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	'''Skateboarding''' is the act of riding on or performing tricks with a ]. A person who skateboards is referred to as a '''skateboarder''' or '''skater'''.

	Skateboarding—often portrayed in the media as an ]—can be a form of ], a hobby, or a method of transportation.<ref>{{cite web \| url=http://www.webdelsol.com/Topic/articles/04/howell.html \| title=Extreme Market Research \| accessdate=2006-12-13 \| author=Ocean Howell, Topic Magazine}}</ref> Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2002 report by ''American Sports Data'' found that there were 12.5 million skateboarders in the world. Eighty percent of skateboarders polled who had used a board in the last year were under the age of 18, and 74 percent were male.<ref>{{cite web \| url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4021/is_2002_Oct_1/ai_92087410 \| title=Your Questions Answered - statistics about skateboarders \| accessdate=2006-12-13 \| author=John Fetto}}</ref>

	Skateboarding is a relatively modern ]—it originated as "sidewalk surfing" in the ]—particularly ]—in the 1950s. A key skateboarding trick, the ollie, was only developed in the late 1970s.<ref>{{cite web \| url=http://skateboard.about.com/cs/boardscience/a/brief_history_2.htm \| title=Skateboarding: A Brief History (page 2) \| accessdate=2006-12-13 \| author=Steve Cave, ]}}</ref>

	==History==
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	===The first skateboard===

	The first skateboard originated sometime in the 1950s and coincided with the initial popularization of ] in California. The first manufacturer of skateboards was Whammo, Inc., of Santa Monica, California. The earliest skateboards were homemade and constructed of flat wooden planks attached to roller-skate trucks and wheels. Skateboarding was originally called "sidewalk surfing" and early skaters emulated ] style and moves. Skateboards may or may not have evolved from "]." Crate scooters preceded skateboards, and were essentially similar except for having a wooden crate attached to the front, which formed rudimentary handlebars. In the film '']'', ] is seen confiscating such a scooter from an unsuspecting '50s youth, and ripping the crate off to fashion an improvised skateboard.

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	In the mid 1960s, skateboarding went mainstream. A number of surfing manufacturers such as ] and ] started building skateboards that resembled small surfboards and assembling teams to promote their products. The popularity of skateboarding at this time spawned a national magazine, ] and the ] international championships were broadcast on national television. The growth of skateboarding at this time can also be seen in Makaha's sales figures which quoted $4 million worth of board sales between ] and ] (Weyland, 2002:28). Yet by ] sales had dropped significantly (ibid) and Skateboarder Magazine had stopped publication. Skateboarding's popularity dropped and remained low until the early 1970s.
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	===Second generation===
	In the early 1970s, ] started to develop a skateboard wheel made of ]. The improvement in traction and performance was so immense that the popularity of skateboarding started to rise rapidly again, and companies started to invest more in product development. Many companies started to manufacture trucks (axles) especially designed for skateboarding. As the equipment became more maneuverable, the decks started to get wider, reaching widths of 10 inches and over in the end, thus giving the skateboarder even more control. ''Banana board'' is a term used to describe skateboards made of ] that were skinny, flexible, with ribs on the underside for structural support and very popular during the mid-1970s. They were available in myriad colors, bright yellow probably being the most memorable, hence the name.

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	Manufacturers started to experiment with more exotic composites, like ] and ], but the common skateboards were made of maple plywood. The skateboarders took advantage of the improved handling of their skateboards and started inventing new tricks. Skateboarders, most notably the ], started to skate the vertical walls of swimming pools that were left empty in the ] California drought. This started the vert trend in skateboarding. With increased control, vert skaters could skate faster and perform more dangerous tricks, such as slash grinds and frontside/backside airs. This caused liability concerns and increased insurance costs to skatepark owners. During this era, the "freestyle" movement in skateboarding began, which can be characterized by the development of a wide assortment of flat-ground tricks.
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	Skateparks increasingly had to contend with high-liability costs that led to many parks closing, Vert skaters therefore started making their own ramps and freestylers didn't need skateparks. Thus by the beginning of the 1980s, skateboarding had died again.
	]

	===Third generation===
	The third skateboard generation, from the early/mid eighties to early ], was fueled by skateboard companies that were run by skateboarders. The focus was initially on ] skateboarding. The invention of the no-hands aerial (later known as the ]) by ] in ] <ref name="sm">Snyder, Craig , ] (October 2005, p. 44)</ref> made it possible for skaters to perform airs off of vertical ramps. While this wave of skateboarding was sparked by commercialized vert ramp skating, a majority of people who skateboarded during this period never rode vert ramps. Because most people couldn't afford to build vert ramps or didn't have access to nearby ramps, street skating gained popularity. Freestyle skating remained healthy throughout this period with pioneers such as ] inventing the basics of modern street skating; the flatground ollie, the ollie kickflip, the heelflip, and the 360 flip, to name a few. The influence freestyle had on street skating became apparent during the mid-eighties, but street skating was still performed on wide vert boards with short noses, slide rails, and large soft wheels. Skateboarding, however, evolved quickly in the late 1980s to accommodate the street skater. Since few skateparks were available to skaters at this time, street skating pushed skaters to seek out shopping centers and public and private property as their "spot" to skate. Public opposition, and the threat of lawsuits, forced businesses and property owners to ban skateboarding on their property. By 1992, only a small fraction of skateboarders remained as a highly technical version of street skating, combined with the decline of vert skating, produced a sport that lacked the mainstream appeal to attract new skaters.

