So, my first 10 years of skateboarding were with a double-kick street setup.
I think it’s pretty clear that I was obsessed. Every one of my school projects revolved around it, anything I really cared about involved skating.
And it taught me a lot of cool things. Like persistence, the power of trying something, not getting it, then trying over and over until I got it. It helped me with problem-solving, if I couldn’t figure out a certain trick, I tried different ways to figure it out. It showed me a community where backgrounds didn’t matter; at the end of the day, we were all skateboarders.
But despite all of this, something was missing…
What is a skateboard?
Is it a double-kick popsicle shape? What about a longboard? Or even an electric skateboard?
Originally I thought skateboarding was only, a double-kick.
Which actually led me to completely stop.
What do I mean?
Well, when all of my local parks shut down, I stopped skating because that’s all I knew. And when I stopped, it was one of the lowest points for my mental health. I didn’t have a way to express myself anymore. I didn’t have a community of friends that I consistently hung out with. I didn’t have a valuable tool for my mental health.
It was a huge part of my identity and without it, I felt lost.
And this didn’t just happen to me, it happened to almost all of my friends I used to skate with.
It wasn’t until my sophomore year of high school that I came across a YouTube video.
This one video by Original Skateboards made me want to start skateboarding again. But this time through a different lens; longboarding.
Not only did it appeal to all the surfing I was doing during this time, but it perfectly captured the essence of what drew me into skateboarding initially.
Hanging with your friends, having fun, and not taking life so seriously.
Longboarding didn’t just reignite my passion. It opened the door for me to explore alternative styles like…
- Cruising
- Surfskating
- Freestyle
- Electric
If you had asked me what skateboarding was during my first 10-year run, I would’ve quickly answered, “It’s a double kick setup”.
Ask me now and it’s a tool to connect with others, leave behind the daily grind, and express who you are.
This is why I’m so passionate about publishing content around these alternative styles. I wish I had someone show me all these other skate styles because I probably would’ve never stopped.
