A skateboard style refers to the way a
skateboarder prefers to ride a
skateboard. Skateboard styles can be broadly divided into two different categories: skateboarding to perform
tricks and skateboarding as a means of transportation. Styles of skateboarding have evolved over time and are influenced by a number of factors including
sociocultural evolution,
mass media, music, technology,
corporate influence and individual skill level.
[
The styles used by different skateboarders when riding skateboards should not be confused with skater style, the manner in which skateboarders dress or act in relation to skateboarding culture.
]
Styles
Freestyle
Probably the oldest style of skateboarding, freestyle skateboarding developed from the use of skateboards as a mode of transport in the 1960s. Professional freestyle competitions often involved music and choreography
Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design ...
and focused on fluidity and technical skill. The style changed significantly with the introduction of ollies and other tricks in the 1980s and the introduction of various obstacle elements.[''The Science and Art of Skateboard Design: How Boards Have Changed Over Time'']
(Exploratorium
The Exploratorium is a museum of science, technology, and arts in San Francisco, California. Characterized as "a mad scientist's penny arcade, a scientific funhouse, and an experimental laboratory all rolled into one", the participatory natur ...
)
1handstand.jpg, Freestyle skateboarding
Vert
Vert skateboarding has its genesis in ''"pool riding"'' - the riding of skateboards in emptied backyard swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...
s - during the 1970s.[''Loveletters To Skateboarding: Style'']
by Blair Alley. Posted in Transworld Skateboarding on 31 August 2012 (video)[ It involves skateboard riders moving from the horizontal (on the ground) to the vertical (on a ramp or other incline) to perform tricks - thus ''"vert"''. It is also referred to as ''"transition skateboarding"'' or ''"tranny skating"''. Skateboarders usually set-up their boards with 55mm (or larger) wheels and wider decks for more stability.][''Skateboard Guide and Skate Size Chart'']
(Evo.com)
File:Joey E'ale pool skating @ 3am-in -"V-Land"----Las Vegas ---- 1993-94--- 2014-05-25 08-42.jpg, Vert skateboarding
Street
Street skateboarding involves the use of urban obstacles like stairs
Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps which enable passage ...
and their handrails, planter boxes, drainage ditches, park benches and other street furniture.[ Skaters perform tricks around, on, onto or over these obstacles.][''Different Kinds of Skateboarding'']
by Philip Foster ( Livestrong Foundation, 29 April 2012) Skateboarders usually set-up their boards with 55mm (or smaller) wheels and narrower decks to make the board flip and spin faster and to make performing tricks easier.[
Nose grind skateboarding.jpg, A skateboarder making use of street furniture.
]
Park
Park skateboarding encompasses a variety of sub-styles adopted by those who ride skateboards in purpose-built skate parks. Most skate parks combine halfpipes and quarterpipes with various other "vert" skateboarding features as well as "street" obstacles such as stairs, ledges, and rails. The integration of these elements produces a different skating experience.
File:Girl riding at skatepark.jpg, Skatepark with one skateboarder riding
Woman attempting a ramp on skateboard.jpg, Indoor skatepark with one skateboarder riding a ramp
Cruising
Cruising can be achieved with any type of skateboard through general urban areas without tricks. Skateboarders in this category often use "cruisers" which are generally wider and have rubbery wheels. Cruising, similarly to Downhill Skateboarding, is often used for transportation.
Downhill
Non-competition downhill skateboarding is one of the oldest styles of skateboarding and was popular in the early 1970s. Original longboards were described as being like snow skis (in terms of length).[ Modern riders often use longboards for races, but some use regular skateboards for non-competition downhill skateboarding.
]
Other styles
*'' Big Air Skateboarding'' was invented when Danny Way and DC Shoes created the "Mega Ramp", with a giant "roll in" for speed followed by a large launch ramp, a (approximately) 50 foot
The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made ...
gap and (approximately) 25 foot quarterpipe. It has recently become popular enough to be an event in the X-games, and they are now adding other obstacles such as rails in the gap.Grass surfing
Grass surfing (or hill surfing) is a form of skateboarding. Grass surfers take the trucks off an old skateboard and find a mildly steep hill made up of dry grass, sand, moss, dirt or other surface that could be used to gain speed and control.
It ...
''
References
{{Skateboarding