A Brief History of Skateboarding

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Although no one person can lay claim to inventing the sport, skateboarding was invented in the 1950s’ in California. Dreamed up by skaters who wanted to “surf the streets”, the early versions of skateboards were primative at best. Metal wheels were crudely attached to boxes and planks of wood. These early boards were all homemade, as no one was manufacturing boards professionally until the early 1960s’. 1963 saw companies like Jack’s, Hobie, and Mahaka begin to offer standardized products for downhill slalom and freestyle skaters, the only type of skating popular at this time. Early skateboarding was often down downhill or “vert”, and accompanied by music and incorporated with dance steps. This early skateboarding was shortlived, however, and by the early 1970s’ skateboarding had “died out”.

A major revival in 1972 was credited to Frank Nasworthy, a California skater who introduced urethane wheels to the sport. Now, boards were no longer loud, obnoxious machines, but rather glided silently along. This new material allowed for boards to be ridden on all types of surfaces, including concrete, asphalt, or even dirt.

1975 saw a revolution in skating style, when team Zephyr rode a low,slow style at a competition in Del Mar, California. A few years later, skating legend Alan Gelfano invented the “ollie”, a maneuver still popular today and the backbone of many a skating routine. Now skateboarding had a new movement, one that accented individuality and innovation. There was no “right or wrong way” to skate!

A legend of modern skateboarding, Tony Hawk became extremely popular during the 1980s’. Suddenly, skateboarding was becoming a nationwide trend, moving out of its’ birthplace of California and into modern pop culture. Music videos featured skateboarders, public skateparks were opening, and clothing geared towards skateboarding was all the rage. Skateboarding had arrived.

Skateboarding earned much credibility in the 1990s’, as ESPN hosted the first ever “X” games in 1995. Structured, sanctioned events were televised across the world for all to see. Following up with this, ESPN held the first winter “X” games in 1997. Skateboarding has been in the forefront of modern sports for a new generation ever since.

A Few Simple Steps to Starting Your Own Skateboard Shop

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Opening up a skateboard shop is often a dream for many skateboarders, but making a dream into reality can be a difficult process. In order to be successful with a skateboard store, it is important to have a detailed plan in place as well as financing to support the initial start of the business.

Prior to making any purchases, the first step is to create a detailed business plan. The plan includes the cost for inventory, rent, insurance, and marketing costs. Once the business plan has been created the Small Business Administration can help provide additional advice on how to structure and finance your business.

Financing your business may require a personal investment during the first few years. Banks tend to approve loans from established companies with a strong financial history. It is important not to get discouraged if you find it is difficult to find financing for your new business. Additional options include private loans from family members, personal savings or starting a business with a partner.

Once the funding for your business has been taken care of, the next step is to apply for a business license and obtain a location for your business. The shop must be in an excellent location with parking for your customers. An ideal site would be near a skate park or an area where skaters happen to visit often. Review the demographics of the location carefully in order to attract buying customers to your business.

Filling your store with quality in demand products is essential to having products that meet the needs of your customers. New skaters may find skateboards on the lower price range more attractive until they gain additional experience. While experienced skaters may value higher-quality skateboards that are more expensive. Research the popular brands that are known for the quality of their products and service. You can also check out local skateboard shops or magazines to determine the popular brands.Additional products can include T-shirts, hats and other skateboarding gear to sell to customers.

In addition to the location of the shop, a marketing plan should also be created in order to attract customers to the store. Options include monthly events, competitions, or giveaways for additional publicity. T-shirts are also a great technique to attract additional customers to your store and can be worn by skateboarders in your area. Online marketing options can include creating a Facebook page to attract skateboard enthusiasts. There are many options available based on your marketing plans and budget.

How to Get Sponsors As a Skateboarder

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So you have decided you’ve got what it takes to compete with the big boys in skateboarding. After hours of blood, sweat and tears, you are ready to show the world what you have become, but you have no idea how to begin finding a sponsor. After all, you have been dedicating all of you time to practice, not public relations! However, you know this is a crucial step to proceed on with your skateboarding career. There are a few simple steps that, when persistently implemented, will yield results.