	===Current generation===
	The fourth and current generation of skateboards is dominated by street skating. Most boards are about 7¼ to 8 inches wide and 30 to 32 inches long. The wheels are made of an extremely hard ], ] (approximately 99a). Additionally, very high durometers offer the benefit of reduced drag on hard surfaces which results in an overall faster ride. The wheel sizes are relatively small so that the boards are lighter, thus making tricks more manageable. Today, modern wheels are currently around 48 to 60 mm in diameter and advances in technology have made them extremely light compared to the wheels of the eighties. Most decks are still constructed out of ], with 7-plys being the industry standard for strength and durability. Board styles have changed dramatically since the 1970s but have remained mostly alike since the mid 1990s. The contemporary shape of the skateboard is derived from the ] boards of the 1980s with a largely symmetrical shape and relatively narrow width. During the 90s ramp or vert skateboarding dropped in popularity.

	While street skateboarding remains popular, there is a resurgence of other types of skateboarding brewing. ], pool or bowl skating, slalom and ditch skateboarding are thriving all over the world, albeit below the radar.

	==Trick skating==
	:''See ] for detailed description of trick skating maneuvers''

	].]]

	With the evolution of ]s and ramp riding, the skateboard began to change. Early skate tricks consisted mainly of two-dimensional maneuvers (e.g. riding on only the front wheels (nose manual), spinning like an ice skater on the back wheels (a 360 pivot), high jumping over a bar (sometimes called a "Hippie Jump"), long jumping from one board to another (often over fearless teenagers lying on their backs), and slalom.

	In 1976, skateboarding was transformed by the invention of the first modern skateboarding trick by ]. It remained largely a unique Florida trick from 1976 until the summer of 1978, when Gelfand made his first visit to California. Gelfand and his revolutionary manoeuver caught the attention of the West Coast skaters and the media where it began to spread worldwide. An ] is performed by popping the tail of the skateboard, sliding the front foot towards the nose and lifting up the back foot to level the skateboard out. This results in the skateboarder, along with his or her skateboard, lifting into the air without the aid of foot straps or the skateboarder's hands.

	The ollie was reinvented by ] in 1981, who adapted it to freestyle skating by ollieing on flat ground rather than out of a vert ramp. Mullen also invented the ollie ], which, at the time of its invention, was dubbed the "magic flip." The flat ground ollie allowed skateboarders to perform tricks in mid-air without any more equipment than the skateboard itself. The development of these complex tricks by Rodney Mullen and others transformed skateboarding. Skateboarders began performing their tricks down stair sets and on other urban obstacles - they were no longer confined to empty pools and expensive wooden ramps.

	The act of "ollieing" onto an obstacle and sliding along it on the trucks of the board is known as ''grinding,'' and has become a mainstay of modern skateboarding. Types of grinds include the 50-50 grind (balancing on the front and back trucks while grinding a rail), the 5-0 grind (balancing on only the back truck while grinding a rail) the nose grind (balancing on only the front truck while grinding a rail), and the crooked grind (balancing on the front truck at an angle while grinding). There are various other grinds that involve touching both the trucks and the deck to the rail, ledge, or lip. The most common of these is the smith grind, in which the rider balances over the back truck while touching the outer middle of the board to the grinding surface in the direction from which he or she ollied. Popping and landing on the back truck and touching the inner edge of the board, i.e. popping "over", is known as a feeble grind. Boardslides, lipslides, noseslides, and tailslides are other variations of grinding that are characterized by sliding on an obstacle while balancing on the (usually wooden) deck of the skateboard, rather than on the trucks.

	==Culture==
	{{see also\|Skate punk}}
	Skateboarding was, at first, tied to the culture of ]. As skateboarding spread across the ] to places unfamiliar with surfing or surfing culture, it developed an image of its own. For example, the classic film short ''Video Days'' (1991)<ref>{{imdb title\|id=0375184\|title=Video Days}}</ref> portrayed skateboarders as reckless rebels.

