Reading all this, the question that comes to mind: is "stagnant", with its negative connotations, the right word here? If you have reached a plateau where your progression has slowed or stopped, but you are content doing what you're doing, and perhaps progressing in other ways, is that a bad thing?
Seems to me that flying foot switches are a functional move for racers, but for everyone else it's more of a fancy trick ... looks cool, demonstrates solid skills, but doesn't really accomplish much more functionally than a surface gybe. So, if your thing is ripping around fast in big waves, why judge your progression against racing skills? Similarly, you probably aren't doing jumps or tacks or 360s ... but are these tricks really part of the flow you're aiming for?
Seems to me that foil wave riding is its own specialization. Just like there's kiters on surfboards who actually surf and then there's a whole bunch more that only do flatwater strapless tricks. The comfort in riding waves on a foil comes from doing that over and over, eating s**t a lot and then sometimes winning. That flow is earned and I believe it's a very rare badge in this club.
I think you are right. I definitely am progressingy my wave riding skills and guess that is more of a focus for me than the foot switch.
Foiling footswitch Is of useful in choppy lumpy swell though as the water surface unreliable.
Ps I am getting some foot switches on flat easy days. Add a 2-3m swell, cross swell, chop and gusty wind and the flying footswitch goes out the window.