Discover the expert in you.
Discover the expert in you.
Skateboards come in different sizes and choosing the right size is important for comfort and ease of movement. Unless you are choosing a skateboard simply for transportation, in which case you'd choose a longer board, the width of the skate deck is the most important factor. If you choose a skateboard that is too narrow or too wide for you, you will have extra trouble maneuvering it.
From the leisure rider to the avid trickster, skateboarding is a dynamic sport that will get your adrenaline pumping and is matched by just a few substitutes. The few items that can remain on par with the skateboard's gravity defying abilities vary from the classic to the unconventional. Some options include a scooter, bicycle, roller blades and a wave board.
Building your own skateboard is a time-honored tradition practiced by every skateboarder to ever hit a ramp. Because there is no "right" or "wrong" way to equip and set up your board, every skateboarder's board is a little different from the boards of his or her friends. To understand the common setup and prepare for your own preferred board, you will need to have an understanding of what each part of your skateboard does. Once you get an idea of what goes where, you will be able to determine what sort of board works best for you.
The all-terrain skateboard, also known as the mountain board, has been designed for off road paths and courses. As opposed to the smooth asphalt terrain of street skateboarding, mountain boarders prefer to tackle mountain biking trails. Instead of the urethane wheels of the skateboard, the mountain board features inflatable tires with a knobby tread.
Skateboarding is both a recreational activity as well as a means of transportation, with skateboarders standing atop their boards while using one foot to push off the ground and generate momentum. Skateboarders turn their boards by shifting their weight, causing the board to turn in the direction shifted. While skateboarding in the street is a potential hazard, skating on a walkway provides a safe option for skateboarders, provided conditions are right.
Skateboards come in different sizes based on the size of the rider. The four main sizes are full-size, midsize, mini and micro. Micro skateboards are the smallest of the four sizes and are typically made for the youngest skateboarders. The size specification idenotes the size of the skateboard's deck or wooden portion, where the skater stands.
Skateboarding is not only a popular outdoor activity among youths but a professional sport contested around the world. With professional skateboarders Tony Hawk and Shaun White leading the way, skateboarding has grown from a recreational activity to an internationally televised competition at venues such as the X Games. In researching the history of skateboards, popular techniques, the sport's athletes and other facts about the activity, several Internet sites, books and international organizations can provide useful information.
The components of your skateboard will acquire wear and tear over time. To maintain the proper function of your board, perform a few repair projects in your free time. Most of these projects do not require you to purchase any new parts. Clean away the dirt and grime that has formed on the skateboard to guarantee a smooth ride.
Skateboards are durable pieces of equipment; but like all sporting gear they require frequent maintenance to ensure continuous high performance. Regular riders will need to clean their boards weekly. Parts, such as wheels and decks, will also need to be replaced. The life of these parts is dependent upon the type of skateboarding done. Trick athletes put more wear and tear on their decks, resulting in more frequent repairs and more serious damage. If you collect boards or wish to preserve a favorite, consider purchasing a second skateboard for regular use.
When executing an aerial trick on a skateboard, such as an ollie or pop shove it, knowing how to land on both feet cleanly on the board deck can mean the difference between an impressive trick and a major face plant. When in the air, your board control and positioning, body stance and mental focus all must come together to complete the move correctly. Some simple techniques added to your trick and a little practice can help you get positioned to hit the deck firmly with both feet and smoothly roll away.
Skateboards are used for hardcore tricks and stunts, as a transportation means and for general recreation. When riding around cities or parks, you may encounter areas where skateboarding is not allowed; this requires you get off the board and carry it for a spell. When holding the board, there is no hard set rule. Carry it in a fashion that allows hand comfort and ease of dropping and riding when the time comes.
The days of a plank attached to roller skate wheels are long gone. Modern skateboards are carefully engineered and constructed from specifically chosen materials, using manufacturing processes that have been fine-tuned over the course of decades. In fact, the modern in-line skate has more in common with the materials of the skateboard than those of the old roller skate.
