Skimboarding

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professional skimboarders'blake zimmerman-dashboard rider == Francisco Josh Ruiz-Velasco-all around sole roder won skim wolrd tour twice and is justin rices best friend they are expose to hang out soon

Catching air.

Wrap.

Skimboarding (or skimming) is a boardsport in which a skimboard is used to ride on an incoming wave. Unlike surfing, skimboarding begins on the beach, with the skimboarder running and dropping their board onto the thin wash of previous waves. They use their momentum to 'skim' out to breaking waves, which they then catch back into shore in a manner similar to surfing. Another aspect of skimboarding is 'flatland' which involves performing more skateboard orientated tricks such as ollies and shuv-its on the wash of waves without catching shorebreaks.

History

The earliest known record of skimboarding goes back to 1920 in Laguna Beach, California. There are photographs from that time period of Laguna Beach lifeguards skimming along the sand on large plywood boards.

These boards were commonly circular in shape and not very well designed for controlled skimboarding. In the early 1970s skimboards started to take on a shape more similar to surfboards and began to be manufactured out of fiberglass instead of plywood. Tex Haines started the first skimboarding business which he named Victoria after his home beach in Laguna. With rising popularity, many others have sprung up and skimboards are now very easy to come by.

Although skimboarding is predominantly a recreational activity like surfing, it has also evolved into a highly competitive water sport and is now being taken more seriously. The Victoria Skimboards World Championship of Skimboarding is held annually in Laguna Beach where skimboarders from around the world compete in a number of age and skill division levels.

Technique

The skimboarder stands within running distance of his chosen entry point, skimboard in hand, and waits for a wave. As the desired wave approaches the skimboarder runs towards the water. Depending on conditions the board is either dropped on a thin layer of water from a receding wave or on the thicker water in front of the wave. A rider drops the board beside him and jumps on without having to catch up to it. This is known as the "One-Step", although there are other variations such as the "Two-Step" and the "No-Step". The skimboarder will then attempt to slide to the wave possibly "pumping" or "sideslipping" to maintain speed. This technique is often summed up as "Run, Drop, Slide" and is considered the basis of advanced skimboarding. When the wave is reached it can be riden "down the line", or the rider may launch off the waveface and attempt an aerial trick. There are many additional ways a rider can get on the board. It is not uncommon to see a rider run on a board front foot first even though most skimboarders run on back foot first. A variation on "Run, Drop, Slide" is the "Monkey Crawl" where the rider holds both sides of the board and crouches down running into thick water with the board on the surface, while maintaining a fast pace the rider quickly hops and glides on the board. This technique is used for hitting larger waves for the more advanced. Another variation on the standard drop is the "suitcase drop" where the rider runs with the board held in one hand like a suitcase then flicks their hand and drops it so it lands flat before running on. The original technique, used with the original round home-made boards, where the board is thrown ahead and chased then jumped onto, is not the technique used with the modern type of skim boards.

File:Fistral turn1.jpg

Novice demonstrating the Fistral Turn

Ideally, the skimmer should put his or her back foot far back on the board and the front foot towards the front of the board somewhere between the middle and nose of the board. A common technique for finding the "center" of your board involves picking the side of the board up by the rail with two fingers until the board is balanced and doesn't lean forward or back, this is the approximate center of the board. After successfully mounting the board it may be necessary to lean slightly forward to avoid shifting your weight off center or to momentarily shift weight slightly to the back to get over smaller waves to reach the desired wave. The skimmer then glides out into the ocean toward the oncoming wave, banks off it, and rides it back into shore.If a skimboarder is not a "wave skimmer," then he or she can ride on a short film of water or possibly on "flatland" in shallow water where the rider may attempt to ride a rail or do "tech" (skateboard orientated) tricks.

Skimboards

Skimboarding, is based primarily on the principle of hydroplaning. Skimboards are smaller and thinner than surfboards because they do not require as much buoyancy.

The skimboard is a craft of varying size, usually of some oval or tear-drop shape. The tail of the board is most commonly pintail though custom shaped boards are occasionally squash-tail or fishtail. The front of the board usually comes to a point with some exceptions where the nose of the board has a more rounded shape. Most riders aim for a board which reaches about their mid-chest height when stood on end. Modern skimboards are made out of fiberglass or carbon fiber and take advantage of a high density foam to serve as a core. The fiberglass/carbon fiber is a fabric which becomes stiff when saturated with resin and left to cure. When this fiberglass or carbon fiber is laid over a shaped piece of foam, saturated with resin and left to cure, a skimboard is made. Compared to a surfboard or bodyboard of similar areas, skimboards are not very buoyant. Most skimboards are between 3/4 inch and 5/8 inch thick. Most skimboards will have some nose lift, or rocker. There are three types of rockers traditionally used for skimboards. There is a constant rocker, which means that the board has a constant curve from nose to tail. Constant rockers are used for better control on bigger waves. Another type of rocker and the most commonly used is a hybrid rocker. This means that the board has a curve on the bottom through about 3/4 of the board's length, the rest (meaning the flat part) is usually the tail. This type of rocker is good for both speed and control on decent size waves, also the best type of board for flatland tricks. Last, the traditional rocker, this means that the board is almost completely flat except for the nose which has just a little bit of curve so as not to dig into the sand. This type of board is really only used for speed.

