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People roller skating

Roller skating is the traveling on smooth surfaces with roller skates. It is a form of recreation as well as a sport, and can also be a form of transportation. Skates generally come in three basic varieties: quad roller skates, inline skates or blades and tri-skates, though some have experimented with a single-wheeled “quintessence skate” or other variations on the basic skate design. In America, this hobby was most popular in the 1970s and the 1990s.

History

Young man on The Edvard Petrini’s pedaled roller skates,^[1] known as sv:Takypod in Sweden, circa 1910

Roller skates in the United States around 1905.

• 1743: First recorded use of roller skates, in a London stage performance. The inventor of this skate is lost to history.
• 1760: First recorded skate invention, by John Joseph Merlin, who demonstrated a primitive inline skate with metal wheels.
• 1819: First patented roller skate design, in France by M. Petitbled. These early skates were similar to today’s inline skates, but they were not very maneuverable; it was very difficult with these skates to do anything but move in a straight line and perhaps make wide sweeping turns.
• Rest of the 19th century: inventors continued to work on improving skate design.
• 1863: The four-wheeled turning roller skate, or quad skate, with four wheels set in two side-by-side pairs, was first designed, in New York City by James Leonard Plimpton in an attempt to improve upon previous designs, The skate contained a pivoting action using a rubber cushion that allowed the skater to skate a curve just by leaning to one side. It was a huge success, so much that the first public skating rink was opened in 1866 in Newport, Rhode Island with the support of Plimpton. The design of the quad skate allowed easier turns and maneuverability, and the quad skate came to dominate the industry for more than a century.
• 1876: William Brown in Birmingham, England patented a design for the wheels of roller skates. Brown’s design embodied his effort to keep the two bearing surfaces of an axle, fixed and moving, apart. Brown worked closely with Joseph Henry Hughes, who drew up the patent for a ball or roller bearing race for bicycle and carriage wheels in 1877. Hughes’ patent included all the elements of an adjustable system. These two men are thus responsible for modern day roller skate and skateboard wheels, as well as the ball bearing race inclusion in velocipedes — later to become motorbikes and automobiles. This was arguably, the most important advance in the realistic use of roller skates as a pleasurable pastime.

An advert for an early 20th century model which fit over ordinary shoes

• 1876: The toe stop was first patented. This provided skaters with the ability to stop promptly upon tipping the skate onto the toe. Toe stops are still used today on most quad skates and on some types of inline skates.
• 1877: The Royal Skating indoor skating ring building is erected rue Veydt, Brussels.^[2]
• 1880s: Roller skates were being mass produced in America from then. This was the sport’s first of several boom periods. Micajah C. Henley of Richmond, Indiana produced thousands of skates every week during peak sales. Henley skates were the first skate with adjustable tension via a screw, the ancestor of the kingbolt mechanism on modern quad skates.
• 1884: Levant M. Richardson received a patent for the use of steel ball bearings in skate wheels to reduce friction, allowing skaters to increase speed with minimum effort.
• 1898: Richardson started the Richardson Ball Bearing and Skate Company, which provided skates to most professional skate racers of the time, including Harley Davidson (no relation to the Harley-Davidson motorcycle brand). (Turner and Zaidman, 1997).

A 24-hour roller skating endurance competition in Paris, held in 1911

• The design of the quad skate has remained essentially unchanged since then, and remained as the dominant roller skate design until nearly the end of the 20th century. The quad skate has begun to make a comeback recently due to the popularity of roller derby and jam skating.

• 1979: Scott Olson and Brennan Olson of Minneapolis, Minnesota came across a pair of inline skates created in the 1960s by the Chicago Roller Skate Company and, seeing the potential for off-ice hockey training, set about redesigning the skates using modern materials and attaching ice hockey boots. A few years later Scott Olson began heavily promoting the skates and launched the company Rollerblade, Inc..

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Rollerblade-branded skates became so successful that they inspired many other companies to create similar inline skates, and the inline design became more popular than the traditional quads. The Rollerblade skates became synonymous in the minds of many with “inline skates” and skating, so much so that many people came to call any form of skating “Rollerblading,” thus becoming a genericized trademark.

For much of the 1980s and into the 1990s, inline skate models typically sold for general public use employed a hard plastic boot, similar to ski boots. In or about 1995, “soft boot” designs were introduced to the market, primarily by the sporting goods firm K2 Inc., and promoted for use as fitness skates. Other companies quickly followed, and by the early 2000s the development of hard shell skates and skeletons became primarily limited to the Aggressive inline skating discipline and other specialized designs.

The single-wheel “quintessence skate” [1] was made in 1988 by Miyshael F. Gailson of Caples Lake Resort, California, for the purpose of cross-country ski skating and telemark skiing training. Other skate designs have been experimented with over the years, including two wheeled (heel and toe) inline skate frames but the vast majority of skates on the market today are either quad or standard inline design.

Artistic roller skating

Stopless quad skate plates

Artistic roller skating is a sport which consists of a number of events. These are usually accomplished on quad skates, but inline skates may be used for some events. Various flights of events are organized by age and ability/experience. In the US, local competitions lead to 9 regional competitions which lead to the National Championships and World Championships.

See [2] for more information.

Figures

Skaters skate around a series of circles or ovals to show control and accuracy.

^[3]

Dance

Skaters, either solo or a team of two, dance with standardized choreography to music. They are judged on their adherence to the choreography, skill, and style.

Skaters are judged by the accuracy of steps that they skate when performing a particular dance. In addition to being judged on their edges and turns, skaters must carry themselves in an elegant manner while paying careful attention to the rhythm and timing of the music.

Freestyle

An individual event where creativity is emphasized. Includes jumps, spins and choreographed movements to music.

Precision teams

A team of skaters (usually counted in multiples of 4) creates various patterns and movements to music. Often used elements include skating in a line, skating in a box, ’splicing’ (subgroups skating towards each other such that they do not contact each other), and skating in a circle. The team is judged on its choreography and the ability to skate together precisely.

Singles and pairs

A single skater or a pair of skaters present routines to music. They are judged on skating ability and creativity. Jumps are expected in these events.

Speed skating

Inline speed skating is a competitive contact sport played on inline skates. Variants include indoor, track and road racing, with many different grades of skaters, so the whole family can compete.