Skateboarders are always looking for new spots to skate. While many public places--like shopping centers and businesses--are off limits, skaters must get creative and find alternate locations. Loading docks are located behind stores and warehouses and are used to offload merchandise with trucks. Equipped with smooth cement surfaces, ramps, handrails and ledges, loading docks make an excellent place to practice skateboarding. Loading docks are often available after business hours and offer an uncrowded and fairly safe place to skate.
The trucks of the skateboard allow you to execute sharp-turning maneuvers. The rubber bushings surround the truck's kingpin and act as a cushioning device. According to the Know How to Skateboard website, the axle refers to the horizontal bar located inside the hanger of the skateboard truck. The truck axle will bend as you perform grinds across ledges and rails. Bent axles will prevent your skateboard from rolling straight. Use a few basic procedures to unbend your truck axles.
In today's skateboarding world, tricks have become extremely technical as skaters continually push the limits. While technical street skating and half-pipe riding are performed on a standard shortboard, there are other types of boards available for every type of skater. Skateboarding has always been considered a form of expression, and choosing the right board will help you develop your own unique style.
"Flicking" your skateboard is the basic premise behind almost all flip tricks. From kick flips to tre flips, pop shuvits to big spins, learning to spin the board in a different direction than your body opens your skateboarding to endless possibilities. Learning to flick your skateboard can prove difficult and frustrating at times, but with enough practice, you can start doing complex tricks like the pros.
Skateboarding was created by California surfers in the early 1950s as a leisure activity. Skateboarding is popular with extreme sports fans and young adults who participate as a hobby. Various features of the skateboard aim to give you the smoothest ride, while providing durability after jumps and other tricks.
A skateboard says as much about a skateboarder as the clothing he wears, which is why many skateboarders design their own skateboards. You can purchase a skateboard with a painted graphic, but designing your own allows you to make a uniquely personal statement. Whether you are building a skateboard from scratch, refurbishing an old skateboard or redesigning the graphics on the board, you will need to sand the skateboard. Sanding gives skateboards a smooth finish and gives paint and glue a surface on which to bond. You can sand the board by hand or use a palm or belt sander.
Skateboarding is a sport that requires a lot of dedication and entails a certain amount of bodily harm. Expert skateboarders can ride their board on nearly any obstacle, staircases included. Riding down a staircase on a skateboard is a trick that should only be attempted by seasoned skateboarders who are very comfortable with their skill level. Making it down an entire staircase intact is a feat, and proper safety equipment should always be worn.
You can rely on the shop guy to construct your skate deck, but every true skater should be savvy when it comes to board assembly. Learning how to remount your board will allow you to replace and service worn-out parts, change up the feel of your ride and give you a priceless skill. Less time in the shop having someone else diagnose and service your setup means more time spent in the park, bombing hills or carving turns.
When skateboarding one must decide on how loose his skateboard must be for his type of skating, whether he skates to travel and require tight trucks or if he does tricks and requires his skateboard's trucks to be loose. Trucks are composed of two parts: the top part of the truck is called the base-plate and is screwed into the deck of the skateboard; beneath it is the hanger portion of the truck, which houses the axle that runs through the hangar and houses the wheels for the skateboard to move.
Since skateboards are used outdoors, the various parts that make up the skateboard, including speed rings/bearings, can and will get dirty. Dust, water, mud, etc., can all become lodged in your speed rings/bearings, causing them to lose performance and speed. That is why it is necessary to clean and re-grease them. It could be the case that you simply want to install new and/or upgraded speed rings for better performance. In either case, it is important to know how to properly install and grease them.
If you are planning to buy new parts for a skateboard, it is important to know the measurements of your board. This will help ensure that you get the right parts. The important measurements are the width and length of the deck, the width of the nose and tail, the length of the wheelbase and the width of the trucks. Your board's measurements may well not be labeled or published, but you can get these measurements yourself in a matter of minutes.
