Topping as a switch

I am pretty sure that playing for years as a bottom benefits my playing as a top. At the very least, I know how implements feel and how I react to them. This doesn't mean that I'll know how EVERY bottom reacts to EVERY toy -- some bottoms I've played with can take a heavy paddling yet struggle with a belting or strapping. I'm the exact opposite when I bottom. Leather is so much nicer than wood, in my opinion.

But in a more general sense, I know it's important for MANY bottoms to be pushed, to be made to take more than they think they can take. It's not about the sensation of pain (although pain is definitely important), it's about giving over control and letting someone else MAKE you take the pain.

To me, the whole idea of playing Mom or Babysitter or Teacher to a "Young Man" is so the adult in front of me can shift into a frame of mind where he believes he has no right to complain about what's happening to him. It's not always necessary to do a role play, however. Sometimes it's simply accepting that I'm in charge. Or I'll snap a collar onto a sub at the beginning of the scene, which can also provide that feeling of helplessness.

I've heard some people say things like "Every good top should switch to get an idea of what he/she is dishing out." I don't think that's necessarily true. If you don't register pain as anything but pain, and if you remain in control, you aren't really getting the full effect of what a bottom is going through. Also, toys carry emotional meaning. One toy may generate more FEAR than another toy -- like a wooden spoon, almost exclusively something a mom would grab, vs. a wooden paddle, a teacher's method of correction.