Group skating

Inline roller skater on a slalom course

Among skaters not committed to a particular discipline, a popular social activity is the group skate or street skate, in which large groups of skaters regularly meet to skate together, usually on city streets. Although such touring existed among quad roller skate clubs in the 1970s and 1980s, it made the jump to inline skates in 1990 with groups in large cities throughout the United States. In some cases, hundreds of skaters would regularly participate, resembling a rolling party. In the late 1990s, the group skate phenomenon spread to Europe and east Asia. The weekly Friday night skate in Paris, France (called Pari Roller) is believed to be one of the largest repeating group skates in the world. At times, it has had as many as 35,000 skaters participating on a single night. The Sunday Skate Night in Berlin also attracts over 10,000 skaters during the summer, and Copenhagen, Munich, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, London, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and Tokyo host other popular events. Charity skates in Paris have attracted 50,000 participants (the yearly Paris-Versailles skate).

Aggressive inline

Aggressive inline skating is trick based skating. This is where the individual performs tricks using a slightly different skate to normal. The skate has a grind block in between two wheels and the various companies have designed the boots to take these extra strains. Also the wheels have a flat large contact surface for grip.

Aggressive inline can either take place at a skate park or on the street. Typically predominantly grinds but also air tricks such as spins and flips.

Roller hockey (quad)

Roller hockey is the overarching name for a rollersport that existed long before inline skates were invented. Roller hockey has been played on quad skates in many countries worldwide and so has many names. Roller hockey at the 1992 Summer Olympics was a demonstration rollersport in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

Skating federations

In the United States, the controlling organization is USA Roller Sports, headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, also home of the [National Museum of Roller Skating][3]. Nationals are held each summer with skaters required to qualify through regional competitions.

Roller derby

Roller derby is a team sport played on roller skates on an oval track. Originally a trademarked product developed out of speed skating demonstrations, the sport is currently experiencing a revival as a grass-roots-driven 5-a-side sport played mainly by women. Most roller derby leagues adopt the rules and guidelines set by the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association.

Other groups

Other groups include:

• International Roller Sports Federation (Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports)
• British Federation of Roller Skating
• Skate Australia

In popular culture

• 1971 - The song Brand New Key by Melanie Safka uses roller skates as a theme.
• 1979 - Roller Boogie with Linda Blair
• 1980 - Xanadu, with Olivia Newton-John, has rollerskating as a recurring theme.
• 1980 - Heaven’s Gate with Kris Kristofferson and Christopher Walken, which is set in 1890s Wyoming, features a scene in an early roller skating rink.
• 1998 - In the Disney Channel Original Movie Brink!, in-line skating is presented as an extreme competition for teens in California.
• 2005 - The plot of the film Roll Bounce centered around a group of teenagers who compete in a rollerskating competition in the late 1970s.
• 2006 - In the movie ATL, set in Atlanta, the protagonist – rapper, T.I. – and his friends had a great love for skating.
• 2008 - MTV’s “Americas Best Dance Crew” featured Breaksk8, a group of Hip Hop dancers on roller skates.
• 2009 - The movie Whip It, starring Ellen Page and Drew Barrymore – Barrymore also directing – centers around a small-town girl who joins a hard core all-girl roller derby team.
• 2011 - In the movie Skateland Skateland, starring Shiloh Fernadez and Ashley Greene, which is set in the 1980s, when roller skating was very popular and many teenagers used to go to roller rinks.

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Turner, James, in collaboration with Zaidman, Michael (1997). The History of Roller Skating. National Museum of Roller Skating. ISBN 0-9658192-0-5. 
• National Museum of Roller Skating: Homework Page
• United States Amateur Confederation of Roller Skating (1980). American Roller Skate Dancing Part I Bronze and Silver Dances Edition X. An Official USAC/RS Publication. p. 9. 

External links

Media related to Roller skating at Wikimedia Commons

Aggressive inline skating is a form of inline skating, performed on specially designed inline skates with focus on sliding stances known as grinds with a focus on new tricks, stunts and personal style. Participants refer to the activity as “‘rollerblading’“, “blading“, “skating” or “rolling“. Vert or park is part of extreme sports and street skating or freeskate in urban areas.

History

In 1980 a group of ice hockey players in Minnesota were looking for a way to practice during the summer.^[1] Scott and Brennan Olson formed the company Rollerblade, Inc., to sell skates with four polyurethane wheels arranged in a straight line on the bottom of a padded boot.^[1] In 1988, Rollerblade introduced the first aggressive inline skate, the Rollerblade Lightning TRS. Aggressive inline skating finally developed as an organized sport in the early 1990s.^[2] The Aggressive Skaters Association (ASA) was formed by a number of aggressive inline skaters in 1994 as a forum to develop rules governing competitions and equipment.^[2] The sport was included in the first X-Games in 1995 and included vertical ramp and street event competitions.^[3] It reached its height in popularity in the late 90s, with mainstream movies like Disney’s Brink! and other films. Aggressive inline skating was removed from the ESPN X-Games in 2005 although it is still included in the Asian X Games, LG Action Sports Competitions, Montpellier Fise, and many other large competitions.^[4] Much of aggressive inline skating’s progression has been documented through inline Skate videos, such as T-Bone Film’s The Hoax and Videogroove series (both defunct). As of 2011, skate videos have in large part become distributed on the Internet through YouTube and Vimeo rather than by VHS or DVDs sold through skate shops.

Description

Tricks in aggressive skating can be performed on street obstacles or on ramps. Street skaters perform more grinds and slides, where as ramp skaters have more air-time and therefore can perform other, often acrobatic tricks. Aggressive skaters can perform grinds by using the frames and plastic plates on the bottom of the skate. Grinds are usually done on rails and ledges although they can be performed on any obstacle which slides such as a curb or even chains. Similar to grinding, a cess slide involves sliding on the sides of the skate so the wheels aren’t touching the ground, and can be performed on any surface that will allow for sliding.

Types

Street

In street skating, also known as freestyle skating, the skater performs tricks by utilizing features existing in a common, everyday environment.^[5] This involves skaters grinding hand rails and concrete ledges, jumping stairs, ramping off of embankments and generally turning anything on the regular street into an obstacle, ramp, or grind rail.^[5] Creativity is often seen as important aspect of street skating, since skaters are able to invent or link tricks specific to a unique environment, rather than performing more standard maneuvers on predefined obstacles as in park and vert skating.

Park

Park skating refers to skating that occurs in various private and community skateparks. This style differs from street skating due to the specific nature of skate parks, which are designed for skaters to do tricks, e.g. on the top of the ramp (coping). Park skating often emphasizes the technical side of aggressive inline, focusing on the variety of tricks a skater can do and encouraging skaters to connect tricks. A series of tricks connected together in a fluid motion over different obstacles is known as a ‘line’. Skate parks often feature quarter pipes and half-pipes, curved ramps and other features that are not usually found in a regular urban setting. A better quality skate park will have good lines—making it easier for skaters to perform tricks. Good skateparks have a flow to them.