When it comes to your skateboard you never want to skimp on materials such as wheels, bearings, trucks and safety equipment. Faulty equipment leads to serious problems--and injury. Unfortunately, the expense of skateboarding equipment doesn't always attest to the quality of the merchandise. If you do not approach shopping for your skateboarding stuff with a frugal eye, you may find that you paid more for a brand name instead of quality.
Taking a good skateboard photograph requires the photographer to consider a multitude of aspects. Analyzing the subject of the photograph as well as the placement, lighting and angle can allow for a unique skateboard photo. Skateboard photographs include portraits, actions shots and sequence shots. The sequence shot consists of multiple pictures taken to capture and showcase a single trick. Cameras used for sequence shots usually capture about seven to niine frames per second.
Darkstar skateboards have proven time and time again to be reliable and of a high quality, with all the pop a skater could desire. Once a small manufacturer of wheels, Darkstar has become a top-of-the-line supplier of wheel and board technology.
Being awesome at skateboarding centers on being a cool, confident person and enhancing your skateboarding skills over time. Find out what it takes to become an awesome skateboarder with advice from a professional skater in this free video on skateboarding tricks.
If you are transporting a custom-painted skateboard deck or putting one up for sale, using shrink wrap is a sure way to protect your skateboard from damage. Not only is plastic wrap waterproof, it also acts as a great cushion for storage. Knowing how to shrink wrap your skateboard will ensure that you can protect your deck from the elements when necessary.
A ripstick is the more commonly known name for a caster board, a type of skateboard growing in popularity among youths. The term ripstick is taken from the name used by one of the pre-eminent manufacturers, RipStik.
Getting your photo on a skateboarding magazine cover may not be so difficult if you happen to be a professional skateboarder like Marc Johnson. For the rest of us, we may have to settle for a doctored photograph. That's easy to accomplish with the right tools and a game plan.
Carrying a skateboard on a backpack is done by simply clipping it onto the outside of the pack or slipping it through the should straps. Conveniently transport a skateboard with advice from an experienced skater and skate park owner in this free video on skateboarding.
During the early years of skateboarding, when the sport was young and its presence and sphere of influence small, it was rare to see girls skateboarding. Since then, and due in large part to the influence of the Internet, popular video game franchises and the X-Games, skateboarding has become a worldwide phenomenon. Amazing women like Elissa Steamer and Lauren Perkins have shown the world that girls can skate with the best. And they've become role models for a wave of young girls who want to skateboard. There are some beginner's tips to keep in mind when first starting off.
A skateboard bedroom theme is a fun and visually exciting theme for teen boys especially, but for all kids who love to skateboard as well. "Tough" colors and urban highlights make the skateboard bedroom a room your skater will love to show off to friends. Easy to put together with solid colors and hand-made accents, this room may actually bring your kid home from the skate park. Here are some ideas on how to put it together.
Skateboards work through a system of wheels, bearings and bushings that can be adjusted to the right friction for better speed. Understand the physics behind skateboards with advice from an experienced skateboarder in this free video on skateboard equipment.
Waiting for your turn and cheering when someone accomplishes a trick are examples of skateboarding etiquette. Learn more about skateboarding etiquette with tips from a skateboarding instructor in this free video on extreme sports.
There are four main skateboarding stances: regular footed, goofy footed, fakie and switch. Learn more about skateboarding stances with tips from a skateboarding instructor in this free video on extreme sports.
In skateboarding, skateboarders use lingo like regular footed or goofy footed to describe different stances. Learn more skateboarding terms with tips from a skateboarding instructor in this free video on extreme sports.
The origin of skateboarding can be disputed, but most people think it was popularized in Southern California or Hawaii. Learn about the influence of surfing on skateboarding with information from a professional skateboarder in this free video on skateboarding history.
