PlaySportsTV Skateboarding

Choosing the Right Skateboard

Skateboards are not one-size-fits-all.

By Barry Federovitch
PlaySportsTV Contributor

For the beginner skateboarder, choosing the right skateboard and learning how to skateboard safely usually involves more than going down to a neighborhood shop, plunking down a few dollars and sneaking into someone’s unoccupied swimming pool.

In fact, according to John Bernards, a skateboarding enthusiast for 50 years and executive director of the International Association of Skateboard Companies (based in Orange County, Calif.) if you want to succeed in skateboarding, as is the case in basketball, baseball and other sports, it helps to be an expert in science and mathematics.

“Paul Schmitt (of www.createaskate.org.), a longtime skateboard manufacturer with Element has been making skateboards for a long time. They were created to use in high schools, the idea being to get kids to ask and lobby for it in high school,” says Bernards of the guru whose company has sold over 10 million skateboards. “Paul takes it around the country, on tour and trains kids if they work in a retail store to know what to do, what to say. Questions like: How tall are you? What’s your weight?”

It is critical to know these specifics when it comes to skateboarding because, like baseball gloves or ice skates, skateboards are not one-size-fits-all. The durability of the skateboard depends on the quality of the materials used and how well the skateboarder takes care of his/her equipment.

The types of materials used will vary depending on what types of tricks you want to perform, your level and how much money you are willing to spend. But an important rule of thumb of skateboarding should be borrowed from www.skateboard.about.com’s Steve Cave: cheap means dangerous.

According to Bernards, more than 12 million Americans participate in skateboarding every year. Five percent of skateboarders are girls “and that number is growing.” The sport’s holiday is June 21, which has been dubbed Go Skateboarding Day.

There are long boards, short boards, boards for tricks, etc. So knowing what you want to accomplish on a board and your level is the first step in skateboarding participation.

Once that is established, skateboards can be purchased in at least three ways: 1. by purchasing a complete skateboard, simply known as a “complete”; 2. through purchasing separate skateboarding parts (bearings, wheels, trucks, decks) and assembling it yourself, or 3. through learning how to craft your own skateboard and then assembling it yourself.

The complete option is the one most skateboarders choose. It is the simplest and often the least expensive way to go. The downside is that it is dependent to a great degree upon the level of expertise of the salesperson, which Bernards cautions can be a risky affair if purchased in a local mall rather than in a shop that specializes in skateboards. Either way there is still the risk of the skateboarder conforming to the board rather than the reverse.

The second option allows a more seasoned skateboarder to customize a board to his liking. The downside can be expense, while still not having all the components in place that make for a safe board.

Bernards encourages the latter route, details of which as previously mentioned can be found at www.createaskate.org. With the help of participating schools, skateboarders not only build their own board, but grow to understand every aspect that goes into the board.

“We’re gonna do certificates so a kid can go online and take a class on how to build a skateboard,” he says.

As the site emphasizes, a good skateboarder should have a strong backround in woodshop, art or design. Once graduating this program, the skateboarder best understands the components of a skateboard and is best equipped to choose or redesign any future boards.

Once you have chosen the proper skateboard, are you ready to begin? Not quite. In addition to your board, the skateboarder must invest in well-fitting pads, shoes and helmets. Again, this should be done with the help of a skateboarding expert.

Of equal importance is knowing the laws regarding skateboarding in your town and/or state. Bernards is quick to note that most skateboarding accidents and all related deaths involving the sport have happened in the street. The sport “is meant to be in parks,” he says.

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Photo courtesy of Paul Schmitt