No Hard Feelings

Skateboarding has been around for several years now, from the first skateboarders, to modern skating and competitions. It is interesting to learn the origins and background knowledge of the sport and what made it so trendy, because it wasn’t always popular. 

The First Skateboard

Skateboarding began from individuals who would craft skateboard out of rollerblade wheels to wooden pieces of various shapes and ride. This lead to injury, but people began to improve on design until eventually it was developed by companies and corporations. At this time, many people saw themselves picking up a skateboard for the very first time. Skateboarding continued till about 1965 then died out briefly until the invention of the urethane skateboard wheel in 1972, which helped improve the distance rolled on the board.

Skateboarding Crashes

Skateboarding died out once again in the 80’s because of the level of risk associated with the sport. There is no doubt that skateboarding is a dangerous sport, if you don’t have the coordination or the proper technique built up, then it is almost certain you will fall. Skate Parks were built and popular among cities in this time, which helped increase the sport in areas where the weather was nice, such as California. 

Extreme Games

ESPN created the Extreme Games or X-Games and it debuted in 1995. Skateboarding was a huge sport involved in the X-Games and because of this, it was a huge success once again and has helped build its popularity up until modern day. 

Skateboarding Now

Modern Day Skateboarding has seen a turn from the Skate Parks and huge style ramps, to the emergence of street skating and finding cool spots that are unique and interesting. Filming is becoming a huge aspect of skating as well and since the quality has improved in filming, so has the level of skill.

In conclusion, the history behind the sport is almost, if not as interesting as the sport itself. Hopefully you have gained some background knowledge and have found this topic as interesting as I did.

Works Cited: Cave, Steve. “Skateboarding: From Wooden Box Boards to Commercial Mainstream.” LiveAbout, LiveAbout, 30 Sept. 2018, https://www.liveabout.com/brief-history-of-skateboarding-3002042.

When discussing the topic of what shoes to skateboard in, it is important to remember that everybody is different. Everybody’s feet shape and size as well as preferred board deck and size it different and this can create a wide range of shoes to choose from. In this blog, I hope to touch base on some of the most popular and break down the structure of them.

Shoe #1: Vans

The first shoe that I want to talk about is a shoe that people know the most for being a skateboard shoe. This shoe company that I am talking about is Vans. Vans has established themselves as a skateboarding brand, making style affordable with the shoes averaging around $60 for men’s sneakers. This gives this shoe a huge advantage because it means that you can actually go out and skate a pair down to the ground until it is completely destroyed and then just buy another pair for an affordable price. Vans also endure the conditions for the most part, I will say from experience that the outer soles of the shoes have a tendency to come unglued from the base of the shoe. This can be a negative but overall they hold shape and material. When it comes to the actual shape of the shoe, they are nice and minimalist, with that bottom sole being designed to slide the board for tricks and maintain mobility. However this is little to no ankle support so there is a higher probability of rolling an ankle really painful. Vans are a great choice to consider overall.

Shoe #2: Nike SB

The next shoe I would like to discuss is another big competitor which is Nike SB (SkateBoarding) and specifically the Stefan Janowski version. I enjoy this shoe because it has a similar concept and structure, only you gain a bit more quality on the shoe, with the real shoes being sold for around $80 retail. I personally enjoy the cork material of the Stefan Janowski lowered style shoe because the cork does not receive very much damage at all from the grip of the skateboard. I found when skateboarding that the material of the shoe would often get ripped or torn but this hasn’t been an issue with the cork style material. Overall the shoes, aside from the cork, are very breathable. The cork material kind of creates heat but this isn’t an issue to functionality. The downside of course is the price of the shoe, but if you choose a pair like the cork version, you are guaranteed a shoe that will last.

In conclusion, I only touched two brands and specific models in this blog, but there are several other brands available for skating. These brands though advertise themselves as specifically targeting skateboarding and that is why I reviewed them.

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Works Cited:

“Official Site: Free Shipping & Returns.” Vans®, https://www.vans.com/.

“Nike SB. Inside Nike Skateboarding.” Nike.com, https://www.nike.com/skateboarding.