Continue to practice. The best chance of finding a sponsor is by showing them that you have the skills worthy of their investment. While many can successfully get their foot in the door with smooth talk, only true talent will seal the deal.

Don’t try to go at it alone. Become active in the skater community, and talk frequently to peers who are also seeking financing. More often than not, you can discover tactics that work, be shown others mistakes before you make them yourself and gain the general confidence necessary to push forward in knowing that you aren’t alone.

Aside from speaking with peers, it is also a good idea to talk to skateboarders who have already been there, done that. Skateboarders who are already sponsored can share a wealth of knowledge as they have been in your shoes and know how frustrating it can be. They were successful, so whatever advice they can offer should be implemented.

Prior to approaching a potential sponsor, it is very important to do a little research on them first. Just as you would not go in for a job interview without having a good idea of how the company operates, showing that you have invested time into learning about the potential sponsor will show them that you are genuine and truly serious about your advancement, making them much more likely to consider following through with the sponsorship.

It is a good idea to have videos of your work available for those who may be busy. In the hustle and bustle of our society, sometimes the main crutch is just finding a sponsor who has the time necessary for you to provide that great impression they need to see. Allowing the ability to see your talent at their convenience greatly optimizes your chances of success.

It is possible to find a sponsor to help you with the financial backing to further your skateboarding career. Just remember never to give up. Skill, consistency and persistence is key.

Great Gifts for Skateboarders

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Do you have a lot of friends who enjoy skateboarding? Are you looking for the perfect gifts to buy skateboarder friends? Well there are many options for you and you are sure to find the perfect gift.

Skateboarders can never have enough skateboards. Skateboards can break or become damaged easily, especially when they are being used very often. By buying a few high quality skateboards for your friend, you are ensuring that they will always have a back up skateboard. This is one gift that never gets old.

If skateboards aren’t something that your skater friend needs, then the alternative would be skating t shirts. Fashion for a skater is very important as it displays the individuals style and interests. Make sure when you are shopping for the shirt you are able to pick out things that align with your friend’s interests.

Stylish helmets are also a very popular option. Skateboarding is a sport that can be very dangerous so helmets are always in high demand. If you choose a helmet that suits the style of your friend, they are sure to love it. You can also customize helmets with words or symbols that mean something to your friend.

Another option is magazines or posters. If your friend has a favorite professional skater or an idol that they look up to, this would be a perfect option. Magazines and posters are a great form of inspiration for many skaters and this might be a gift that helps your friend grow in many ways.

And if these options do not seem to suit your friend, you can go with a more expensive gift that is sure to amaze anyone who is passionate about skateboarding. You can look on the internet or in magazines for an upcoming skating event and purchase tickets for your friend.

There are also many other options such as music albums, clothing, movies, and so much more. Buying gifts can be a very exciting experience for anyone. When you are searching for the perfect gift for your friend you want to be sure to buy something that suits their unique interests. You will feel great when you see your friend open their amazing gift.

A Quick Rundown on Skateboard Hardware

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Once you have you board, you may be tempted to think that you’ve got everything you need. It won’t take long before you start getting good. In the process your boards going to get hacked on, your going to wipe out, and people are going ask; What kind of hardware your running? What kind of board you do you have? What are you wearing? So you don’t look to much like a newbie, I’m here to give you a crash course on the hardware and accessories you are going to need. Some of this you should get as soon as possible.

Let’s start with trucks and wheels. Wheels are well, duh! There is a wide selection of styles and a certain amount of variation in cost, However 50.00 in any store will get you a really nice set of wheels. The trucks, which mount the wheels, are usually all around the same basic design but some look really cool.

The deck itself is our next subject. Usually between 30″-32″ long and 7″-8,” wide the deck is where your colors are flying. Most of the best boards are professional skater endorsed, while making an artistic statement and proudly proclaiming their brand, all at the same time. You can indeed get longboards or mini boards which can vary either way by around four inches respectively.

