all about sport

Many parents want to act right ahead of any possible hazard that their children would suffer because of participating in any dangerous sport. By allowing your child skate, you are molding a strong character in him or her. Besides, skateboarding is all the rage among young school going children. So, you should not feel surprised if your kid requests you to buy him or her quality skateboard gear. In fact, you should consider the Protec skateboard helmet and other precautionary gear.

Protec is one of the oldest producers of skateboarding safety gear. As a result, it has earned itself a good name and reputation among the fans of this sport. The brand has a wide collection of helmets for participators of different ages. Therefore, it is easy to get an accessory for your kids so that they can stop worrying you to death when they go out to skate. Its products are made of a very high quality thermoplastic material.

The material ensures better safety and comfort of the headgear wearer. What is more, the company’s wonderful products are elegant and beautiful. In that case, every child would definitely find a nice looking, fashionable helmet for himself or herself. Color is the characteristic that would entice several children. Protec skateboard helmet models are extremely colorful and gorgeous.

Some are definitely not that vivid for boys that prefer darker colors. A pink head accessory would suit any girl who is actively involved in skateboarding. There are other colors for girls that do not want to fall for the custom that skateboarding is a boys’ sport. Since the game has grown in popularity lately, even females have developed some interest in it. Protec is the best source of safety gear for everyone, young, old, female or male.

A number of the features that any of its helmets will have include the skate liner. The foam liner keeps the wearer comfortable and safe whereas the tough ABS shell reduces the impact of a fall. Other details include the stainless steel rivets and hardware, and soft nylon web straps for fastening. Besides, most accessories are lightweight even if they look big in the image.

The company has a very broad assortment of safety headgear. The classic Protec design would remind many of the old school days. It looks so different and unique that you may not find any similar classic design in the marketplace now. Not even the replicas look that different and inventive. If you are looking to buy this gadget for a bigger or smaller child, consider the size of the head. These headgears come in many different sizes.

Some of them are for bigger kids and others smaller kids. So, what else should keep you from evaluating what protec has? Look for related reviews and opinions of other prior shoppers and you will surely find only positive comments. The popular skateboard helmet has kept its fame over the years, and tends to attract brand new shoppers on a daily basis. They are cheap, creative, functional and very fashionable.

Are you frustrated by your ollies? Have you tried watching other skaters but still haven’t quite found the secret? The great news is that no matter how weak your ollies are, there is a specific formula to higher ollies.

Using this specific formula, you can learn how to ollie higher by 3-4 inches. Here’s how: First, make sure your starting foot positions are correct. You front foot should be 60% up the board and your back foot should be completely on the tail and facing the side. If you were to take a knife and cut a line down the middle of your board, you should cut your feet in half.

Now that your feet are positioned correctly, I have to address the most important reason why beginners don’t ollie higher. It’s all about power. You must put all of your power into the pop as you press down on the tail. A weak pop will ruin everything.

Step 2- How to Ollie Higher

Lack of control is one of the biggest reasons for small ollies. You must control the board in the air. After the pop, the outside of your front foot should drag along board to the nose so that the ball of your big toe is completely off of the board. Let me clarify because this is important, the inside of your front foot will not be touching the board.

This is done by loosening your front ankle. The problem many beginners have is they loosen the ankle too much. This is a problem. You need to loosen your front ankle enough to lift the inside of the foot but you still need to control the board.

To clarify, once more, you must meet a state of balance between too much ankle resistance and too little.

This front foot must also have the power you put into the pop. It must be equal to the power of the pop. A powerful front foot slide is perhaps the biggest indicator of a high ollie.

Step 3 – How to Ollie Higher

Many beginners have a real problem with the timing between the pop and front foot slide. This is so crucial and can not be stressed enough. The issue facing beginner s is that they try to slide their front foot forward too quickly. This can present a huge problem because it does not allow the board time enough to become elevated.

Here is the ollie simplified: You have 2 steps which control the height: the pop and the front foot slide. Both of which are responsible for controlling the height of the ollie. The pop elevates the nose and the front foot slide elevates the tail.

When you understand the importance of both the nose and tail, you will crack the code to higher ollies. More importantly, when you slide the front foot forward too quickly after the pop, you are not allowing the nose of the board to become elevated high enough.

Put delay after the pop to give yourself an extra 3 or 4 inches to your ollie. Once you have this extra height, you will be able to so much more like, 180′s, kickflips, and heelflips.