One of the most iconic tricks in skateboarding is the Kickflip. This trick, many consider to be one of the foundation steps towards progressing to greater and better tricks. A Kickflip is essentially using ones feet to achieve a sideways 360 degree rotation of the skateboard. To some, this action comes naturally, but to others it takes some practice and technique. 

Step 1: Rolling Around

    The first step to landing any trick is to be comfortable with riding and pushing off of the board. The Kickflip is dramatically easier when you are riding the board at a reasonable speed so you want to be comfortable with basic riding as well as learning to get the board off the ground in the form of an Ollie.

Step 2: Foot Positioning

    The second step is to know your foot positioning. In the Kickflip, your front foot motion is going to be flicking out in front of you, so you need to have your feet in the proper positioning. Now depending on deck size and foot size, this may be slightly different but the general rule is that the back foot should be placed on the backside of your board with about ¾ of your foot on the board. The front foot should be angled so that your toes are pointing out toward the nose of the board, and your front foot should be placed about halfway down the deck.

Step 3: Pop The Board

    Next step is to figure out your pop and timing. You want to pop the board up like you would in an Ollie, and then flick your front foot out while it is pushing the skateboard out in that direction. This is by far the hardest step and requires much practice to figure out when you should be flicking. By flicking your foot out instead of down to achieve the rotation, you should set yourself up to come down directly on the board when it completes the rotation. 

Step 4: Catch and Roll Away

    The Final step is to catch the board while it is in the air. It is important to consider your balance when you first start the trick because if you are not vertically aligned with the board, it will go the opposite way to which you were leaning. By keeping this balance correct the board will be underneath you for you to catch. When you catch the board, you want to be ready to roll away from the trick at the same speed in which you started. 

    By practicing and perfecting these considerations, you will be able to land that Kickflip and proceed to more challenging tricks. Remember to get comfortable with riding the board first because this is by far the most important step before proceeding to this trick.

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Works Cited: 

Cave, Steve. “Learn How to Kickflip on a Skateboard.” LiveAbout, LiveAbout, 11 Mar. 2019, www.liveabout.com/how-to-kickflip-on-skateboard-3002975.

“How To Kickflip: Trick Tips.” Skateboard Tricks For Beginners, 22 Feb. 2017, http://www.skateboardtricksforbeginners.com/how-to-kickflip.

Basic Force’s

The biggest force impacting the skateboarder is gravity. Tricks like the Hippie Jump, helps illustrate the bigger picture. A Hippie Jump is when the rider jumps off of his board and controls the board, that is still on the ground, to roll directly in front of him. He or she then proceeds to land directly back on the board and roll away. In this trick, we can see how the rider achieves projectile motion, or gravity and air forces resisting against an object. The board and the rider will continue to go straight and eventually meet back at the same point that is represented by a curved path. Without understanding the physics of this trick, the rider won’t be able to balance and position themselves just right to be able to land back on the board and roll away. 

Ollie/Flip Tricks

When looking at tricks like the Ollie, which involves the rider popping his board up off of the ground, we can examine which forces are being presented to get the board off the ground. When watching an Ollie done correctly, we see that a force is being applied with the back foot to try and get the necessary amount of force to get the board off the ground. The next thing to consider is the front foot, which is placed ¾ of the way up the board, and goes up and out to be how you would normally stand on a board. Timing is huge, but if you can time these movements right, you will be in the air with the board completely horizontal because both of those forces used by each foot will work to project you evenly above the ground. Flip tricks work under a similar process except the front foot will leave the board and proper movement is needed to be made by the rider to position themselves back underneath the board. This level of timing and balance is difficult, and not everybody has the coordination to be able to use the physics involved.

Physics are everywhere in skateboarding, from the physics of just riding a skateboard, to being able to perform tricks consistently. The biggest force applied is gravity with foot positioning and movements are key to being able to land and finish the tricks. 

Here’s a video that originally sparked my interest on the topic:

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Works Cited: 

“Physics Of Skateboarding.” Real World Physics Problems, Real World Physics Problems, https://www.real-world-physics-problems.com/physics-of-skateboarding.html.
“Skateboarding Tricks: The Ollie.” Exploratorium, http://www.exploratorium.edu/skateboarding/trick02.html.

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