Skateboarding

What is skateboarding?

In skateboarding, a rider performs tricks on a skateboard.

What is a skateboard?

A skateboard is similar to a snowboard or wakeboard, but it has wheels, and is used on hard, smooth surfaces, or sometimes on hilly or bowl-shaped tacks. It has four wheels underneath so it will run along smooth surfaces like roads and ramps.

How to win

Skateboarding competitions are held on tracks that feature smooth surfaces, ramps, and metal rails on which the rider performs tricks. Judges award points to each rider based on the difficulty of the tricks and the artistry of the moves. The rider with the most points wins.

Equipment

Skateboard
Wheels – a skateboard has four wheels
Grip tape – tape placed on the board to help prevent the rider’s shoes from slipping

Sport lingo

Sick – means cool, as in “cool move”
Nail – the rider successfully completes a move
Grinding – sliding along the rail on the flat bottom part of the skateboard
Olie – a move in which the rider springs into a jump, pushing off the back foot on the board, jumping and bringing his/her knees up close to the chest