Vert

Vert, short for vertical, skating is a style of skating performed within a half-pipe.^[6] It focuses on complicated aerial maneuvers, such as spins and flips. The intent of the skater is to build speed until they are of sufficient height above the edge of the ramp to perform various aerial acrobatics.^[5] They may also grind the lip of the half-pipe sliding their skates from one point of the lip to another. In competitions skaters have limited time, often less than a minute, to impress the judges by landing numerous and difficult tricks.^[5]

Skate description

A pair of Edwards Chocolate aggressive inline skates

Aggressive inline skates are specially designed to be tougher and stronger than normal inline skates, due to the high levels of stress placed on the skate by the stunts and tricks a skater performs. A typical skate consists of the;

Typically each part is replaceable, and certain manufacturers provided parts that have been divided into individual sections, so a skater can replace specific worn areas.

Frames

The chassis of the skate, called the frame, bolts to the bottom of the skate. Skaters grind on the frames, which are designed for this purpose.

There are several different variations on frame design. Originally a skate had four wheels on each skate, with a gap between the middle wheel where a plastic insert called an H-block was used for grinding. During the mid 1990s a plastic plate, known as the ‘grind plate’ was attached to the inside of the frame between the middle two wheels to extend the life of the H-block. As frame manufacturers began making removable h-blocks, the grind plate has fallen out of favor. As the sport evolved, skate companies started manufacturing wheels that were intentionally undersized, in order to facilitate grinding. The undersized wheels are called anti-rockers or midgets. Since some skaters skate with only two wheels on each skate, some frames are designed to match this (a variant called a freestyle frame).

In the late 1990s, the Universal Frame System (UFS) was introduced by frame manufacturers to allow the user to easily customize their skates.^[7] This led to increased customization of skates within the sport by allowing the user interchangeability between different company’s frames.^[7] Today, all major frame and skate manufacturers support UFS.

Wheels

Modern skate wheels have undergone many years of development and iteration. The development of the main material, polyurethane, has been dependent on advancements in the polymer industry. The balance between hardness and grip is the key to an optimum skate wheel. Aggressive skate wheels are usually between 50 and 60mm, while anti-rocker wheels are between 35 and 47mm. usually two high density polyurethane wheels with high hardness, replacing the inner two wheels.

Anti-rocker wheels

Two high density polyurethane wheels with high hardness, replacing the inner two wheels. Some skaters prefer replacing only one of the inner wheels with anti-rockers. Anti-rocker wheels enable skaters to grind obstacles with a relatively high diameter. These wheels, unlike normal wheels, give skaters a relatively large margin of balance error while grinding on a concrete curb or ledge. While normal wheels get stuck on concrete surfaces, the much harder anti-rocker wheels will simply slide because of the friction being less, allowing skaters to lean out of their center of balance without tripping.

Popular Male Pro Skaters

Franky Morales, Omar Wysong, Roman Abrate, Brian Aragon, Walt Austin, Julian Bah, Don Bambrick, John Bolino, Micheal Braud, Alex Broskow, Abdiel Colberg, Jay Dick, Chris Edwards, Arlo Eisenberg, Chris Farmer, Aaron Feinberg, Demetrios George, Robert Guerrero, Chris Haffey, Brent Hicks, Stefan Horngacher, Jeph Howard, Mike “Murda” Johnson, Rachard Johnson, Jon Julio, Jacob Juul, Ramelle Knight, Dustin Latimer, Montre Livingston, Connor O’Brien, Billy O’Neill, Dre Powell, JC Rowe, Erik “Ski” Perkett, Chaz Sands, Brian Shima, Eric Shrihjn, Matthias Silhan, David Sizemore, Dominik Wagner, CJ Wellsmore, Damien Wilson, Sam Williams, Mark Wodja, Nick Wood

Popular Female Pro Skaters

Once considered a sport primarily for males, Fabiola da Silva, born June 18,1979 in São Paulo, Brazil, set the stage for female skaters to exhibit their talent in worldwide competitions. In 2000, the Aggressive Skaters Association created the “Fabiola Rule” which allowed females to compete in vert competitions that had previously been limited to male skaters. Since then, notable female aggressive inline skaters around the world include: (alphabetized)

Katie Brown, Jenna Downing, Aarin Gates, Fallon Heffernan, Katie Kethum, Jenny Lougue, Kelly Matthews, CoCo Sanchez, Jodie Tyler, Chynna Weirstall

Films

As with most action sports, the film is an important part of marketing and exposure. Some of the most important early films are Hoax and Hoax 2. KFC’s, “Straight Jacket”, and Chris Majette’s ,”Choose Your Genre”, are also well known for their profiles of skaters and their lifestyles.

The video documentary entitled, “Barely Dead”, was produced by Doug Urquhart of Misled Media, and tells the history of aggressive inline skating, shows professional skaters at work and contains interviews with people like Arlo Eisenberg, TJ Webber, B-Love, and Brian Shima. “Barely Dead” was awarded winner at the 2005 London Freesports Film Festival. Doug Urquhart is also known for “Hashassins”, “Masters of Delusion”, and “Black Market”. These films feature professional skaters including: Brian Aragon, Julian Bah, Will Gordon, Brent Hicks, Dre Powell, Montre Livingston, and Walt Austin. “Black Market” chronicles a tour throughout Europe and the U.S.

The documentary film Jack Be Nimble was released in 2008 and chronicles the Roll Series and one group’s travels through the country by RV to compete in various aggressive inline competitions.

In 2010, “Game Theory”, was released, which was directed and edited by Helton “Brazilionaire” Siquiera, and executive produced by owner of Sunshine Distribution, Andy Wegener. “Game Theory” features segments from professional skaters: Roman Abrate, Brian Aragon, Julian Bah, Don Bambrick, Stefan Horngacher, Jeph Howard, Iain McLeod, Mike “Murda” Johnson, Max Jubin, Erik “Ski” Perkett, Matthias Silhan, and Edwin Wieringh.

