Skateboards are pieces of sports equipment which generally is made of maplewood coated with polyurethane and four wheels. Though homemade skateboards have been reported to have existed in the late 1940s when it was dubbed "sidewalk surfing," they were first mass-produced in the 1960s in Southern California. Skateboarding, an often extreme sport, involves riding a skateboard while performing tricks or difficult moves. Such maneuvers as wheelies where the skater forces the front end of the board up into the air while continuing to ride it, jumping over a bar while moving forward on the board and landing on it again, a pivot, which is spinning while only the back wheels are on the ground, long jumping from one board to another, and performing tricks in mid-air while moving forward on the board.
Recommended Resources
Features a comprehensive online guide to skateboarding, offering links to sites with information on skateboarding equipment, supplies, and accessories, as well as magazines, ramps, plans for building ramps, photographs, wallpaper, and other types of information and resources.
http://skateboarddirectory.com/
Presents the Internet edition of a print magazine focusing on skateboarding. Its site offers skateboarding news, photographs, videos, and selected articles from the magazine, as well as subscription and advertising information.
http://www.skateboardermag.com/
Offers a history of skateboarding, including the evolution of the sport over the years, up to the current generation of skateboarders, as well as the culture that grew up around it. Information on trick skating is also included, along with photographs and video.
http://www.skateboarder2.com/
Photographs, video, and featured articles relating to skateboarding are posted to the site, including an attempt to list every commercial video on the subject produced within the United Kingdom.
http://www.skateboardingis.com/
Featuring a variety of resources related to the sport of skateboarding, the site includes maps showing the location of major skate parks and video, which may be viewed or added to the site.
http://www.theskatespot.com/