RipStik board has become a popular alternative to conventional skateboarding but most of the people are full of curiosity regarding this kind of sport. What is a RipStik caster board and how they going to use it?

For avid skateboarders, you may come across with the term Risptik Caster Board and think, “what’s it all about?” If you’re new to this gaming gadget it is a combination of a skateboard, as well as snowboard. The three are similar when it comes to purposes but they are distinct when you talk about features and they offer different level of thrill and fun.

RipStik boards are best distinguished with their appearance alone. Upon the first look, it resembles like the skateboard, however, it has two pivoting deck and it is connected with a rubber carrying handle. Unlike the skateboard, RipStik caster board is easy to maneuver which makes it perfect for kids.

What makes the concave deck platforms great is that it’s designed like a concave and it has rubber spikes so your feet stay in place and fits nicely, avoiding slips which causes accidents. You can have a more heart pounding experience with this kind of sports as you will feel like you’re snowboarding in a slope and do some tricks as you move fast.

If it’s your first time to ride a RipStik caster board, you might want to try the following steps on the way to ride it.

1. Safety First! Look at the Venue.
As a rule of thumb, you need to check the location where you need to practice RipStik riding. See if there are many obstructions-traffic, vehicles running, people, trees and more. Look for a good place clear from debris and obstructions.

2. Position the RipStik on the ground.
Place the Ripstik side wards (horizontally) in your front and put your foot in one side of the plate.

3. Let’s get started-Practice balancing.
After putting your foot on the plate, now it’s time for you to move by pushing the RipStik with the use of the other foot that is not on the RipStik. Do this in a slightly sloped area so you can already practice balancing.

4. Snake-Motion-the secret to master it.
The wavy motion of going down a slope is the secret to master RipStik balancing. By this way, you can gain more control over your weight and the direction of the RipStik so there’s no need to fear of losing control especially when going down the hills.

RipStik Caster Board is one of the best sports gadget for children (aged 8 and above) and adult. It may be a big challenge to maneuver it but you can be assured of having a whole lot of fun especially if you’re becoming expert in tricks. Just make sure to always wear a helmet and pads to avoid being injured.

Styles of Skateboarding

Flat-ground Skateboarding: Style of skateboarding where the rider performs tricks on the ground and doesn’t use any obstacles.

Free-style Skateboarding: An older style of skateboarding where the skater performs technical flatground tricks.

Street Skateboarding: Style of skateboarding done in the streets where the rider skates handrails, stairs, grinding surfaces etc.

Vert Skateboarding: Style of skateboarding where the rider skates vertical ramps.

Parts of a Skateboard

Axle Nut: The lock nuts that attach to the trucks.

Baseplate: The metal base of a truck.

Bushings: Plastic rings which help the truck to turn. They come in soft, medium, and hard. 2 are needed for each truck.

Concave: The curve in the top part of the deck that helps the skater to ride and flip the board.

Deck: The wooden part of the skateboard that the rider puts his/her feet on.

Grip Tape: Sand paper used on decks to prevent your feet from slipping off.

Hanger: The metal part of the truck which grinds across surfaces.

Hardware: Nuts and bolts used to attach the trucks to the deck. Come in a set of 8 (4 for each truck).

King Pin: The metal bolt in the centre of the truck.

Lock Nuts: Nuts that have a plastic ring inside so they “lock” onto the trucks.

Nose: Front of the skateboard which is curved upwards.

Pivot Bushing: The bottom end of the truck that pivots inside of the pivot cup when the skater turns.

Pivot Cup: The hollow burrow on the base plate where the pivot bushing is held.

Ply: Refers to the amount of plywood layers in a deck. 7 is standard.

Rail: The side of the skateboard.

Risers: Plastic or rubber plates used to give the wheels more clearance from the deck. Can help to prevent wheel bite.

Tail: Back of the skateboard which is curved upwards.

Truck: The metal part of the skateboard that allows the board to turn. 2 are needed per skateboard (one in front and one in back).

Washer: Metal ring used between the bearing and the axle nut, which helps the wheel to move more freely. Optional.

Other Definitions

Abec: A common unit to measure the quality of bearings. A higher abec means better quality.

Bowl: Similar to a half-pipe, but the slopes connect around, usually in a circle or other design.