2011 saw the release of “Valo4Life” Following two years of filming and travel across cities in the world, The Valo skate brand released its fourth full-length video, Valo4Life. 4Life—the fourth video from the Valo skate brand—features sections from pro skaters Alex Broskow, Erik Bailey, Brandon Smith, Victor Arias, Soichiro Kanashima, Cosimo Tassone, and Jon Julio. Filmed in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Australia, Montreal, Amsterdam, Barcelona, and more. It was widely celebrated amogst the blading community a landmark video^[8]

News Magazines and Skate Shops

Several print and on-line magazines have been created over the years to provide newsworthy information for and about skaters, events, new products, and the industry. Among the most widely read have been: Daily Bread, One, Be-Mag, and Rollernews.com. In 2011, a N.Y.C. based magazine, Art of Rolling, began publication.

Full scale warehouses such as Roller Warehouse, Aggressive Mall and Revolution Skate distribute magazines, DVD’s, the latest designs in skates, wheels, grindplates and related equipment, skater apparel and accessories through mail order as well as provide online stores and information through their websites.

Major Brands

• USD Skates
• Valo Skates
• XSJADO Skates
• Rollerblade Skates
• Razor Skates
• Remz Skates

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Aggressive inline skating

• United World Rolling- Global Rollerblading Social Community
• Franky Morales.com
• RollerWarehouse- largest skateshop
• TrueMiszou.com/Rollerpedia: A wiki for Aggressive skating.
• www.rollerblade.com/
• www.rollingvideos.com/
• Rolling Film Archive
• PatinsBlog
• Aggressive Inline Blog

Look up skate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

A skate is a kind of fish belonging to the family Rajidae.

Skate may also refer to:

Sports

• Skating (disambiguation), a term for several athletic activities and their equipment:
  • Ice skate
  • Inline skates
  • Roller skates
  • Skateboard
• Skate-skiing, a cross-country skiing technique

Ships

• HMS Skate (1895), a Victorian era destroyer of the United Kingdom
• USS Skate, several submarines of the US Navy

Entertainment

• Sk8 (TV series), a 2001 NBC show
• SK8-TV, a 1990 Nickelodeon show

Other uses

• Skate, the code name for the Bombing of Braunschweig in World War II
• Skate (video game), developed by Electronic Arts for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. It needs additional citations for verification. Tagged since March 2009. It needs attention from an expert on the subject. Tagged since March 2009.

Skate punk (sometimes called skate rock) is a sub genre of punk rock, originally a derivative of the West Coast hardcore punk scene, that is named after its popularity among skateboarders and association with skateboarding culture.^[1] Skate punk most commonly describes the sound of melodic hardcore bands from the 1990s with an aggressive sound, and similar sounding modern bands. Skate videos have traditionally featured this aggressive style of punk rock to parallel the feel of skateboarding. This played a big part in the coining of the term “skate punk”. However, some bands who are commonly referred to as skate punk do not embrace the label because they do not necessarily associate with skateboarding despite what the label would imply. Skate punk has gained popularity all around the world, including the Nardcore punk scene out of Oxnard, California.

Musical style

The musical style of skate punk combines the intensity of hardcore punk and thrashcore with more melodic songwriting. However, the earliest skate punk bands had a more raw sound which generally became more melodic over time. Skate punk is often more technical than other forms of punk, commonly featuring lead guitar riffs, solos, and vocal harmonies. The drum beats are often extremely fast, borrowing from the hardcore punk and thrashcore tradition. There is a considerable amount of overlap between the sound of skate punk and other forms of punk, so many bands classified as skate punk also fit into genres such as pop punk, melodic hardcore, and thrashcore. Members of skate punk bands are often skateboarders themselves. Some bands occasionally focus on or at least reference skateboarding culture in their lyrics, in addition to other lyrical themes common to punk.

History

Skate punk started in mid-1980s California, where skateboarding was growing in popularity and was considered a form of rebellion. Bands that influenced the genre include Black Flag, The Faction, JFA, Agent Orange, Minor Threat and Bad Religion. The Faction from San Jose, California, The Big Boys from Texas, and JFA from Arizona are widely considered to be the first skate punk bands. All three bands were made up entirely of skateboarders and played loud and fast music designed to match the intensity of skateboarding. Music By Skaters For Skaters Bands such as RKL, NOFX, Stalag 13, Hogan’s Heroes and Suicidal Tendencies were also among the first wave of skate punk bands, with the latter band also paving the way for skate punk bands to play funk metal.^[1]

The 1990s saw a rise in the popularity of skate punk as it evolved to be more melodic. During this time skate punk bands experienced a fair amount of commercial success and were featured in events such as the Warped tour.

Notable Record labels

• Hopeless Records
• Fearless Records
• Mystic Records
• DC-Jam Records
• Geykido Comet Records
• Bells On Records
• Alternative Tentacles
• Fat Wreck Chords
• Epitaph Records
• Nitro Records
• BrokenBoard Records

References

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2010)

Skateboard

Skateboarder in the air

A skateboard is typically a specially designed plywood board combined with a polyurethane coating used for making smoother slides and stronger durability, used primarily for the activity of skateboarding. The first skateboards to reach public notice came out of the surfing craze of the early 1960s, developed to help surfers practice when waves were unfavorable. The first prototypes were simple wooden boards with roller-skate wheels attached, and the practice was sometimes referred to as “sidewalk surfing.” The surfing group Jan and Dean even had a minor hit called “Sidewalk Surfing” in 1964. By the mid-1980s skateboards were mass produced and sold throughout the United States.

A skateboard is propelled by pushing with one foot while the other remains on the board, or by pumping one’s legs in structures such as a pool or half pipe. A skateboard can also be used by simply standing on the deck while on a downward slope and allowing gravity to propel the board and rider. If the rider positions their right foot forward, he/she is said to ride “goofy“; if the rider positions their left foot forward, he/she is said to ride “regular.” If the rider is normally regular but chooses to ride goofy, he/she is said to be riding “switch,” and vice versa. A skater is typically more comfortable pedaling with their back foot; choosing to pedal with the front foot is commonly referred to as riding “mongo.”

Recently, electric skateboards have also appeared. These no longer require the propelling of the skateboard by means of the feet; rather an electric motor propels the board, fed by an electric battery.

There is no governing body that declares any regulations on what constitutes a skateboard or the parts from which it is assembled. Historically, the skateboard has conformed both to contemporary trends and to the ever evolving array of stunts performed by riders/users, who require a certain functionality from the board. Of course, the board shape depends largely upon its desired function. Longboards are a type of skateboard with a longer wheelbase and larger, softer wheels.

