The concept of the azimuthal surface layer anchoring (ASLA) is introduced to describe the field-induced layer reorientation in a short pitch ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC). It was found that for the larger ASLA, the smaller layer reorientation occurs and saturates in the high field regime, especially near both surfaces. The ASLA tends to renormalize the surface interactions which produce the asymmetric director switching. It is suggested that the ASLA acts as a hindered restoring force for the layer reorientation.