Street Skating

Starting Somewhere Learn the basics and how to enjoy yourself safety.

Skaters History Learn the History behind the sport

Trick List See some starter tricks to try out.

US: $5.00

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Canada:$6.28

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Table of Contents 04

From the Editor

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Starting Somewhere

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Board Facts

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Skaters History

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Trick List

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From the Editor

I

am neither an avid skateboarder nor a Tony Hawk skateboard fanatic, but in the past few years, I’ve grown increasingly interested in the subculture’s influence on fashion, arts and the community it holds together. Skateboard videos have claimed their own unique niche in the world of social media, where young, talented individuals showcase their tricks in oddly satisfying clips that are edited to match trending hip-hop songs. In fact, just last year, Jonah Hill made his directorial debut with Mid90s, a film about a 13-year-old skateboarder and the friendships he builds while venturing out to skateboard parks across Los Angeles. What begins with a few boys on a wooden board ends with an evolved story about life, shedding light on corners of real experiences that simply cannot explained by words.

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The Oppertunity You’ve Been Waiting For

Imagine that.

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By: Skateboardshq

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T

he basics of skateboarding are keeping your balance and enjoying yourself. You should learn to control your board by using your feet while you keep your center mass over the skateboard.

This comes with trial and error. On your first day, you’ll do nothing more than just practice balance and perhaps a short ride. Look for a smooth surface like a parking lot and avoid crowded places.

Gear up by wearing proper protection and try to buddy up with an experienced skater to guide you. I’ll cover the steps from getting a skateboard, safety and will be talking about how to manage your first day on a skateboard without getting discouraged.

If you don’t have fun you’ll give up.

You need to get the basics right before you try anything more advanced. If you can keep your balance you’ll prevent some of the most common injuries and you’ll keep skating with confidence.

Probably the most important thing here is to get some good shoes. You’ll need shoes that can absorb an impact and have a flat sole. Absorbing shocks will prevent nasty heel injuries,

they don’t heal fast and keep coming back if you’re unlucky.It’s also important that you can feel your board, your shoes should be flexible. Be careful when buying shoes like the Nike SB series. Some are more fashionable than actually functional and the truth is these brands don’t do anything for the sport. Here are some brands to look for: Etnies, Vans, Emerica, Lakai, etc.It’s normal to have painful feet, even more so when you’re new to skateboarding. I still feel some pain after I haven’t skated for a while, you have to get used to it. It will go away when you skate more often. Make sure you wear shoes that aren’t too tight! A bit of an unpopular topic among skateboarders but wearing protection when you’re just starting out is important. Also depending on where you live, ending in the hospital could come with a hefty price tag. For the older beginners out there, taking care of your family and being able to work the next day is worth more than looking cool. I guess this is more of a thing when you’re younger.

You often see skateboarders without protection (except for vet skaters), Street Skating Issue I 7 June 2022

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mainly because they are experienced and know how to fall. If you’re a beginner taking precautions not only prevents injuries, it will also make you feel more confident. You can go for a protective set to save some money, at least get a helmet and knee pads.

It happens to every new skater. What will the neighbors think?

I look like an idiot.

Will people laugh at me because I have no idea what I’m doing.

Don’t worry, this is perfectly normal. I’m a grown man, not bad at skateboarding but sometimes when I’m in a new park I get that same feeling.

Everybody had to learn skateboarding at some point. We all sucked once. No

skater is going to laugh at you, in fact, you could ask for help and people are willing to help you. Okay, people in the street might make remarks but who cares. You’re skating for you, to learn a new skill, to have fun. It’s just something that’s part of skateboarding. Fear is what keeps you from injuring yourself, but sometimes it holds you back. If you’re just starting out, don’t do anything you’re not ready for.

About 33 percent of skateboarders ending up in the hospital are newbies.

To be fair, It’s not easy to overcome fear. You know you can do something, you have the skill but there’s still the fear of falling. Just

get yourself some protective gear, it will give you confidence and you won’t tighten your muscles too much because you’re scared. Slowly build up, don’t plan on landing the trick just get a bit of a feeling.

Skating in the rain is not only bad for your bearings and deck.

It’s just dangerous.

Your wheels lose grip and you’ll fall. Your grip will have less resistance and your deck will get soggy and lose its pop or worse, delaminate.

If it’s just a little bit wet outside you could go for it, but it’s still bad for your hardware.

Some skaters have a rainy deck for rainy days. This usually means just an old deck, old wheels, bearings etc. Just make sure to always take good care of your

gear. You need to get used to a skateboard and make sure you position your feet correctly. Your first try will feel uncomfortable and maybe a bit scary, don’t step on a deck when it’s able to move. To prevent the board from slipping away underneath you can put your deck on a patch of grass or a piece of carpet.This way you’ll get a bit of the feeling of balancing on a board and your skateboard won’t take off without you. Of course, you’ll stay stationary, riding a board on grass isn’t exactly what you want to do but you’ll get to know and feel the board. You will fall so you better know how to fall. You can start by riding into some grass and just fall off on purpose. Try to roll if possible.

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Board Facts 1) Skateboarding is the sixth most popular sport in the world Skateboarding has earned this ranking based on the number of people who are skaters. Over half of all American skaters live in California in the USA, making it one of the most popular areas in the world to be a skater.

2) It wasn’t always called skateboarding When it first gained in popularity, skateboarding was initially called “sidewalk surfing”. This was because skaters would replicate the techniques of surfers, but on a paved surface. One of their primary imitations was to crouch down and touch the pavement like surfers do with the sea.