Parts

Descriptions of the following skateboard parts are the ones most prevalent in popular, modern forms of skateboarding. Many parts exist with exotic or alternative constructions and designs that fall outside of much of the descriptions listed. The usual parts to design a complete skateboard are the deck, trucks, wheels, bearings, hardware, bushings and griptape.

Deck

The underside of a skateboard. In this photo the deck, trucks and wheels can be seen.

Most decks are constructed with a six to seven-ply cross-laminated maple wood. Some of them have special materials that help to keep the deck from breaking: such as fiberglass, bamboo, resin, Kevlar, carbon fiber, aluminum, and plastic. Some decks made from maple ply are dyed to create various different coloured ply. Modern decks vary in size, but most are 7 to 10.5 inches (17.78 to 26.67 centimeters) wide. Wider decks can be used for greater stability when transition or ramp skating. Skateboard decks are usually between 28 and 33 inches (71.12 and 83.82 centimetres) long. The underside of the deck can be printed with a design by the manufacturer, blank, or decorated by any other means.

The longboard, a common variant of the skateboard, has a longer deck. This is mostly ridden down hills or by the beach to represent the riding of a wave in the ocean on a surfboard. This was created by two surfers; Ben Whatson and Jonny Drapper. One of the first deck companies was called “Drapped” taken from Jonny’s second name. “Old school” boards (those made in the 1970s–80s or modern boards that mimic their shape) are generally wider and often have only one kicktail. Variants of the 1970s often have little or no concavity, whereas 1980s models have deeper concavities and steeper kicktails.^{[citation needed]}

Grip tape, when applied to the top surface of a skateboard, gives a skater’s feet grip on the deck. It is most often black but can come in a variety of colors including clear, allowing the top of the deck to be decorated. It has an adhesive back and a sandpaper-like top.

Trucks

An Independent brand skateboard truck

Attached to the deck are two metal (usually aluminum alloy) trucks, which connect to the wheels and deck. The trucks are further composed of two parts. The top part of the truck is screwed to the deck and is called the baseplate, and beneath it is the hanger. The axle runs through the hanger. Between the baseplate and the hanger are bushings, also rubbers or grommets, that provide the cushion mechanism for turning the skateboard. The bushings cushion the truck when it turns. The stiffer the bushings, the more resistant the skateboard is to turning. The softer the bushings, the easier it is to turn. A bolt called a kingpin holds these parts together and fits inside the bushings. Thus by tightening or loosening the kingpin nut, the trucks can be adjusted loosely for better turning and tighter for more stability. Standard Kingpin nut size is 3/8″ - 24tpi.

Skateboard trucks are manufactured in a number of different axle widths. In general an axle width should be chosen that is close to the width of the deck it will be used with.^[1] For example, a 7.75″ wide deck will usually be fitted with trucks that have axles between 7.5″ wide and 8.0″ wide. (Standard truck axel nut size is 5/16″-24tpi UNF, and the thinner “jam” style with an optional nylon lock.) Trucks that are too wide can make doing tricks difficult and can cause the wheels to get in the way when the skateboard is being ridden. Trucks that are too small can be hard to maintain stability and can cause wheel bite to occur when turning.

Longboard specific trucks are a more recent development. A longboard truck has the king pin laid at a more obtuse angle (usually between 38 and 50 degrees^[2]) to the deck, this gives a greater degree of turning for the same tilt of the deck. This allows riders to go much faster while still maintaining stability and control.

Giant strides have been made in the truck industry over the years. In late 2007, Gullwing Truck Company manufactured a truck named “Sidewinder” that can pivot on two different angles, thus greatly decreasing the turning radius of the board, resulting in a greater feel between the rider and the sidewalk.

Wheels

The wheels of a skateboard, usually made of polyurethane, come in many different sizes and shapes to suit different types of skating. Larger sizes like 54–85 mm roll faster, and also move more easily over cracks in pavement. Smaller sizes like 48–54 mm keep the board closer to the ground, require less force to accelerate and produce a lower center of gravity, but also make for a slower top speed. Wheels also are available in a variety of hardnesses usually measured on the Shore durometer “A” scale. Wheels range from the very soft (about Shore A 75) to the very hard (about Shore A 101). As the A scale stops at 100, any wheels labeled 101A or higher are harder, but do not use the appropriate durometer scale. Some wheel manufacturers now use the “B” or “D” scales, which have a larger and more accurate range of hardness. Modern street skaters prefer smaller wheels (usually 51–54 mm), as small wheels with lighter trucks can make tricks like kickflips and other flip tricks easier by keeping the center of gravity of the skateboard closer to the deck, thus making the deck easier to spin. Street wheels are often quite hard as this allows the wheels to slide easier on waxed surfaces for bluntslides and nose/tailslides. Vertical ramp or “vert” skating requires larger wheels (usually 55–65 mm), as it involves higher speeds. Vert wheels are also usually softer, allowing them to maintain high speed on ramps without sliding. Slalom skating requires even larger wheels (60–75 mm) to sustain the highest speeds possible. They also need to be soft and have better grip to make the tight and frequent turns in slalom racing. Even larger wheels are used in longboarding and downhill skateboarding. Sizes range from 65 mm to 100 mm. These extreme sizes of wheels almost always have cores of hard plastic that can be made thinner and lighter than a solid polyurethane wheel. They are often used by skateboard videographers as well, as the large soft wheels allow for smooth and easy movement over any terrain.

An Animation of the working principle for a ball bearing. N.B. The diagram shows an 8-balled-bearing whereas a skateboard bearing only has 7

Grip tape

Grip tape is a sheet paper or fabric with adhesive on one side and a surface similar to fine sand paper on the other. Grip tape is applied to the top surface of a board to allow the rider’s feet to grip the surface and help the skater stay on the board while doing tricks. Grip tape is usually black, but is also available in many different colors such as pink, yellow, checkered, camo, and even clear. Often times they have designs die-cut to show the color of the board, or to show off the board’s company logo.

Bearings

Each skateboard wheel is mounted on its axle via two bearings. With few exceptions, the bearings are the industrial standard “608″ size, with a bore of 8 mm, an outer diameter of 22 mm, and a width of 7 mm. These are usually made of steel, though silicon nitride, a high-tech ceramic, is sometimes used. Many skateboard bearings are graded according to the ABEC scale. The scale starts with ABEC1 as the lowest, 3, 5, 7, 9. It is a common misconception that the higher ABECs are better for skateboarding, as the ABEC rating only measures tolerances, which do not necessarily apply to skateboards. The ABEC rating does not determine how fast or how durable a bearing used for skateboarding will be.^[3] In particular, the ABEC rating says nothing about how well a bearing handles axial (side-to-side) loads, which are severe in most skateboard applications. Many companies do not show the ABEC rating, such as Bones Bearings, which makes bearings specifically for skateboarding, often marketed as “Skate Rated”. Each bearing usually contains 7 steel or ceramic ball bearings, although other configurations are used as well.

