The history of skateboarding from its first appearance in
the 1950's to the present day.
The first skateboards
were actually more like scooters, with the
undercarriage consisting of rollerskate wheels
attached to a two by four. Once the pushbar of the
scooter-like contraption was broken off,
skateboarding was born.
1950's
It wasn't until the 1950's, when the surfing
craze was in full swing, that people realized
skateboarding could recreate the feeling of
riding a wave. This connection with surfing gave
skateboarding a direction that would influence
everything to come, from maneuvers and style, to
terrain, fashion and attitude. It was during
this time that modifications were made to the
trucks making it easier to maneuver. By 1959 the
first Roller Derby Skateboard was for sale.
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1960's
In the early 1960's companies such as Larry
Stevenson's Makaha and Hobie Alter's Hobie began
to mass-produce the first true surfing-inspired
skateboards. Some of the early proponents of
surf-style skateboarding included Bill and Mark
Richards, Dannu Bearer, Bruce Logan and Torger
Johnson. Skateboarding became very popular
almost overnight, and companies were fighting to
keep up with demand. Over fifty million
skateboards were sold within a three year
period, and the first skateboard contest was
held in Hermosa Beach, CA in 1963. Then in 1965
a slew of so-called safety experts pronounced
skateboarding unsafe - urging stores not to sell
them, and parents not to buy them. The
skateboarding fad died as quickly as it had
started, and the sport entered its first slump.
Skateboarding would experience other slumps in
its history. This pattern of peaks and valleys
would come to be known as the "ten-year cycle,"
although the slumps weren't exactly ten years
apart.
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1970's
It was during this first slump that Larry
Stevenson invented the kicktail, and the first
generation of skateboarders laid down the
foundation of tricks and style. However, they
were still largely limited by equipment. Then in
1973 the urethane wheel was invented,
revolutionizing the sport. The new wheels
provided much better traction and speed and,
combined with new skateboard specific trucks,
allowed skaters to push the difficulty of
maneuvers to new levels. Tricks at this time
consisted of surfing maneuvers done on flat
ground or on banks. Empty swimming pools and
cylindrical pipes were exploited as terrain for
the first time.
During the 1970's skateboarding experienced a
large growth stage whish saw the construction of
numerous concrete skateparks, a rank of
professional skaters, magazines and movies.
During this period modern skateboarding evolved
to include vertical skating among its
disciplines of slalom, downhill, freestyle and
longjump.
Key advances in the sport included the aerial,
the invert and the ollie, which may be the
single most important trick in the evolution of
skateboarding, next to the kickturn. This was
the first time skateboarding had stars, some of
the first really big names being Tony Alva, Jay
Adams and Stacy Peralta. The look of skateboards
also changed from being six to seven inches in
width to over nine inches, providing better
stability on vertical surfaces. Near the end of
the 70's, spiraling insurance and slowing
attendance forced all but a few skateparks out
of business and skateboarding entered its!
Second slump.
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1980's
In the 80's the plywood ramp and streetstyle
revitalized skateboarding just as the urethane wheel
had revitalized the sport in the 70's. Forced to
take an underground, do-it-yourself attitude,
skaters began to create their own wooden skate ramps
in backyards and empty lots and turn previously
unrideable street terrain, such as walls an
handrails, into free-skate parks. Skater-owned
companies became the norm and innovations in board
and truck size allowed the trick envelope to be
pushed even further. This generation had its own
group of skate stars, some of whom still compete
today including Tony Hawk and Steve Caballero.
Towards the end of the 80's the focus shifted to
street skating and Vert riding became less popular,
it was the era of the first street stars like Mark
Gonzales, Natas Kaupas and Mike Vallely.
With all this grass-roots action taking place it was
inevitable that skateboarding would go through
another growth phase. This time the cycle peaked
around 1987 after skateboarding had directly
influenced international culture ranging from the
hard-edged punk style of music that most skaters
preferred to the baggy, earth-tone clothes and retro
tennis shoes that skaters wore.
The current cycle of skateboarding has been fueled
by many items including new companies, more varied
and difficult terrain, a new, more hard-core, almost
dangerous attitude, and most importantly by a new
generation of kids who have discovered the
exhilaration feeling of rolling along of a board
with wheels. Some of the people who exert heavy
influence on the sport are former pros who have
started companies like Steve Rocco of World
Industries. The ollie has come into its own as the
foundation for 80% of street tricks and about 60% of
vert tricks, with the focus being on more technical
and larger tricks.