3) Norway didn’t like skateboarding From 1978 to 1989, Norway banned skateboarding because of the high numbers of skateboarding accidents. Importing skateboards, selling skateboards and even owning one was punishable by a fine. The movie “Thrashin” was even rated an 18 certificate in Norway because it was about skateboarding. To get around this, the most avid fans of the sport set up illicit ramps in hidden locations so they could practice it in secret.

Parts of a Board

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Bearings Wheels Deck Trucks Street Skating Issue I 9 June 2022

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Sk

ate

rs Hi

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kateboarding, 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 streetstyle 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.

The first commercial skateboards appeared in 1959, but crude homemade versions of skateboards, often consisting of nothing more than old roller-skate

wheels attached to a board, were first built after the turn of the 20th century. In the early 1960s, skateboard manufacturers such as Makaha and Hobie attempted to capitalize on the rising popularity of surfing by promoting skateboarding, then known as “sidewalk surfing,” as an alternative diversion when no rideable waves were available.

In 1963 Makaha formed the first professional

oy

skateboard team, and that same year the first skateboard competition was held in Hermosa, California. It included events in freestyle and downhill slalom skateboarding. The initial popularity of skateboarding waned over the next couple of years because of the limitations of the skateboard’s maneuverability and because of warnings from safety professionals that the activity was dangerous.

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Skateboards were revived in the mid-1970s after the development of the faster and more-maneuverable polyurethane wheel and the introduction of the kicktail, the raised back end of the board that makes kickturns possible. The craze spread worldwide, and skateboard magazines helped promote both the sport and young innovative riders such as Tony Alva and Stacey Peralta. The first skate park was built in Florida in 1976, and many others began to appear throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia, all providing a variety of slopes and banked surfaces for sudden turns and stunts.

It was at this time that riders started skating in empty pools and exploring the “vertical” potential of the sport. The empty pools soon gave way to half-pipes, U-shaped riding surfaces used to perform aerial stunts.

Though protective gear such as helmets and knee pads

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was commonplace, safety concerns and escalating insurance premiums for skate parks played a major role in the sport’s second fall from widespread popularity.

In the 1980s skateboarding enjoyed an underground following. Skateboarders built their own ramps and halfpipes and began skating the urban environments, creating what became known as street style. Increased board size and improved truck constructions helped the new style thrive. It was during this time that a distinctive youth subculture began to develop around the sport. Punk rock and baggy clothes became closely associated with young skaters. The daring and individualistic nature of street and vert skateboarding was spread through straight-tovideo documentary films that found a large youth audience.

The videos made stars of vert skaters Tony Hawk and Steve Caballero and street skaters Natas Kaupas and

Warning: Skateboarding will be an official Olympic sport beginning in 2020, and more people are bound to become interested in this exciting yet risky sport. In 2017, over 98,000 people were treated in hospital emergency rooms after being injured while skateboarding.

Over 47,000 of those injuries occurred in people ages 15 to 24, according to Injury Facts. Wrists usually get the brunt of the damage with sprains or fractures, but “swellbows,” or swollen elbows, also are common.

To avoid a serious injury, such as a broken nose or jawbone, concussion and other head injury, it is vital to follow safety recommendations and minimize your risk.

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Mark Gonzalez, among many others. But it was the advent of large competitions, such as the X Games, an alternative sports festival sponsored by the cable television network ESPN and first held in 1995, that gave the sport mainstream exposure and a certain commercial legitimacy.

Skateboarding has established itself as a professional sport while still maintaining its independence from traditional team sports.

Snowboarding and in-line rollerskating have been heavily influenced by skateboarding techniques and culture. Most

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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, fibreglass, 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.

There are variations of the skateboard, most notably the longboard, which can run from 38 to 60 inches (96.5 to 152.5 cm) in length. The sport of street luge began with the use of longboards, ridden in a prone position down a steep hill. The street luge vehicles are still essentially skateboards but are up to 8.5 feet

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(2.6 metres) long and have supports for the head and feet. They can reach speeds of 80 miles (130 km) per hour. Other modifications to the skateboard include sails for wind-aided riding and blades for skating on ice.

Much of the excitement of skateboarding rests in the riders’ creativity.

Skaters compete to invent new tricks or

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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 aant tricks ieboarding.

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k c i r T L ist 1.

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Ollie: The ollie is a skateboarding trick that involves snapping the tail of the board off of a surface, bringing your board up into the air. The ollie is the foundation to almost every trick on the street, and most ramp tricks

Nollie: A nose ollie, or a “nollie,” uses the same principle as the regular ollie, except instead of snapping down on the tail of the skateboard to pop the front wheels, you use your front foot to snap down on the nose of the board instead, which pops the tail.

Kickturns: To perform a kickturn, use your back foot to press down on the tail and raise the nose of the board, turning it into a new direction.

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Pop shuv-it: The frontside or a backside pop shuv-it (or pop shove-it) combines a regular shove-it—when the board spins 180 or 360 degrees with minimal air—with the pop of an ollie.

Hardflip: The hardflip is a trick that combines a frontside 180 pop shuv-it and a kickflip. This trick’s name is derived from how difficult it can be to execute.

Kickflip: A kickflip is a common skateboard trick that pops the skater up into the air, using their feet to flip the board a full rotation—360 degrees. With a kickflip, the board spins midair toward the skater.

Heelflip: To perform a heelflip, the skateboarder starts with an ollie then kicks their front foot out diagonally, using their front heel to flip the board. This move makes the board spin outward from the toes—the opposite of a kickflip.

Frontside 180: A frontside 180 is a skateboarding trick that combines an ollie with a 180-degree turn. After you learn how to do a regular ollie, this is another basic trick that is easy enough for any new skateboarder to learn.

Backside 180: The same as the frontside 180, except the difference with this trick is that you lead with your back, rather than your chest, spinning in the opposite direction as you would for a frontside.

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