There are several different styles of skateboarding, in this two-part blog series I would like to give you an overview about what the five main disciplines entail and provide a very brief history of their evolution.

Part 1

Freestyle

This is now one of the least common forms of skateboarding, but it is also one of the oldest. After the original skateboard was designed as a mode of transport in the 1960’s, surfers began experimenting with riding it like a surfboard doing turns and slashes. This then evolved into spins and different ways of flipping the board underneath them, which became freestyle. Rodney Mullen was one of the original freestyle skateboarders in the 1980’s, he is credited with inventing most of the tricks that are still featured in skateboarding now. The World Freestyle Skateboard Association page features numerous photos and videos of freestyle skateboarding.

Street

As freestyle grew in popularity many skateboarders began combining the speed, slashes and turning manoeuvres that their surfing forefathers had done, with the more technical flipping and spinning of the skateboard that freestyle had developed. This evolved into what is now the most popular discipline, street skateboarding. It often involves high speed, high risk skateboarding in places not designed for the activity. Examples such as jumping down sets of stairs while flipping the skateboard underneath their feet or riding down handrails are common. Its popularity grew from the nineties and exploded in the 2000s, now street skateboarding competitions such as Street League attract international viewers and provide enormous prize money. The most decorated Street League skateboarder, Nyjah Huston has earned over 1.4 million dollars in prize money.