Dangers

There are many types of dangers that skimboarders can face on a daily basis. Skimboarding is an increasingly popular activity on the beach. It is not uncommon to see fractures or dislocations of the lower limbs, some requiring serious medical attention. Lacerations, twisted ankles and bruises are also common, due to impacts with the board itself, or rocks, logs and other obstacles present on beaches. Drowning amongst skimboarders is not as likely as amongst surfers due to the shallow water in which skimboarding is usually practiced. However, if unconscious a skimboarder could easily drown.

A study was done in a British journal on the dangers of skimboarding and it states, "Over a 5 month period—May to September 2003—10 patients were seen by the fracture team at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust. Of the 10, eight were male, with an average age 18.7 (range 12–31). There was an equal incidence of left and right sided injuries. All the injuries were closed with no neurovascular symptoms or signs. Eight were to the lower limb, all of which were fractures of the distal tibia, ankle, and mid-foot. Six patients required hospital admission, all of these injuries were from skimboarding.""

Many injuries that skimboarders suffer happen over a long period of time. Such injuries include: fractures, leg pains, shin splints etc. Some of these injuries can be prevented by stretching before and after a session.

Another foot injury that can occur is "Skimboard Toe". It is an inflamation that forms under the toenail due to sand irritation.

Styles

There are several ways in which a skimboard can be ridden: either gliding over a layer of water or wet sand towards a wave, or riding in shallow water away from the ocean (known as flatland or inland skimming).

Wave riding is considered more advanced than flatland skimboarding, though flatland skimboarding has become more and more popular and taxingly difficult over the years as more advanced rails, ramps and technical tricks have become the norm. All skimboarders start by learning how to throw the board and run onto it while it is gliding across a thin layer of water. After beginners have mastered the basic techniques properly they can move to more complicated tricks, or riding waves, grinding rails, or other skateboarding maneuvers. Sand skimboarding is considered to be a beginner's sport due to the relative lack of difficulty when compared to skimming on waves in hotspots such as Aliso Beach. Nevertheless, some flatland skimmers are able to perform tricks of great technical skill, many adapted from skateboarding, such as grinding rails.

Advanced skimboarders are able to do much more impressive tricks on their boards. The most common advanced move is called a Wrap. When the skimmer reaches the wave, by shifting his or her weight the skimmer can wrap around it, which also propels him or her back to shore. To take it further, a very advanced move is called the Wrap Barrel. This is when you wrap the wave, but instead of coming directly back to shore, you turn farther and get into the barrel of the wave.

A technique often used to reach hard-to-reach waves is side-slipping. It involves doing the normal one-step but once the rider has landed on the board, they turn the board sideways and crouch into balance, approaching the wave rail-first. This technique allows for the rider to have less surface friction which allows the rider to maintain a faster speed unlike the traditional way of going straight out into the on-coming wave. Another technique involves pumping the board both leading to and once on a wave to maintain speed.

Locations

Many consider the center of skimboading to be located in Clearwater Beach, Florida, where skimboarding originated. Southern California is home to some of the best conditions in the world for skimboarding. However, people skim in many more locations throughout the United States and internationally in Europe (the main locations being Portugal and France), Australia, Asia, and South America. However, many people skim inland because of difficulty with shore access. Inland skimboarding can be done nearly anywhere: lakes, rivers, creeks, ponds, puddles, or even wet grass. Flatland skim scenes have developed in places such as North America (Washington, British Columbia, Ontario, Delaware, California, Florida, Utah, and The Great Lakes) and Melbourne, Australia and Plim.

There's a curious fact in Recife, a city of Brasil: there can be no surfing due to shark attacks. Once people can't go surfing, many surf lovers are becoming skimmers, looking for the waves closer to the sand where sharks are not considered a danger. Boa Viagen's Beach is today a skimboarding hotspot.

Types of skimboards

The two main types of skimboards are inland or flatland boards, and fiberglass or wave boards. Inland boards tend to be made of wood. They are meant for grinding rails and doing tricks in shallow ponds or rivers. Wave boards are made of carbon fiber and/or fiberglass with a foam core. They are mainly designed to ride waves.

Industry

The increasing international interest in skimboarding has resulted in the development of a competitive industry, catering for the ever-increasing demand for both quality and cheap skimboards. Some of the biggest names in skimboarding include Exile Skimboards, Victoria Skimboards, Slotstik Skimboards, and Zap Skimboards. Most of them are California based but they supply internationally. Each company has what they call team riders, people who skimboard in competitions while representing their company sponsor to promote their boards. They usually have an amateur and professional team who are supplied by the manufacturer with skimboards at no or little cost. However as pro-rider the company pays for all traveling expenses for their riders on competition tours.

The board companies also sponsor skim contests to help promote the sport of skimboarding.

See also

• Flatland skimboarding
• Surfing

External links

• SkimOnline.com - The largest skimboarding site on the internet
• Foreverskim - Online magazine with great media covering the sport
• Skimboarder Magazine - Online Skimboarding Magazine
• United Skim Tour - The Professional Skim Tour which determines the World Champion.
• Batardubreak - European skim scene
• NZSkim - For all New Zealand skimboarders.
• Skimboard Reviews
• Australian Boards
• Dutch Skimboarding Community
• OCSkimboards.com - Orange County Skimboarding Community