I feel like most skaters wait wayyy too long to start learning switch/nollie stuff, either because they want to get as good as they possibly can normal-footed in the shortest possible time, or they just find it really hard and get frustrated and stop trying to learn it. Alot of new skaters (or even long-time skaters) don't realize how important learning switch/nollie stuff is. Not only will you start quickly annihilating all your friends at games of S-K-A-T-E, but your normal stance tricks will improve greatly. So this is my guide to inspire people to learn switch, and also give some tips about it. Feel free to ADD or ASK anything if you want.
When I first started learning switch/nollie I just rode around in my driveway for a while switch, then started working on pivoting and turning.
Once I had that down I started working on switch-manuals. As soon as I did my normal-manuals got wayyyyy better.
After that I tried to switch ollie, it wasn't really working for me so I just went to nollie shove's. Pretty easy trick, took me about an hour to master. They really help familiarize you with switch/nollie stuff.
Tried switch ollies again, still weren't working so I tried nollies. These came alot easier to me for some reason. I also found that they were alot easier to get comfortable with when you started out with your back-foot all the way on the bolts (similar to how you would put your feet if you were doing an Ollie-North.
After I got use to those I finally got switch ollies and just kept practicing them, the more I practiced the more my leg muscles got used to that motion and the higher they got.
Since I started learning switch/nollie early in my time skating, I try to keep my regular and goofy tricks just about even. If I learn something normal, the next day I will try to learn it switch. Sometimes it's hard to do and gets frustrating but I definitely believe it’s going to be well worth it in the long-run, especially if you ever want to get sponsored, switch is going to be a big part of that.
And to people who just read that and have absolutely NO idea what I’m blabbering on about, here is my extremely ghetto switch/nollie foot placement guide. *You roll in the direction of the arrow*
If you are REGULAR:
Normal
Switch
Fakie
Nollie
If you happen to be one of the few GOOFY skaters:
Normal
Switch
Fakie
Nollie