Hardware

Mounting hardware is a set of eight 10-32 UNC bolts, usually an Allen or Phillips head, and matching nylon locknuts. They are used to attach the trucks to the board. Some sets have one different colored bolt to show which side is the nose of the skateboard.

Optional components

Risers/wedges

Risers increase the space between the truck and the deck. This allows the truck to twist further without causing wheel bite (when the wheel touches the deck and stops rotating). Wedges can be used to change the turning characteristics of a truck.^[4]

Rails/ribs

Narrow strips of plastic or metal that are attached under the deck lengthwise along the edges. They are used for additional grip for grabs, and to enhance sliding while protecting the deck’s graphics at the same time. Although rarely used anymore, they are useful for experienced skaters that are capable of grabs.

Sliptape

Sliptape is a clear piece of self adhesive plastic that sticks to the underside of a deck. It helps protect the board’s graphics and allows the board to slide easier. Another name for this is everslick.

Lapper

A lapper is a plastic cover that is fastened to the rear truck and serves to protect the kingpin when grinding. It also prevents hang-ups by providing a smoother transition for the truck when it hits an obstacle or a metal pipe or round bar.

Nose guard

A plastic bumper used to protect the front of a skateboard. Used in older board models.

Tail guard

Is a plastic cover that protects the tail end of the skateboard from scratching

Tail Devil

Sparking device placed on the tail or nose of the skateboard.

Copers

Plastic half tubing that protected the axles of the trucks. In the 1980-85 period, stolen shopping cart handles were cut by some to fit as a makeshift coper.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Wheelbase
• Skateboarding
• Longboard
• Surfboard

References

Look up skateboard in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Skateboard

Has a guide to choosing the right cruiser skateboard

the skateboard warehouse

Skateboarders in Beijing, China

Skateboarder at Skateistan in Kabul, Afghanistan

Skateboarder in Wellington, New Zealand

Skateboarder in Grants Pass, Oregon

Skateboarding is an action sport which involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard. Skateboarding can be a recreational activity, an art form, a job, or a method of transportation.^[1] Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2002 report found that there were 18.5 million skateboarders in the world. 85 percent of skateboarders polled who had used a board in the last year were under the age of 18, and 74 percent were male.^[2]

Skateboarding is relatively modern. A key skateboarding maneuver, the ollie, was developed in the late 1970s by Alan “Ollie” Gelfand as a half-pipe maneuver. Freestyle skateboarder Rodney Mullen was the first to take it to flat ground and later invented the kickflip and its variations. Since the 1970s, skateparks have been constructed specifically for use by skateboarders, bikers and inline skaters.^[3]

History

1940s–1960s

Skateboarding was probably born sometime in the late 1940s or early 1950s when surfers in California wanted something to surf when the waves were flat. No one knows who made the first board; it seems that several people came up with similar ideas at around the same time. These first skateboarders started with wooden boxes or boards with roller skate wheels attached to the bottom. The boxes turned into planks, and eventually companies were producing decks of pressed layers of wood – similar to the skateboard decks of today. During this time, skateboarding was seen as something to do for fun besides surfing, and was therefore often referred to as “Sidewalk Surfing”.

A skateboarder in Tallahassee, Florida

The first manufactured skateboards were ordered by a Los Angeles, California surf shop, meant to be used by surfers in their downtime. The shop owner, Bill Richard, made a deal with the Chicago Roller Skate Company to produce sets of skate wheels, which they attached to square wooden boards. Accordingly, skateboarding was originally denoted “sidewalk surfing” and early skaters emulated surfing style and maneuvers. Crate scooters preceded skateboards, and were borne of a similar concept, with the exception of having a wooden crate attached to the nose (front of the board), which formed rudimentary handlebars.^[4]

A number of surfing manufacturers such as Makaha started building skateboards that resembled small surfboards, and assembling teams to promote their products. The popularity of skateboarding at this time spawned a national magazine, Skateboarder Magazine, and the 1965 international championships were broadcast on national television. The growth of the sport during this period can also be seen in sales figures for Makaha, which quoted $10 million worth of board sales between 1963 and 1965 (Weyland, 2002:28). Yet by 1966 the sales had dropped significantly (ibid) and Skateboarder Magazine had stopped publication. The popularity of skateboarding dropped and remained low until the early 1970s.^[4][5]

1970s

In the early 1970s, Frank Nasworthy started to develop a skateboard wheel made of polyurethane, calling his company Cadillac Wheels.^[4] Prior to this new material, skateboards wheels were metal or “clay” wheels. The improvement in traction and performance was so immense that from the wheel’s release in 1972 the popularity of skateboarding started to rise rapidly again, causing companies to invest more in product development. Nasworthy commissioned artist Jim Evans to do a series of paintings promoting Cadillac Wheels, they were featured as ads and posters in the resurrected Skateborder magazine, and proved immensely popular in promoting the new style of skateboarding. Many companies started to manufacture trucks (axles) specially designed for skateboarding, reached in 1976 by Tracker Trucks. As the equipment became more maneuverable, the decks started to get wider, reaching widths of 10 inches (250 mm) and over, thus giving the skateboarder even more control. Banana board is a term used to describe skateboards made of polypropylene that were skinny, flexible, with ribs on the underside for structural support and very popular during the mid-1970s. They were available in myriad colors, bright yellow probably being the most memorable, hence the name.

Manufacturers started to experiment with more exotic composites and metals, like fiberglass and aluminium, but the common skateboards were made of maple plywood. The skateboarders took advantage of the improved handling of their skateboards and started inventing new tricks. Skateboarders, most notably Ty Page, Bruce Logan, Bobby Piercy, Kevin Reed, and the Z-Boys (so-called because of their local Zephyr surf shop) started to skate the vertical walls of swimming pools that were left empty in the 1976 California drought. This started the vert trend in skateboarding. With increased control, vert skaters could skate faster and perform more dangerous tricks, such as slash grinds and frontside/backside airs. This caused liability concerns and increased insurance costs to skatepark owners, and the development (first by Norcon, then more successfully by Rector) of improved knee pads that had a hard sliding cap and strong strapping proved to be too-little-too-late. During this era, the “freestyle” movement in skateboarding began to splinter off and develop into a much more specialized discipline, characterized by the development of a wide assortment of flat-ground tricks.