Skateboarding magazines are great places to find reviews for skateboarding gear, which includes the boards themselves and skateboarding shoes. Discover what gear is needed to be a skateboarder with advice from a professional skateboarder in this free video on skateboarding gear.
A skateboard hurricane has a movement like a sweeping storm. Learn the basic motions of a skateboard hurricane from a skateboarding professional in this free skateboarding video.
Creating your own skateboard graphics can be a rewarding alternative to buying digitally-printed decks or paying an artist to paint for you. Board art can be done in a variety of techniques like hand painting, airbrushing, and spraypainting in addition to the more modern processes of heat transfer and digital image printing. For those that prefer the traditional methods, consider screen printing, which produces a neat, crisp graphic result, though it can also be a fairly tricky process. Since current skateboards are not completely flat, adjust the flat printing method to meet your needs.
Skateboards are much more that just four wheels attached to a piece of wood. In fact, the science behind skateboards and how they work would likely surprise most people. To begin to understand just how a skateboard functions, you need to dissect it and focus on the individual parts. Skateboards tend to be made out of maple wood, which has the perfect mix of stability and flexibility for skateboarding. When the wood is pressed, it is also molded with concave curves at both ends and slightly on the sides. After pushing off and settling onto a skateboard, these concaves are…
A skateboard can be a symbol of freedom. It is likely the first four wheels you got to steer. Maybe you've saved all the ones you've owned. Skateboards can be as different as the many skateboarders of the world. Whether you design your own, purchase rarities or take pride in the different kinds you've found at the store, displaying your collection is a must for any true blue skateboarding fan.
If you have a new deck, skate trucks, bearings or wheels, you may need to disassemble your current setup so you can attach your new item. You may also want to take apart a skateboard so you can clean the bearings. Whatever the reason, disassembling a skateboard is an easy task that merely requires the use of a few common tools.
Buying a skateboard is somewhat akin to buying a computer. You could buy the whole thing at once, but you quickly realize there is a need for customization. That is why many skaters constantly tinker with their board by changing out the wheels and trucks and sanding down the board itself. Here are some tips for adding your own special touches to a skateboard.
Learn the importance of confidence in skateboarding and also how to visualize in this free skateboarding basics video lesson.
Learn about the essentials of skateboarding and important basic rules when skateboarding in this free basic skateboarding video lesson.
Whether you skate on the street or at a skate park, knowing how to slow down on a skateboard is one of the first skills necessary to mastering control of your board. There are a few different ways to reduce the speed of your skateboard—carving, bailing out, the Coleman slide—but the easiest and most useful technique for newbie skaters is the footbrake method.
Driveways and skate parks are just some of the places where you can practice skateboarding. Find out creative ways to skate in a variety of locations, plus get tips on following signs and regulations to avoid trouble, in this free skateboarding video lesson.
What is the meaning of skateboarding words and terms like frontside, backside, 180, 360? Find out and learn basic skateboarding terminology in this free beginner skateboarding lesson on video.
Focal points, or where to look when skateboarding, are important for maintaining balance and focus when riding a skateboard. Learn more in this free basic street skateboarding video lesson.
Keep an eye out for problems or damage on your skateboard by checking the trucks, wheels, bearings and bolts. Learn how in this free skateboard maintenance and repair video guide.
To get started with skateboarding you need to start by getting on the board. In this free how to video you'll learn tips and techniques about stepping on your board.
The curve--or arc--of a skateboard is crucial to its functionality. Many people set out to create their own skateboards, rather than purchasing mass-produced "decks" in skateboard shops.Fortunately, you do not have to be an expert woodworker in order to attain the perfect curve for your skateboard. Follow these simple steps to begin the process and then let your creativity take you the rest of the way.
Skateboarding is a fun activity for both teens and adults. It takes a moderate amount of athletic ability and balance to skateboard well. If you have never been on a skateboard, you may be eager to learn some of the basics before you start.
