Longboarding
Ride characteristics of longboards generally differ from that of street skateboards due to the use of specialized longboard trucks that have different properties than those typically used with skateboards; while street skateboards use "traditional kingpin" (TKP) trucks that are optimized for tight turning radii, ollie and flip tricks, slides, grinds, and transition skating, longboards are typically paired with "reverse kingpin" (RKP) trucks that are designed for increased stability at higher speeds, more "surfy" carving characteristics, and/or greater ride comfort for commuting over longer distances.
Longboarding's disciplines vary significantly in terms of physical requirements, intensity/impact, risk, and intended user base.
While it is not altogether uncommon for riders to practice multiple variations of longboarding, there are dedicated communities for downhill and freeride, freestyle and dance, and long-distance push.
[1] They made a new kind of skateboard of thick plywood shaped into a smaller version of a surfboard, with trucks and wheels screwed to the decks, and used their surfing moves on small hills.
[6] The Internet has made it possible for small groups of skateboarders to communicate with each other and also gain an audience they might not have had locally, allowing the sport to grow further.
[citation needed] Silverfish Longboarding was an active message board website during the 2000s and early 2010s before it closed, operated by Malkai Kingston.
Multiple subbranches of longboarding exist with relatively small but hardcore groups of adherents like slalom, LDP (long-distance pushing/pumping), downhill, dance, freeriding, technical hard wheel sliding and more.
While diversifying, longboarding has also come back around full circle to embrace more street-oriented tricks and crossover events using ramps while continuing its earlier beginnings in slalom, ditch skating, cornering, and seeking to reach greater speeds.
[citation needed] Commuter longboarding uses designs that take many different shapes, including long, wide cruisers as well as shorter hybrid boards.
"Freestyle" is a flat-ground discipline of longboarding that combines the skateboarding flip tricks with an increased use of one's feet touching the ground and their hands grabbing/picking up the board.
It incorporates smooth, rhythmic stepping motions while riding, inspired by traditional forms of non-wheeled dancing.
Drop-down decks are shaped to allow the riders feet to ride lower than where the trucks are mounted.
[8] The marathon record is held by Cami Best, who skated for 2 hours 1 minute 7 seconds at the 2011 Adrenalina in New York City.
The men's record of 1 hour 32 minutes 13 seconds is held by Paul Kent, set in the 2011 Adrenalina Skateboard Marathon in Hallandale Beach, Florida.
[17] A record for the longest distance traveled on a longboard was set by David Cornthwaite in 2006 when he skated 3,638.26 miles (5,855.21 km) across Australia, from Perth to Brisbane.
They are usually leather gloves with sliding pucks made of hard, low-friction plastics such as UHMWPE, Corian, or Delrin attached by velcro or glue.
A camber board is usually made of a flexible wood like bamboo, and the center of the deck will be higher than the mounting point of the trucks creating an arc shape.
The act of pumping a longboard is the bending of ones knees in the direction of a turn to compensate for the gravitational forces in order to maintain speed.
Bennett Vectors are a very popular pumping truck and when mixed with the right durometer (measure of hardness) bushings experienced boarders can travel long distances without touching a foot to the ground.
Loaded Chubby Unicorn, Omen Sugar, DK penguin), it is commonly practiced on decks that lack tails (ex.
This variation was stated to be an invention by Steve McBride of Kahuna Creations,[22] but this method of pushing has been around longer and can't be claimed by a single person.
Many find this tuck to be one of the most comfortable to hold while providing for a very flat, aerodynamic back with a small frontal profile.
A Brazilian tuck consists of the rider placing their back knee directly onto the board next to or behind the front foot.
However some modern events, such as the MT Tabor Challenge in Portland Oregon, require this tuck to increase the difficulty on mellow hills.
It allows a skater to reduce his or her speed much quicker than footbraking, but requires a wider area depending on their ability to control the slide.
Factors such as the height and length of the board and, crucially, durometer (softness) of the wheels affect how easy this is to do and how fast the rider must be travelling to achieve effective slides.
The effect is most noticeable at higher speeds and can be enhanced by deploying a Sporting-Sail, jacket or other article of clothing, forming a parachute.
In downhill racing the riders are required to wear certain protective gear unlike other uses of the longboard where a helmet and padding may be worn.
Full closed helmet, pads on the rider's elbows, knees, and wrist, gloves, slide pucks, and a leather suit are required.
Scholars Glenn Keays and Alex Dumas found media reports of five longboard-related deaths in Canada and the United States during 2012, and four in 2013.
