Skateboarding is the act of rolling on or interacting with a skateboard. Someone who skateboards is called a skater or skateboarder, and in slang terms a wood-pusher. Skateboarding can be an art, hobby, a sport, or a method of transportation. It is often considered part of the extreme sports family or, because of its creative aspects, an art form. Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by hundreds of 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 ^*.

History

---

The first skateboard

Skateboarding originated sometime in the 1950s and coincided with the popularization of surfing in California. The earliest skateboards were homemade and were constructed of flat wooden planks attached to roller-skate trucks and wheels. Skateboarding was originally called "sidewalk surfing" and early skaters emulated surfing style and moves. Skateboards may or may not have evolved from "crate scooters." 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 Back to the Future, Marty McFly is seen confiscating such a scooter from an unsuspecting 50s youth, and ripping the crate off to fashion an improvised skateboard.

As the sport of skateboarding matured it developed its own style, some elements of which have found their way into the sport of surfing—resulting in the evolution of both sports. The skateboarders most frequently credited with popularizing skateboarding are the Z-Boys from Venice Beach, California—who revolutionized skateboarding with the 'surf style' riding technique—and the Bones Brigade (including skateboarding icon Tony Hawk) from the 1980s—who helped produce some of the most influential skateboarding videos ever made. They started riding skateboards in empty swimming pools, as portrayed in the movie Dogtown and Z-Boys.

More on [ Skateboarding ]

ESPN X Games Skateboarding - Twitter Search

Girls Street and Vert @ X-games was not televised AT ALL. Eat one ESPN, stop trying to turn skateboarding into a damn sport.
NormStovall (NormStovall) Fri, 31 Jul 2009 04:09:56 -0000
Girls Street and Vert @ X-games was not televised AT ALL. Eat one ESPN, stop trying to turn skateboarding into a damn sport.
Wishing I was at X games! watching it on ESPN..my god awesome! currently skateboarding big air is on..
obscurination (obscurination) Fri, 31 Jul 2009 01:29:29 -0000
Wishing I was at X games! watching it on ESPN..my god awesome! currently skateboarding big air is on..
Another year of enjoying Skateboarding Big Air during the X Games on ESPN. Unfortunately, I fear someone is going to eventually get killed.
thomasjcollins (Thomas J Collins) Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:52:05 -0000
Another year of enjoying Skateboarding Big Air during the X Games on ESPN. Unfortunately, I fear someone is going to eventually get killed.
ckeck out espn tonight at 9:00 X-GAMES SKATEBOARDING
semira123 (semira sakiri) Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:01:31 -0000
ckeck out espn tonight at 9:00 X-GAMES SKATEBOARDING
I wish ESPN would dump skateboarding from the x games....Maloof FTW!!!!
netposer (Rob Baker) Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:44:36 -0000
I wish ESPN would dump skateboarding from the x games....Maloof FTW!!!!

Subscribe to ESPN_X_Games_Skateboarding RSS feed