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1990's
In regards to the "ten-year cycle," the sport once
again started on an upward swing in 1995, due in
part to exposure it received from ESPN's first
Extreme Games in Rhode Island. This served to bring
skateboarding, which had long been viewed as a rebel
sport, perhaps because of the danger and occasional
illegality of the endeavor, a step closer to the
mainstream. Many of the skaters who competed felt
that ESPN's coverage of the sport raised
skateboarding's overall image with the general
public and is a good thing for the future of the
sport. In 1996 the Extreme Games were again held in
Rhode Island, once more exposing the sport of
skateboarding to millions of people. Skateboarding
was also included in the 1997 Winter X Games in the
form of a CrossOver event that also included in-line
skating, bicycle stunt, and snowboarding.
The impact of media coverage on skateboarding has
moved it from an underground sport to a spectator
sport over the last four years. It was brought an
influx of companies and their advertising dollars,
which had previously ignored skateboarding, as a
vehicle for promotional purposes. Advertisers have
seen that skateboarding has become a prime sport
through which they can reach their favorite
demographic: youth males.
Skateboarders have been present in campaigns for
products from soft drinks to potato chips, candy to
phone companies. Thus, most of what is happening in
skateboarding today is coming not from the
skateboarders themselves, but from corporate
sponsors and the mass media. The primary focus of
the sport remains on street skating, as can be seen
throughout both the editorial and advertising pages
of the major skateboard magazines, where street
skating photos continue to dominate. However vert
skating is making a comeback, due in part to the
large number of new skateparks being built. These
skateparks have also given boost to the skating
community in many towns. The many different ramps,
pipes and bowls present at these parks have led to a
change in equipment. These technological changes
applied to skate products have improved
skateboarding hear steadily over the last two
decades. While in the early 90's small boards and
tiny wheel ruled, now there is a wide range of
boards and wheels being seen under the feet of
skateboarders. Wheel diameters are larger, deck
width continues to grow, and longboards are gaining
in popularity, especially in beach communities and
among those that just want to use their skateboards
to cruise or as a mode of transportation. Downhill
skateboarding has also seen resurgence in recent
years due in part to the visibility of the street
luge.
One of the biggest trends at work is among softgoods.
In the past, clothing fashions have consistently
reflected the changes influenced by those who skate.
Footwear is currently getting all the attention.
According to the Transworld Skateboarding Business
Summer 1998 Retailer Survey shoes represented 26.5 %
of the market share, followed by decks (26%),
apparel (16%), trucks (11.5%), wheels (11%), and
accessories (9%).
There have been many organizations and governing
bodies for skateboarding throughout its history. The
two main organizations today are the IASC
(International Association of Skateboarding
Companies), and World Cup Skateboarding, which is
the leading competition organization. World Cup
Skateboarding is run by former NSA (National
Skateboarding Association) president Don Bostick,
with competitions featuring Street and Vert
disciplines. Competitors are usually on factory
teams, rather than national teams. This is due to
the growth of sponsorship and sponsorship dollars
put into events, which has changed the face of
competitive skateboarding tremendously.
Skateboarding is beginning to earn respect as
professional athletes and are receiving greater
amounts of purse money from contests.
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2000's
"Today a pro can make anywhere from $1000 to $10,000
a month," says Danielle Bostick of World Cup
Skateboarding and the X Games. These earnings are
based on winnings, depending on how well a skater
places in any given competition and how many
competitions a skater competes in during any given
month. Most skaters who are sponsored also earn a
monthly salary from one or more companies, which
sponsors them as team riders. This is a considerable
change from the past when pro skaters had to work a
regular job as well as compete according to Bostick.
Skateboarding can be enjoyed by kids as young as two
years, but the majority of pro skaters' range from
early teens to early twenties. Most skateboarders
don't train in any usual sense of the word, and they
don't even think about their diet. Skaters just do
what they love to do: skate, all the time.
Skateboarding is fun, and when having fun is the
goal, it never seems like training. Of course many
skateboarders do other things for fun as well, such
as surfing and snowboarding, which is actually
extreme sports cross-training.
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