Through the evolution over the past 60 years, skateboarding is now considered as a lifestyle more than just a single sport that allows players to cruise around. The sport became even more popular due to the increase in various trend sports in the 1990s. 

Most skaters today are familiar with the presence of this sport that is widely accepted in public without knowing that skateboarding had gone through a hard time before getting acknowledgment from the community. 

In today’s post, let’s learn about how skateboarding was founded and its development until modern days. Nowadays, skateboarding is more popular than ever thanks to the presence of the internet, video games, and magazines. 

SKATEBOARDING SINCE THE 1990S

First, I would like to give you a brief introduction to skateboarding in this modern world so that newbies can grab the basic knowledge about this sport. Even if you have no idea about skateboarding, you have properly heard about some brands like Chocolate, Girl Skateboards, Flip Skateboard, Element Skateboards, or Zero Skateboards. 

These companies have been working day by day to provide excellent skateboards as well as other accessories for riders. Unfortunately, this will not be the main topic of this thread so you may want to visit SkateAdvisors to read the review about their products: https://skateadvisors.com

Even when you haven’t skated at all, you must be familiar with the event called “Street League” which is a professional contest for skateboarders all over the world. The highest prize for the champion is 200.000 US Dollars in cash and the winner’s performance is watched by 10.000 visitors. 

Not only in the USA is skateboarding popular, but in Germany and other European countries, skateboarding is also the most popular discipline. This is living evidence to show how important this sport is as well as its hopeful future. 

THE HISTORY OF SKATEBOARDING

In the 1950s, skateboarding was originally founded based on surfing when some surfers thought about the idea of getting their favorite sport on land. These guys were called “asphalt surfers” which refers to the very first skateboarders in California and Hawaii. 

Since then, surfing boards with attached wheels are widely used to enjoy the feeling of surfing on land. After the first peak in the late 1950s, Roller Derby released the first skateboard in 1959 for riders to develop new tricks and maneuvers. 

The following period from 1959 to 1965 witnessed the boom of skateboarding in the USA, especially on the west and east coasts. Thanks to the development of the skateboarding industry, skateboards were changed completely from a toy to official sports equipment. 

A remarkable milestone for skateboarding was the first publication in the “Surf Guide Magazine” which was published by Larry Stevenson in 1963. Later on, the first skateboarding shoe brand - Vans was established in 1966, and from this day, many companies were founded consecutively such as Enies, Converse, and DC Shoes. 

At the same time the advertisement on the “Surf Guide Magazine '' was published, the first contest was held in Hermosa Beach, California. To find out more about this very first competition, you should take a look at other articles available at SkateAdvisors. 

SKATEBOARDING EVOLUTION

A big step in the development of skateboarding must be the invention of the “kicktail” by Larry Stevenson which enhanced the possibility of riding a skateboard even more. In 1972, Frank Nasworthy’s invention of urethane wheels which are still widely used in modern industry. 

Four years after the invention of urethane wheels, the first artificial skate park was inaugurated which included vertical ramps and kickers. Later on, the American soldiers brought this sport to Germany and from then, this sport became more and more popular in Europe. 

In 1978, the trick named the “Ollie” was invented by Alan Gelfand. This invention also marked the birth of street skateboarding and Rodney Mullen was the one who transferred the Ollie for different maneuvers. 

Skaters in 1981 must be so proud as the establishment of the “Thrasher Magazine”  with the lifestyle slogan “Skate And Destroy”. From then, the popularity of skateboarding had gone further than ever. 

Seeing the rich source of income out of the skateboarding industry, many skateboard brands were founded namely Powell Peralta, Santa Cruz, and Vision. As you can see, skateboarding was more popular in the USA and Germany than in other countries. Also, this stage marked the replacement of vert skateboarding by street skating. Since then, the number of pro skaters has increased significantly. 

FINAL WORDS

It is quite interesting to learn about the history as well as the evolution of skateboarding in the past. As a skateboarder, you had better spend time learning about the history of this sport to know more about how modern skateboarding is different from the past. Also, you can get the basic ideas of why the tricks were invented.