The History Of Skateboarding
Skateboarding has rich history of innovation and is full of intriguing stories. However, this essay will provide you with an overview of the last nine decades. The first type of skateboards were actually more like scooters. Over the next five decades kids changed the look of the scooter and started cruising on two by fours with steel wheels. Tens of thousands of rollerskates were dismantled and joyfully hammered on to planks of wood. In the 1950's modifications were made to the trucks (the device that holds the wheels) and kids started to maneuver more easily. Towards the late 1950's, surfing became increasingly popular and people began to tie surfing together with cruising on a board. By 1959, the first Roller Derby Skateboard was for sale. Clay wheels entered the picture and sidewalk surfing began to take root. The first skateboard contest was held at the Pier Avenue Junior School in Hermosa, California in 1963. While most skaters took to the street or sidewalk, some brave souls decide to ride empty swimming pools. By 1965, international contests, movies (Skater Dater), a magazine (The Quarterly Skateboarder) and cross country trips by teams of skateboarders elevated the sport to enormous heights. However, clay wheels did not grip the road well and skaters fell everywhere. Cities started to ban skateboards in response to health and safety concerns and after a few fatal accidents, skateboarding was drummed out of existance (for the time being at least!). Over the next eight years, skateboarding remained fairly underground, showing up only in areas like Santa Monica, California. During this period Larry Stevenson invented the kicktail and tried to resurrect skateboarding but he met with only a small amount of success. In 1970, a famous surfer visited a friend at a plastics factory in Purcellville, Virginia. The factory made urethane wheels for roller skates, but they figured out the wheels would fit on the board. This launched skateboarding back on track. Truck manufacturers began making trucks specifically designed for skateboarding. Board manufacturers sprung up over night and suddenly, the industry was awash with new products and new ideas. In 1975, Road Rider came out with the first precision bearing wheel ending decades of loose ball bearings. Slalom, downhill and freestyle skateboarding are practised by millions of enthusiasts. The first outdoor skatepark was built for skateboarders in Florida in 1976. It was soon followed by hundreds of other parks all over North America. Skateboarding moved from horizontal to vertical and slalom and freestyle skateboarding became less popular. The look of skateboards also changed from being six to seven inches in width to over nine inches. This increase in size ensured better stability on vertical surfaces. Top riders included Tony Alva, Jay Adams and Tom "Wally" Inoyoue. In 1978, Alan Gelfand invented the "Ollie and moved skateboarding to the next level. The roots of streetstyle developed when skaters started to take vertical moves to flatland. Skateboard culture began to mesh with punk and new wave music. By the end of 1980, skateboarding died once again. As BMX became popular and, most skaters deserted the sport. Skateboarding moved undergound once more. A hardcore contigent stayed with skateboarding and built backyard half pipes and ramps as more skateparks closed.
In 1982, Tony Hawk won his first contest at the Del Mar Skate Ranch. By 1984, vert riding took off, followed closely by streetstyle skating. Launch ramps became popular. Numerous vertical champions emerged including Tony Hawk, Christian Hosoi, Lance Mountain and Neil Blender. In the street, Mark Gonzales, Natas Kaupas and Tommy Guerrero took the ollie to new heights. Freestyle skateboarding was also a part of the scene and Rodney Mullen dominated all competition. The National Skateboard Association, headed up by Frank Hawk, held numerous contests across North America and eventually throughout the world. Skateboard shoes from Airwalk, Vans and Vision became enormously popular along with skate clothes. But, as skaters fell and their clothes got damaged, they started dressing less fashionable and more comfortable. They dressed and still dress in shaggy pantswhich usually fall off. Thats why they got creative and thought that a shoelace should do the trick. Towards the end of the decade, skateboarding shifted focus to street skating and vert riding became less popular. Over time, the personality of skateboard world changed and new school skateboarding was born. Its focus was on ollies and technical tricks and it took on a whole other attitude. The kickflip was already invented by the 1980 by Rodney Mullen and the spin tricks too. So what else could they do but mash them up. This way they came up with the varial kickflip which is made up of a pop shov-it and a kickflip and looks like this and also lots of other amazing tricks. They didnt stop creating tricks as skaters came up with the Ollie impossible. Skateboarding went through several rises and falls, but it still a baby and there is much to come!
