Skateboarding
Skateboarding, form of recreation and sport, popular among youths, in which a person rides standing balanced on a small board mounted on wheels. Considered one of the so-called extreme sports, skateboarding as a professional sport boasts a range of competitions, including vertical and street-style events.
Vertical skating (also called “vert”) features aerial acrobatics performed in half-pipes that were originally built to emulate empty swimming pools. Street style features tricks performed in a real or simulated urban environment with stairs, rails, ledges, and other obstacles.
Skateboarding has developed as a youth subculture that emphasizes creativity and individuality. It is an alternative to mainstream team sports, which are more formally organized and largely controlled by adults.
Skateboards Types
Most skateboards are about 32 inches (81 cm) long and 9 inches (23 cm) wide. A skateboard comprises three major parts: the deck (the board upon which the rider stands), the trucks (the construction that attaches the wheels to the deck), and the wheels.
Originally, decks were made of wood, but later they were also made of aluminum, fibre-glass, and plastic. The rear part of the deck is bent upward to form the kicktail, as is the front (“nose”) on modern designs. The truck includes an axle, a hangar (which houses the axle), and a cushion that both absorbs shocks and provides flexibility for steering. The wheels are made of tough polyurethane plastic.
Much of the excitement of skateboarding rests in the riders’ creativity. Skaters compete to invent new tricks or new combinations of tricks. Three of the most fundamental skateboarding moves are the kickturn, the ollie, and the grind.
A kickturn is accomplished when the rider pushes down on the kicktail, lifting the front wheels off the ground and spinning on the rear wheels. The hands-free aerial known as the ollie is one of the most important tricks in contemporary skateboarding.
