Skateboarding wins the award as the sport that stopped as quickly as it began. It was popular for less than ten years before we saw the demise of the hobby due to poor quality skateboards and the possibility that injury may occur.

The fad was created in the 1950’s with the rise in popularity of surfing. Surfers wanted a method to feel as if they were riding a wave on land – thus came the invention of the skateboard. Surfers nurtured the popularity of the product creating a niche market and an instant demand.

In the 1960’s there were finally companies that had the design, the market and the means to mass-produce the skateboard and the trend was in full swing. Companies were sponsoring local skateboard professionals and competitions were occurring all the time. Sales were remarkable. In a three year period there had been more the fifty million skateboards manufactured and sold. There had been many reinventions of skateboard parts such as the transition from clay wheels to urethane wheels which would increase the safety and manoeuvrability of the board.

The 1960’s also brought the downtown of the demand for the skateboard. Safety professionals had declared war on the skateboard professing it unsafe for use and with this lowered the demand immensely. Stores were enticed not to sell the product and parents were scared about purchasing the product for children. It had seemed that as fast as the product had been developed it had been taken from the shelves by the hands of these so called, “experts”.

10 years later skateboarding would rise to popularity, and begin an industry that now has influenced generations and sub cultures, and earned billions of dollars selling everything from the skateboard itself to trucks, wheels, bearings, Hollywood movies and licensing for skateboarding video games. It doesn't look like skateboarding is going away again any time soon.

Since the invention of the skateboard as an alternative to surfing in California there have been tricks that have been completed by skateboard riders, referred to as boarders or skateboarders.

One of the earliest skateboard tricks invented was the Ollie – and originated in the 1970’s – more specifically it was developed by Alan Gelfand in 1976. Interestingly enough, his nickname was “Ollie” hence the name of the trick. The Ollie is required for many other skateboarding tricks like the kick flip, heel flip and pop shove it. The Ollie is executed as the board is in the air and requires coordination of both feet to maneuver the board.

The Nollie is an Ollie completed with the nose of the board rather than the tail. This is just one of many variations that have been since developed on the Ollie. The Fakie Ollie is an trick in which the skateboarder is completing an ollie whilst riding backwards. Not only is an Ollie the first trick that most skateboarders learn but many realize it will become the basis and foundation of their skill as skateboarders.

In the 80s a famous skateboarder by the name of Rodney Mullen invented something that he referred to as the magic flip which we now know as the kick flip. Kick flips are one of the easiest tricks to learn, but require  good Ollie skills, like many other tricks.

Skateboard tricks are being developed to this very day by professional and amateurs alike. All it takes is new props, quality skateboards, new variations and a variety of skill levels.

Skateboarding bears a resemblance to surfing because the idea originated from the California surfers who wanted to be able to surf on the streets. Skateboards had been created in the early 1900s and were fabricated from wooden planks with roller-skate wheels for mobility and often had handles which caused the board to resemble a scooter more than a board.

In the 1950’s the popular sport had been redefined to fit the lives of those who lived out of the water. It is unknown who officially invented the skateboard – just the circumstances in which it was invented. During this time, the mechanisms on the board had also reached a transition point moving from clay wheels which were dangerous and difficult to control the urethane wheels – which had more manoeuvrability and increased the safety of skateboarding.

The sport had reached its height in popularity than surprisingly a rapid decline occurred. People were no longer skateboarding and the sport had shifted views towards a trendy and hip activity to a dangerous game. Skateboards were hard to find and quality skateboards were even more of a rarity. It wasn’t until the seventies, almost ten years later, that skateboarding was seen as a great pastime again.

Unbelievably, the first skateboards were made from nothing more than wooden boxes with wheels strapped to the flat part. Over time the sport had evolved and the boxes became flattened pieces of wood, which than evolved into planks of thin and flattened wood which are the most similar to the skateboards on the market today.