The Origins of Skateboarding

The origins of skateboarding have been connected with California surfers in the 50s and 60s. Looking for something to mimic "onshore surfing", they created rudimentary boards to skate on. The rage died out in the early 60s and skateboarding virtually disappeared until the mid 70s when it had a big surge in popularity. Today skateboarding is as popular as ever and it looks like it is here to stay.

Still connected to surfers, skateboarding became massively popular and developed it's own culture with the innovation of trick and ramp skating. Today skateboarders get their rush by performing tricks not only on ramps, but on handrails and steps around local parks and public walkways. Skateboarding, once a passive hobby for surfers, is an extremely competitive sport that has launched the ultra successful careers of skaters such as Tony Hawk and Bam Margera.

As the sport grew, so did the type of boards the skaters rode on. A skateboard is one way a skater will flaunt their personality, from the way the board is designed and painted, to the color of the wheels. However, in general, skateboards come in two standard types, longboards and shortboards.

Shortboards are used for trick skating as they allow the skater to move quickly and manipulate the board with great ease. Such tricks can include ollies, handstands and nosegrinds.

Longboards were basically created to mimic the long sleek look of a surfboard. These boards are mostly used for street cruising, but many talented skaters can in fact turn tricks on them.

As mentioned before, many pros and even commons street skaters will create their own custom boards tricked out to their own specifications. These boards can get quite expensive, but can also dramatically improve the skater's performance as well. Most skateboards are tricked out to reflect the personality of the skater who owns them, and is looked upon as a source of pride.

Skateboarding has spawned its own culture of "skate punks" which includes big, loose fitting clothing (which makes it easier to skate in), crazy hairstyles and even its own music. Skate punk culture is extremely laid back and many punks take pride in being called "slackers".

With the evolution of skateboarding and the explosion of the skateboarding culture, dozens of manufacturers, magazine publishers and international events have all joined the fray. Which tells us that skateboarding is a wildly entertaining sport that looks like it is here to stay!


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William publishes a travel site dedicated to giving great advice on such things as wheeled backpacks, hard luggage and ideal carry on bags.