Coping: The top edge of the skateboard ramp or half-pipe where the skater grinds or stalls. Usually made of metal.

Durometer: The hardness of a skateboard wheel, which is sometimes shown on the wheel.

Fun-box: A set of structures which includes a ledge and one or more ramps.

Gap: A distance between two objects that a skater performs a trick over.

Half-pipe: A “U” shaped structure which includes two ramps on each side and usually has a flat section between. Does not have to have a vertical incline.

Hand-rail: Used by skaters to grind or slide across or perform tricks over.

Ledge: A rectangular structure that the skater can perform tricks on, off, across, or over.

Mega-ramp: A bigger scale of a half-pipe.

Mini-decks: A mini-deck is less than 7.5″ wide.

Mini-ramps: Ramps that are small and do not have a vertical incline.

Pressure Cracks: Cracks which appear in the deck from being under stress.

Pyramid: A structure which includes ramps from all sides surrounding a ledge.

Quarter-pipe: A single ramp that slopes up as much as a vertical incline.

Urethane: A popular substance which wheels are made from.

Vert Ramp: A ramp that has a vertical incline near the coping.

Wax: Used to make edges of fun-boxes, ledges, rails etc. slippery so the skater can grind across without coming to a stop.

Wheel Bite: Happens when the rider leans on the side of the skateboard, causing the wheel to burn into the deck.

There are 2 ways to ride a skateboard: regular and goofy. When you are first learning to skateboard, try skateboarding both ways. One way will feel a little more natural and that stance is the one you will use for all of your skateboard tricks (until you learn to skate switch, but don’t worry about that just yet).

Stance just refers to which feet are positioned on the board. Just like some people write with their right hand, some people write with their left. We know that most people write with their right hand rather than their left, but when it comes to stance the numbers are more even. There is no right or wrong stance. It comes down to personal preference and what feels more comfortable. The best way of finding out your stance is to just go outside and ride both ways and see what feels better. Typically one way will feel more natural. It can be frustrating at first, especially if you don’t have someone to help you; however, the following should help you determine your stance.

Regular Stance

Someone who skates regular has their left foot on the board, while their right foot pushes

Goofy Stance

Someone who skates goofy has their right foot on the board, while their left foot pushes

How to Determine Your Stance:

The best way to determine you stance is to just ride and see what feels more comfortable. However, some people have a hard time deciding what feels best.

1) Shove Test

This is the best technique to help determine your stance. Have a friend stand behind you and give you a little push when you don’t expect it. The foot that you first put forward should be the foot that will be on the skateboard. The foot you put forward is your stabilizing foot, so you want your stable foot on the skateboard. Be careful when doing this. Make sure the person being pushed will not be in harm’s way.

2) Kick Test

Grab a football or soccer ball and try to keep the ball in the air by kicking it up with one foot. Try both feet at different times and see which foot can keep the ball in the air longer. This foot should be your kicking foot. Ex. You can keep the ball in the air on average five times with your left, and three with your right. Since you are kicking with that foot, have that foot push on a skateboard. In this example, you are goofy footed.

Alright, so you have all the parts you need to build a skateboard. Here is the best way to assemble your skate.

The skateboard parts you need:

- Deck
- Pair of Trucks
- Set of Wheels
- Set of Bearings
- Hardware
- Grip Tape
- Risers (Optional)

For assembly you will need:

- Skate Tool or Wrench and Screw Driver
- Metal File (For Grip Tape)
- Sharp Razor (For Grip Tape)
- Paint Roller (Optional) (For Grip Tape)

1) Pre-Grip Stage

First thing to do is remove any stickers from the top of your skateboard deck. If you don’t the grip will be raised where the stickers are.

An optional step is to scrape off some lacquer from the top of the deck. This will prevent the grip from peeling off. Use your razor to do this. It’s an optional step and personally I don’t feel the need to, but some do.

2) Apply Grip Tape

3) Attach Trucks

Using a piece of hardware, poke holes through the grip tape. Start on one end of the board and one by one attach the hardware to the deck and truck. Remember to place the truck with the king pin facing the middle of the deck. If you have risers, place one between the deck and the truck. Tighten up all the bolts nice and snug. Do this for the other end.

4) Place Bearings Inside Wheels

Place one bearing at a time into the wheels. Putting pressure on the bearings, press them until they are snug and can go no further. A bearing press is useful for this. You may want to make use of bearings spacers. They are placed between each bearing inside the wheel. They help to take some stress off the bearings, so if you have them, you might as well use them. When all the bearings are placed inside the wheels move on to step 5.

