Longboarding - The History

The History

Skateboarding came before longboarding and surfing came before both. Skateboarding originated in Hawaii in 1959. When the surf was low or too rough, surfers would "sidewalk surf" or skateboard. Skateboarding became popular among others and became a popular sport/hobby. Skateboards eventually led to the creation of longboards. Early longboards were homemade contraptions to make the board longer for teenagers who found skateboards too short for use. Roller-skate wheels were typically used to assemble these boards. Modern longboarding and skateboarding came to be in the 1970's when urethane wheels were invented. They also designed trucks expecially for the sport which allowed for sharper turning and carving. The new wheels and trucks created the faster and smoother feel of today's boards. Longboarding and skateboarding still weren't very popular in the 70's. In the beginning skateboarders would drain pools to use to skate in as seen in The Lords of Dogtown. Skateboarding faded in popularity in the 80's. Skateboarders gained the bad reputation of being rebellious anarchists and became unpopular with the older generations. Due to the bad reputation and high insurance costs with injuries and lawsuits skateboarding quickly died. However the sport did not vanish forever and became popular again in the 90's when professionals began popping up in the media such as Tony Hawk and others. Longboarding and skateboarding have become very popular since the 90's. Longboarding hasn't been the most popular of the two sports but they are very linked in history. Longboarding is becoming even more popular in just the past few years.