As a result of the “vert” skating movement, skate parks had to contend with high-liability costs that led to many park closures. In response, vert skaters started making their own ramps, while freestyle skaters continued to evolve their flatland style. Thus by the beginning of the 1980s, skateboarding had once again declined in popularity.^[5]

1980s

This period was fueled by skateboard companies that were run by skateboarders. The focus was initially on vert ramp skateboarding. The invention of the no-hands aerial (later known as the ollie) by Alan Gelfand in Florida in 1976^[6] and the almost parallel development of the grabbed aerial by George Orton and Tony Alva in California made it possible for skaters to perform airs on vertical ramps. While this wave of skateboarding was sparked by commercialized vert ramp skating, a majority of people who skateboarded during this period never rode vert ramps. Because most people could not afford to build vert ramps or did not have access to nearby ramps, street skating gained popularity.

Freestyle skating remained healthy throughout this period with pioneers such as Rodney Mullen inventing many of the basic tricks of modern street skating such as the Impossible and the kickflip. The influence freestyle had on street skating became apparent during the mid-eighties, but street skating was still performed on wide vert boards with short noses, slide rails, and large soft wheels. Skateboarding, however, evolved quickly in the late 1980s to accommodate the street skater. Since few skateparks were available to skaters at this time, street skating pushed skaters to seek out shopping centers and public and private property as their “spot” to skate. Public opposition, and the threat of lawsuits, forced businesses and property owners to ban skateboarding on their property.^{[citation needed]} By 1992, only a small fraction of skateboarders remained as a highly technical version of street skating, combined with the decline of vert skating, produced a sport that lacked the mainstream appeal to attract new skaters.

1990s–present

The current generation of skateboards is dominated by street skateboarding. Most boards are about 7+¹⁄₄ to 8 inches (180 to 200 mm) wide and 30 to 32 inches (760 to 810 mm) long. The wheels are made of an extremely hard polyurethane, with hardness (durometer) approximately 99A. The wheel sizes are relatively small so that the boards are lighter, and the wheel’s inertia is overcome quicker, thus making tricks more manageable. Board styles have changed dramatically since the 1970s but have remained mostly alike since the mid 1990s. The contemporary shape of the skateboard is derived from the freestyle boards of the 1980s with a largely symmetrical shape and relatively narrow width. This form had become standard by the mid ’90s.

Go Skateboarding Day was created in 2004 by a group of skateboarding companies to promote skateboarding and help make it more noticeable to the world. It is celebrated every year on June 21.

Trick skating

A skater performs a switch kickflip off a stairset.

With the evolution of skateparks and ramp skating, the skateboard began to change. Early skate tricks had consisted mainly of two-dimensional maneuvers like riding on only two wheels (”wheelie” or “manual”), spinning only on the back wheels (a “pivot”), high jumping over a bar and landing on the board again, also known as a “hippie jump”, long jumping from one board to another (often over small barrels or fearless teenagers) or slalom. Another popular trick was the Bertlemann slide named after Larry Bertelemanns surfing maneuvers.

In 1976, skateboarding was transformed by the invention of the ollie by Alan “Ollie” Gelfand. It remained largely a unique Florida trick until the summer of 1978, when Gelfand made his first visit to California. Gelfand and his revolutionary maneuvers caught the attention of the West Coast skaters and the media where it began to spread worldwide. The ollie was adapted to flat ground by Rodney Mullen in 1982. Mullen also invented the “Magic Flip”, which was later renamed the kickflip, as well many other tricks including, the 360 Kickflip, which is a 360 pop shove it and a kickflip in the same motion. The flat ground ollie allowed skateboarders to perform tricks in mid-air without any more equipment than the skateboard itself, it has formed the basis of many street skating tricks.

Culture

Skateboarding was popularized by the 1986 skateboarding cult classic Thrashin’, also known as Skate Gang directed by David Winters. It has appearances from many famous skaters such as Tony Alva, Tony Hawk, Christian Hosoi and Steve Caballero. The film starred Josh Brolin, who would go on to win acting awards for his roles in the films W., No Country for Old Men, Milk and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.^[7][8] Thrashin’ also had a direct impact on Lords Of Dogtown as Catherine Hardwicke, who directed Lords Of Dogtown was hired by Winters to work on Thrashin’ as a production designer where she met, worked with and befriended many famous skaters including the real Tony Alva, Tony Hawk, Christian Hosoi and Steve Caballero.^[9]

Skateboarding was, at first, tied to the culture of surfing. As skateboarding spread across the United States to places unfamiliar with surfing or surfing culture, it developed an image of its own. For example, the classic film short Video Days (1991) portrayed skateboarders as reckless rebels.

The image of the skateboarder as a rebellious, non-conforming youth has faded in recent years.^{[citation needed]} Certain cities still oppose the building of skateparks in their neighborhoods, for fear of increased crime and drugs in the area. The rift between the old image of skateboarding and a newer one is quite visible: magazines such as Thrasher portray skateboarding as dirty, rebellious, and still firmly tied to punk, while other publications, Transworld Skateboarding as an example, paint a more diverse and controlled picture of skateboarding. Furthermore, as more professional skaters use hip hop, reggae, or hard rock music accompaniment in their videos, many urban youths, hip-hop fans, reggae fans, and hard rock fans are also drawn to skateboarding, further diluting the sport’s punk image.^[10][11]

Films such as the 1986 Thrashin’, Grind and Lords of Dogtown, have helped improve the reputation of skateboarding youth,^{[citation needed]} depicting individuals of this subculture as having a positive outlook on life, prone to poking harmless fun at each other, and engaging in healthy sportsman’s competition. According to the film, lack of respect, egotism and hostility towards fellow skateboarders is generally frowned upon, albeit each of the characters (and as such, proxies of the “stereotypical” skateboarder) have a firm disrespect for authority and for rules in general. Group spirit is supposed to heavily influence the members of this community. In presentations of this sort, showcasing of criminal tendencies is absent, and no attempt is made to tie extreme sports to any kind of illegal activity.^{[citation needed]}

Gleaming the Cube, a 1989 movie starring Christian Slater as a skateboarding teen investigating the death of his adopted Vietnamese brother was somewhat of an iconic landmark to the skateboarding genre of the era.^{[citation needed]} Many well-known skaters had cameos in the film, including Tony Hawk.