When your board starts to wear, you are going to need grip tape. Riding in bad weather and foot wear take their toll.
As far as what clothes you’re wearing, just stand in front of the mirror. If you like what you see, go with it. There are a lot of clothes that get sold as skate gear but make your own decisions on what to wear. If you like your board, why not buy the brand name shirt?

Creating Your Own Skateboard Site

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There are several steps that a person needs to do to develop a skateboard site. One of the biggest steps is deciding what kind of web hosting to use. Another thing that needs to be considered is creating a domain name. After choosing a host and a domain name a person should concentrate upon creating what will be on the skateboarding website. Once these decisions have been made, promotion and maintenance of the website should be done.

Various Web hosting is available including free, standard, and shared. There are many service providers for hosting for example papaki web hosting is simple and easy to set up.  There are a majority of people who choose free hosting. All aspects of this type of hosting must be considered. This form of hosting site is usually free because they have certain requirements that must be met. They may require ads run upon the website that are owned by them. Another problem may be that the free hosting site gives too little of space for your website to hold all of the information that needs to be held. Also, free websites may not offer sufficient bandwidth to run the website.

Although, a skateboarding website can be done without a domain, it is best to have one so that people can find the site better. First a domain needs to be chosen. Consider using skateboarding in the name and other key words that will draw people to the website. Search engines pick up on what is in the domain name and traffic will be sent to the website accordingly. After a domain has been chosen, it needs to be checked to see if it is available. Prefixes can be added to the domain name in case the domain name is already taken.

It must be decided what the website will contain. Content is very important. The domain name may bring traffic to the website but the content keeps guests viewing and clicking through information upon the website. The content needs to be engaging to attract and keep the attention of the viewer. Navigation is also very important and should be made easy for the viewers of the website. If a viewer can navigate the pages of a website with ease, they are more apt to come back to the website multiple times.

A website requires continued maintenance to keep it running proficiently. It should be tested intermittently to make sure everything is running smoothly. Successful websites are ones that are well maintained and have ever changing material or products on them. Information is the key to building and maintaining your own outstanding skateboard website.

Best Places to Skateboard

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Many skaters enjoy skateboarding, but can never find a decent place to do it. Signs are constantly being placed everywhere to prevent skaters from shredding on their property, although it isn’t uncommon for these signs to be ignored. However, it would be much easier to be able to find a great place to skate without having to deal with angry business owners or authorities, so here are a few fun places for you to try.

Skate Park

This is the most obvious place, but it needs to be stated. Skate Park’s are always the best choice, but sadly they are not always available. In fact, if your town has a skate park then you are one of the lucky ones. People just don’t want their taxes going to a new skate park, especially in our current economy. Nothing really matches that smooth concrete paving at skate parks. If you do happen to have a skate park then go there for all your skateboarding, this will keep people in your town happy and let them see the skate park as being a wise investment of their hard earned money.

Sidewalk

Unless you live in a busy town, sidewalks are always a fun alternative. Cities invest in paving the sidewalks and streets so they are nice to walk and ride on. This makes the street a great place to cruise on your skateboard. There are constantly pipes and other fun things to grind on when strolling through town. When riding on the sidewalk you have to be careful not to irritate people, and even worse, hit them. Also, to keep business owner’s happy try to ride in different places all the time rather then riding in the same place over and over again. If you only ride on by the business owner every so often he will not see it as a good use of his time to report you. However, if you are there constantly then he will have no choice.

Abandoned Buildings

Abandoned buildings are always a good place to skate by because they are no longer owned by a business owner, so you can’t make anyone mad. Do not actually go inside the building, but you can probably skate around it. Just make sure that there aren’t any “no trespassing” signs preventing you from skating there, or you could end up in serious trouble.

Conclusion

These are just a few ideas that you can choose from, but there are many more. Try to find the best spot in your town, and if you won’t get into trouble there, stay there.