrate exactly what they needed to be doing to improve their own riding. This progressed my switch riding to almost equal my regular riding on groomers. Now i understand that not everyone may be teaching others, but the point being is that whenever riding with friends / family who are at a lower level than you, you should always ride switch!
I also liked what Andy said about the zero airs. Me and my friend spent a whole day in the park hitting all the small features in switch and boy did that improve our riding!!