	The image of the skateboarder as a rebellious, non-conforming youth has faded in recent years. The rift between the old image of skateboarding and a newer one is quite visible: magazines such as '']'' portray skateboarding as dirty, rebellious, and still firmly tied to ], while other publications, '']'' as an example, paint a more modern, diverse, and controlled picture of skateboarding stars. Furthermore, as more professional skaters use ] music accompaniment in their videos, many urban youths and hip-hop fans are drawn to skateboarding, further diluting the sport's punk image.{{Fact\|date=February 2007}}

	Films such as ''Dishdogz'' (2005)<ref>{{imdb title\|id=0416688\|title=Dishdogz}}</ref> have helped improve the reputation of skateboarding youth, depicting individuals of this subculture as having a positive outlook on life, prone to poking harmless fun at each other, and engaging in healthy sportsman's competition. According to the film, lack of respect, egotism and hostility towards fellow skateboarders is generally frowned upon, albeit each of the characters (and as such, proxies of the "stereotypical" skateboarder) have a firm disrespect for authority and for rules in general. Group spirit is supposed to heavily influence the members of this community. In presentations of this sort, showcasing of criminal tendencies is absent, and no attempt is made to tie extreme sports to any kind of illegal activity.

	==Female skateboarders==

	Skateboarding has long been a male-dominated sport; a survey in 2002 estimated that only 26 percent of skateboarders are female.<ref></ref>

	In the early years of the sport, few female skaters gained widespread visibility; ], ], and ] were a few who acheived fame in the 1970s. The skateboarding boom in the 1990s, coupled with an overall advancement in womens' sports, produced more female skaters than in previous decades. Skaters such as ] and ] elevated women's skateboarding to a new level. This trend continued into the new millenium with ], ], and ].
	Presently, skateboarding competitions for women can be seen at all major skateboarding events, such as the ], the ], and the ].

	There are many female-only skate companies, sessions, and camps to help advance the female skateboarding movement. An alliance of professional female skaters has also been established.<ref></ref>
	There have been two major skate films focusing on female skaters - ''Getting Nowhere Faster'' and ''AKA: Girl Skater''.<ref></ref><ref></ref>

	==Skate shops==
	As skateboarding has become increasingly popular, so has the market for skater merchandise. In the early days, local surf shops with limited variety were the only place to find skateboards. Later, skateboard shops started to appear on the ] of the ], and soon the trend spread to the ]. At present, there are many skate shops across the country, especially along coastal areas such as ].

	Skate shops carry a variety of accessories such as clothes, skateboarding tools, skateboard videos, stickers, and shoes.

	==Miscellaneous==
	]

	===Skateboard ban in Norway===
	The only country ever to ban skateboards was ], in the period between 1978 and 1989. The use, ownership and sale of skateboards were forbidden. The ban was said to be due to the perceived high amount of injuries caused by boards. The ban led skateboarders to construct ramps in the forest and other secluded areas to avoid the police. <ref>{{cite web \| url=http://oslopuls.no/film/article1536291.ece \| title=Criminals on wheels \| accessdate=2006-12-13}}</ref>

	===Military experimentation in the United States===

	It has been publicly reported that the ] tested the usefulness of commercial off-the-shelf skateboards during ] ]s in the late 1990s. Their special purpose has been described as "for maneuvering inside buildings in order to detect ]s and ] fire"<ref>{{cite web \| url=http://www.dodmedia.osd.mil/DVIC_View/Still_Details.cfm?SDAN=DMSD0002959&JPGPath=/Assets/2000/Marines/DM-SD-00-02959.JPG \| title=Defense Visual Information Center database / US Department of Defense\| accessdate=2006-12-30}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web \| url=http://newton.nap.edu/books/0309088739/html/82.html \| title=The Role of Experimentation in Building Future Naval Forces (2004), Naval Studies Board \| accessdate=2006-12-30}}</ref>.

	===Novice and amateur skate teams===

	Many novice and amateur skateboarding teams have emerged in the last ten years consisting of groups of talented skateboarders. These are most popular in the USA, where skateboarding started.

	==Further reading and information==
	*Borden, Iain. (2001). ''Skateboarding, Space and the City: Architecture and the Body''. Oxford: Berg.
	*Hocking, Justin, Jeffrey Knutson and Jared Maher (Eds.). (2004). ''Life and Limb: Skateboarders Write from the Deep End''. New York: Soft Skull Press.
	*Weyland, Jocko. (2002). ''The Answer is Never: a History and Memoir of Skateboarding''. New York: Grove Press.
	*Hawk, Tony and Mortimer, Sean. (2000). ''Hawk: Occupation: Skateboarder''. New York: HarperCollins.
	*Thrasher Magazine. (2001). ''Thrasher: Insane Terrain''. New York: Universe.
	*Brooke, Michael (1999) ''The Concrete Wave - the History of Skateboarding''. Warwick Publishing
	*Mullen, Rodney and Mortimer, Sean (2003). ''The Mutt''
	*, a 1978 documentary on skateboarding

	==See also==
	{{commonscat\|Skateboarding}}
	{{Wiktionarypar\|Skateboarding}}

	==References==
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	{{Skateboarding}}

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Revision as of 20:57, 14 April 2007

Like Skateboarding??????????????

REFERRER DANNY