5) Attach Wheels To Trucks

If you have washers, place once between the truck’s hanger and the wheels. Slide on each wheel and place the other 4 washers between each wheel and the axle nut. Using either a skate tool or wrench tighten up the axle nut. Do not over-tighten as it will slow down your bearings. Tighten up each nut so that if you tighten it anymore your wheels will slow down when you spin them.

That’s it. You’re good to skate.

Longboarding is a sport that is growing in popularity. The board used to longboard is a stylistic and functional melding of the surf and skate board. Developed on the West Coast more than 50 years ago, longboarding has been around for some time. However, it is only recently that it is seemingly exploding in certain regions of the United States. It has become especially popular on college campuses. Many students are opting to travel to class via a longboard rather then the traditional, campus favorite, the bike.

Individuals that ride the longboard report feeling a sensation that is similar to surfing, even though they are riding on a hard surface. This is at least true when a person is riding the board just right. Successful riders are those that have a good sense of balance and control.

There are a myriad of longboarding styles. They include cruising, carving, downhill, slalom, freeriding, sliding, vert and dancing. It is important to wear the right protective gear when longboarding because it can potentially be quite dangerous, especially for those that like to ride downhill.

A longboard typically measures between 36 and 60 inches. It is generally longer than the traditional skateboard and also comes with bigger, softer wheels. The latter allows for a much smoother ride.

There are some people that use longboards for fun and sport. Others utilize them for transportation. This has recently been especially noted on some college campuses, where individuals are longboarding to and from class in large numbers. Young adults who are college aged but not in college, sometimes use them to get around as well. This type of board is faster and easier to navigate than a skateboard, which is smaller and often more difficult to maneuver and stay balanced on.

People longboard for different reasons. For some, as stated above, it is form of transportation. For others it’s simply a good time. These individuals often like to perform tricks, ride with their friends or down steep hills. Another reason people enjoy longboarding is that it is relatively easy to learn. Longboards are bigger and the wheels and trucks better.

As more and more people begin to recognize the benefits of longboarding and discover how much easier it is to ride then its close “cousin” the skateboard, there will likely be an even further increase in both interest and participation.

Individuals interested in longboarding will find that the equipment, particularly the board, is pretty affordable. A used longboard will be really inexpensive. Those individuals that would like a brand new longboard, will find that they can be purchased for less than $100. The brand a person purchases, along with the “bells and whistles” are included, will determine the price of the longboard.

Imagine yourself lying on your 8 foot longboard while you try to balance everything with the help of your knees and feet and you paddle your way through the on-coming whitewater. After sometime, you see this nice swell coming your way. You decide to ride it!

You paddle with all your might as the salt water gets into your eyes and mouth, finally you feel and hear the wave from under your longboard giving your the cue to stand up. Then there is this intense feeling that you have once again conquered nature.

One can never forget the feeling of being stoked from the 1st time you caught your first wave in a surfboard. You long to experience it after time goes by. And being in a country that has no access to surf you’ll try to get the next best thing.

Last week I managed to scour the city hall area of Singapore just to look for longboards. A few searches from Google led me to Peninsula Shopping centre where two shops are currently selling the best longboards in the market.

Walking in the streets from my office under the drizzling rain, I managed to locate this shop in the basement level of the building called Interstate Longboards.

Surprisingly, they have the Original Longboards brand. From what I recall, they have the Apex 37, The 37 Pintail as well as the Pintail 40, and a Malakai 40.

So there I was, ecstatic by the selection in front of me. Holding each one with both hands as I think of the ways and places I’ll be using it. The owner of the shop even mentioned that he already sold 3 longboards for the day and that Original Longboards is one great board to start with.

I am thinking in the lines of just getting an Apex 37 (2011) or a Pintail 37.

Here’s a brief description of the two boards:

The Original Longboard: Pintail 37. Excellent design, it looks like a surfboard on wheels and the graphic is a classic. It appears to be the perfect board for a Longboard beginner like me. but there’s another option that will surely make me think twice.

The Original Longboard: Apex 37 (2011 design), The brand talks about advanced Forged Carbon technology built into these decks for strength and stability, and from what I experienced, it’s really lightweight. The total selling point is the design and graphics of the whole thing. You wont mind mounting this Longboard on your wall and stare for hours on end.

