What is Skimboarding?

Series Summary

Skimboarding, sometimes called skimming, is a sport in which the skimboarder rides a wooden or fiberglass board in the shallow water where the surf meets the sand. The sport dates back to the late 1920’s when lifeguards in the Laguna Beach area would use wooden boards to get around the beach faster. Many people began to make their own boards and the trend started to spread to beaches across the globe. Early on, skimboarding was a recreational activity, but in recent years it has developed into a competitive sport in which courses with ramps and other obstacles are used. In tournaments riders are judged on ability and style while performing tricks, as in surfing, skateboarding and other X-Games.

In this series of free video lessons, expert Jason Henne will show you the basics you need to start skimboarding. You’ll learn where to find the best locations for skimboarding, tips on safety, the types of boards and gear you’ll need, and techniques to help you master tricks like the Backside 180, 360, and the 180 Pop Shuvit.

Video Transcript

" Hey! What’s up? This is your boy Jason Henne with expertvillage.com. We’re talking today about skimboarding. Some people might not know what skimboarding is. Skimboarding is a sport that originated in California when lifeguards wanted to get up and down the beach. They would throw down their skimboard because they can get there faster than running and they would slide along the beach and check the waves. The thing about skimboarding is when you first see it, you’re not going to know what it is. The way it works is you take a board like this one and you throw it down right where the sand and the water meet and then you jump on and you’re able to slide along. Once you get that down, there’s no limits to what kind of tricks you can do. 180s, 360s, pop shove its. It could be the next big X game, so you’re definitely going to want to get into this. "