Tight downhill single track switchbacks

[Irulan]

I've had to work on these tons. Here's what you need to analyze for yourself.
1. Picking your line. Sounds like you know what you aren't doing here. There's more to it, like looking at the entrance and exit of the turn, but looking down the trail past the trun is the main key.
2. Body position - where are you? Are you in "attack/ready" mode? Are you out of the saddle? Are you balanced on your feet?
3. How are your body/bike separation skills? This means, are you loose on the bike, and the bike moving independently of your body? You might need to lean the bike some and shift your hips to the outside of the corner to balance.
4. Use mostly the back brake to control your speed, and really steer the bike with the bars and your eyes.

Pedals level is always good - cornering with an outside foot down is an advanced technique.
Too far back and you will unweight the front of the bike which will make it squirrelly.
Try putting your saddle down. It will make everything easier.
And some switchbacks are really, really hard.

And what do you mean by crouch? Are you clear on what attack position is? The difference (to me) between attack and crouch is that attack position is well balanced on the feet, elbows out, knees NOT hugging the frame, and a crouch is more inward; contained, with elbows and knees in and tight. Hope that makes sense. :-)