The earliest skateboard models consisted of a primitive construction featuring a plywood deck with clay wheels. In the 1950s, California surfers began to cruise to the beach on their homemade skateboards. As the design of the skateboard continued to evolve, the difficulty of the maneuvers began to increase. As of 2011, skateboarding tricks involve flips and rotations.
1960s
While many modern skateboarders may look back to the 1960s with embarrassment, the time period remains crucial for the innovation of skateboarding tricks. Freestyle dominated the skateboarding world with tricks that involved handstands and wheelies. Freestyle skateboarders would choreograph routines set to music. Surf-inspired skateboard tricks soon began to take over with the popularity of the Zephyr skateboard team. The Z-Boys, including Jay Adams and Tony Alva, began to execute high speed maneuvers that involved sliding the wheels of the skateboard across the pavement.
1970s
Throughout the 1970s, pool skating reigned supreme. Renegade skateboarders would search upscale California neighborhoods for empty concrete swimming pools. Early pool tricks involved carving around the inclined walls. The most important innovation in skateboarding history took place in 1978. According to Ollie Air, Alan Gelfand changed the skateboarding world forever by performing the first no-handed aerial. Gelfand amazed his friends by soaring above the lip of the swimming pool without grabbing his board. The Ollie remains the basis for every modern skateboarding trick.
1980s
The design of the skateboard evolved in the 1980s to feature a concave tail. This innovative shape helped to progress the freestyle maneuvers of skateboarding. A common practice in the 1980s involved jumping your skateboard off a sloped plywood ramp. Throughout the 1980s, one determined skateboarder would create more than 20 new tricks. According to Rodney Mullen.net, Mullen invented tricks that involved flipping and rotating the skateboard in the air. Mullen remains known as the godfather of street skating.
1990s
In the 1990s, street riding began to dominant the skateboarding industry. Street skaters ventured out into metropolitan areas to find man-made obstacles, including stair sets and grass gaps. Skateboarders, including Eric Koston, Marc Johnson and Andrew Reynolds, began to pioneer tricks that involved grinding down large handrails. While professional riders continued to push the sport of skateboarding, injuries steadily began to rise. As of 2011, street and ramp skateboarding tricks share the spotlight in videos and magazines.
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