Skateboard Types

Skateboards have gone through various “evolutionary stages,” from the rudimentary surfboards-with-wheels, to the most modern, light and maneuverable boards. To increase popularity and sales, skateboard manufacturers experimented with different kinds of materials and designs, with success.

The two main types of skateboards are the short board and the longboard skateboards. As the names suggest, they differ in length (and width), and thus have different skating characteristics. Longboard skateboards are generally preferable to short boards as a means of transportation, as they are more easily maneuverable. They are, for the same reasons, also ideal for beginners. Short boards, on the other hand, are shorter and somewhat wider and more suitable for complex tricks than longboards.

Skateboards also differ based on the material used to make their decks. Most contemporary skateboard manufacturers use Canadian maple ply, as well as aluminum, fiberglass, Kevlar, and plastic, making the boards lighter, more durable, and much more effective than the clumsier wood and metal designs of the earliest skateboards.

Another important feature of skateboards to consider is their concavity. The earliest models had little to no concavity. With the evolution of skateboard manufacturing and the growth of skateboard tricks in number and complexity, more concave skateboards were built, which makes them much harder to maneuver for a beginner, but also much more useful for experts to perform tricks. Today, skateboard shops sell different models with varying degrees of skateboard deck concavity.