Skateboarding video games have also become very popular in skateboarding culture.^{[citation needed]} Some of the most popular are the Tony Hawk series and Skate series for various consoles (Including hand-held) and personal computer.

Safety

Skateboards, along with other small-wheeled transportation such as in-line skates and scooters, suffer a safety problem: riders may easily be thrown from small cracks and outcroppings in pavement, especially where the cracks run across the direction of travel. Hitting such an irregularity is the major cause of falls and injuries.^[12] The risk may be reduced at higher travel speeds.

Severe injuries are relatively rare.^[13] Commonly, a skateboarder who falls suffers from scrapes, cuts, bruises, and sprains.^[13] Among injuries reported to a hospital, about half involve broken bones, usually the long bones in the leg or arm.^[12] One-third of skateboarders with reported injuries are very new to the sport, having started skating within one week of the injury.^[12] Although less common, involving 3.5% to 9% of reported injuries, traumatic head injuries and death are possible severe outcomes.^[12]

Skating as a form of transportation exposes the skateboarder to the dangers of other traffic. Skateboarders on the street may be hit by other vehicles or may fall into vehicular traffic.

Skateboarders also pose a risk to other pedestrians and traffic. If the skateboarder falls, the skateboard may roll or fly into another person. A skateboarder who collides with a person who is walking or biking may injure or, rarely, kill that person.^[14]

Many jurisdictions require skateboarders to wear bicycle helmets to reduce the risk of head injuries and death. Other protective gear, such as wrist guards, also reduce injury. Some medical researchers have proposed restricting skateboarding to designated, specially designed areas, to reduce the number and severity of injuries, and to eliminate injuries caused by motor vehicles or to other pedestrians.^[12]

The use, ownership and sale of skateboards were forbidden in Norway from 1978 to 1989 because of the high number of injuries caused by boards. The ban led skateboarders to construct ramps in the forest and other secluded areas to avoid the police.^[15]

Other uses and styles

LCPL Chad Codwell of Charlie Company 1st Battalion 5th Marines carries a skateboard during military exercise Urban Warrior ‘99.

Transportation

The use of skateboards solely as a form of transportation is often associated with the longboard^{[citation needed]}. Depending on local laws, using skateboards as a form of transportation outside residential areas may or may not be legal. Backers cite portability, exercise, and environmental friendliness as some of the benefits of skateboarding as an alternative to automobiles.

Military

The United States Marine Corps tested the usefulness of commercial off-the-shelf skateboards during urban combat military exercises in the late 1990s in a program called Urban Warrior ‘99. Their special purpose was “for maneuvering inside buildings in order to detect tripwires and sniper fire”.^[16][17]

Trampboarding

Trampboarding is a variant of skateboarding that uses a board without the trucks and the wheels on a trampoline. Using the bounce of the trampoline gives height to perform a tricks, whereas in skateboarding you need to make the height by performing an ollie. Trampboarding is seen on YouTube in numerous videos.^{[citation needed]}

Swing boarding

Swing boarding is the activity where a skateboard deck is suspended from a pivot point above the rider which allows the rider to swing about that pivot point. The board swings in an arc which is a similar movement to riding a half pipe. The incorporation of a harness and frame allows the rider to perform turns spins all while flying though the air.

Land paddling

Land Paddling with the Kahuna Big Stick

“Land paddling” is the use of a long pole or stick while longboarding. The stick is used to propel the longboarder farther without pumping. The stick is also used to direct the longboarder in the direction they are trying to turn and can be used as a brake.^[18]

Notes

References

• Borden, Iain. (2001). Skateboarding, Space and the City: Architecture and the Body. Oxford: Berg.
• Hocking, Justin, Jeffrey Knutson and Jared Maher (Eds.). (2004). Life and Limb: Skateboarders Write from the Deep End. New York: Soft Skull Press.
• Weyland, Jocko. (2002). The Answer is Never: a History and Memoir of Skateboarding. New York: Grove Press.
• Hawk, Tony and Mortimer, Sean. (2000). Hawk: Occupation: Skateboarder. New York: HarperCollins.
• Thrasher Magazine. (2001). Thrasher: Insane Terrain. New York: Universe.
• Brooke, Michael (1999) The Concrete Wave — the History of Skateboarding. Warwick Publishing
• Mullen, Rodney and Mortimer, Sean (2003). The Mutt

External links

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Look up Skateboarding in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Skateboard Kings, a 1978 documentary on skateboarding
• Skateboarding links at the Open Directory Project

A skateboarding trick, or simply a trick is a maneuver performed on a skateboard while skateboarding. Skateboarding tricks may vary greatly in difficulty.

Categories

• Ollie is jumping with the board with the front wheels leaving the ground first. This motion is attained with a snap of the tail (from the backfoot) and sliding your front-foot forward to reach any altitude. A lot of technical tricks transpire from this element (eq. the kickflip, heelflip, 360-flip etc..). A Nollie is when the back wheels leave the ground first, or relatively, it’s a switch-stance ollie riding fakie.

• Aerials involve floating in the air while using a hand to hold the board on his or her feet or by not keeping constant and careful pressure on the board with the feet to keep it from floating away. This class of tricks was first popularized when Tony Alva became famous for his Frontside Airs in empty swimming pools in the late 1970s and has expanded to include the bulk of skateboarding tricks to this day, including the ollie and all of its variations.

• Flip tricks are a subset of aerials which are all based on the Ollie. An example is the kickflip, the most widely known and performed flip trick. You can spin the board around many different axis, and even combine several rotations in to one trick. These tricks are undoubtedly most popular among street skateboarding purists, although skaters with other styles perform them as well. Combining spins and flips is extremely popular in todays culture. A common trick at todays competitions is called a treflip. A treflip is the combination of a skateboard spinning 360 degrees and a kickflip. There are also double kickflips and triple kickflips which are very difficult but more unique in the skateboarding culture.
• Slides and Grinds involve getting the board up on some type of ledge, rail, or coping and sliding or grinding along the board or trucks, respectively. When it is primarily the board which is contacting the edge, it’s called a slide; when it’s the truck, it is a grind. Grinding and sliding skateboards started with sliding the board on parking blocks and curbs, then extended to using the coping on swimming pools, then stairway handrails, and has now been expanded to include almost every possible type of edge.

• Lip tricks are done on the coping of a pool or skateboard ramp. Most grinds can be done on the coping of a ramp or pool as well, but there are some coping tricks which require the momentum and vertical attitude that can only be attained on a transiurfacenclude inverts and their variations as well as some dedicated air-to-lip combinations. this trick is good

References