These two Original Longboards have the same distinct qualities, one is a classic. The other, an innovation. Both boards are high performance boards, and can be used for Carving and Cruising (which is actually the reason I wanted to get one).

Hello, I have been skateboarding for over 25 years and have always loved the sport since I could first ride my friends broken in half skateboard down our street.

I wanted to write this article to let everyone out there know some of the cool new stuff going on with skateboarding today. Specifically the collaborative project called “The Kickflip Wheelchair”. This idea is the brainchild of theFUZZco, who are a skate company and group of artists as well.

This non profit project is to raise funds and awareness for the LA childrens hospital Center for Metabolic and Mitochondrial Disorders. Two other companies also have teamed up with theFUZZco to help the project along. Both Russ Ward Auto Shop and Air Engineering used their resources and expertise to turn this vision into a reality. They have created a really unique specially tricked out wheelchair. By using Unique graphics and designs along with HL2 Wheels, skate deck footrests and graphics by theFUZZco also!

This chair is designed to make the overall look and experience better for the user and to help raise awareness to this great cause.Besides awareness and fund raising all involved know this will help raise the spirits of the brave children suffering from these disorders.The initial base chair used to build on was kindly donated by the California Medical Pharmacy.

Wondering where this cool idea gets its name? Some people might not know what a kickflip is.This trick when done properly allows the skater to literally kick his board into a full 360 spin rotation then land back on it again. It was first known as The Magic Flip with guys like Rodney Mullen and other freestyle pros at the time really using the trick a lot in their routines and contests. This is one of the defining tricks of skateboarding like the ollie and 360 flip so it’s a great name to give to such a cool project for helping out kids with special needs!

The Kickflip Wheelchair will be officially presented at the CHLA 5 Kilometer walk for children on Arpil the 30th 2011

with one of Dr. Richard Boles of the CHLA patients name Zack. Both Zack and his mom are excited to see the final product and for him to take the first spin on the new trickled out chair.

“We are very excited to see the completed kickFLIP Wheelchair and to have Zach’s first ride be at the CHLA 5K” said, Jennifer Haught, Zachary’s mother.

This unveiling also celebrates and sets off the opening of the new hospital. I’m for one thrilled about this project and I think it puts skateboarding in a great light and helps a great cause.

For many years, I’ve seen and read Gravity Longboards reviews singing different praises and good feedback about Gravity. Established around the mid 90s, Gravity has been a legendary and one of the oldest manufacturers of longboards in the market. Many Gravity Longboards reviews have claimed this and that about the company and I think it’s fair enough – for I have never seen longboards with such quality as Gravity. Although in all honesty, as a cruiser for 3 years now, I do expand my options to other brands and therefore, I have other boards from other companies as well. However, functionality and sturdiness wise, Gravity boards are always on the top of my list.

As I began getting more interested with skateboarding, I came to the conclusion that not all boards actually run the same even if they look alike and shapes alike. Somehow, they don’t really feel alike, if you know what I’m saying. My first Gravity longboard is a Hypercarve given by my older sister and I have to say, the quality blew me away. Before I receive my Hypercarve, I already have a few months of knowledge and training about skateboarding and possess at least 5 skateboards from other brands. Frankly, I would not say Hypercarve was the best board I had – maybe just a lot better than 2 of my top boards- but it was instantly in my favorite list just one day after I’ve ridden it.

About 3 months later, Gravity Longboards reviews and forum began raging about the latest Kalai Drop Carve. I was perplexed of how people around American got crazy over the Kalai drop so out of curiosity I decided I’d like to get one too! I purchased it online and around a week of riding, Kalai was instantly my top favorite.

The batches of the newest Gravity boards produced were also not something you could miss and not regret it, particularly if you’re a fan of downhill and sliding. Gravity Longboards reviews have claimed 2 things of why Gravity has remained as one of the most reputable longboard brands in the industry – Downhill and Sliding. For many American longboards, this is no longer an unknown fact. Gravity is a famous producer of the best downhill and sliding boards. However, there are another 2 things that I like about Gravity – speed and sturdiness. My first Hypercarve has not been used for ages, but everytime I use it, it still runs like the first time. Unlike many cheap boards, most Gravity boards are designed to match a speed of 40mph and more, which is why they are my absolute favorite.