Skateboard History

1970's



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Even in bad times for the skate industry the true skateboarders never died, and constantly sought ways to improve the skateboards. During the slump of skateboards being said to be unsafe, it was Larry Stevenson who caused the change in skateboards to bring them back to being popular. Larry invented the kick tail, the kick tail was a lift on the rear part of the skateboard deck, this tail when kicked on would raise the front part of the skate board. The kick tail led to the possibility of performing a larger variety of tricks and also lead to the foundation of the skateboarding style. Soon one of the greatest inventions occurred, the urethane wheels were invented in 1973, this intentioned revolutionized the sport. These new wheels gave the skateboarder way more grip, which enabled the possibility of riding walls. Urethane wheels also provided the skater with higher speeds, and when the wheels were combined to the also newly invented specific skateboard metal trucks the art of skating was completely revolutionized. The trucks were a metal structure that holds the wheels to the deck and also allows the rider to turn with about lifting the front wheels. Skate decks also became about six to seven inches wider, providing better stability and easier riding. All these innovations led to skaters pushing the difficulty of maneuvers to new levels. At the time the main tricks were based on surfing maneuvers performed on flat ground or on banks. As droughts across America were happening empty pools and cylindrical pipes began to be explored as new skateboarding terrain for the first time ever.

Later on in the 70’s skateboarding passed through a large growth in popularity again, this growth led to the creation of a large variety of concrete skate parks. And skateboarding also began to create a new business, a variety of professional skaters, magazines and movies came into the skateboarding market. Skateboarding also began to branch off into different styles, this became the modern period of skateboarding. Skateboarding evolved to include the new styles of vertical skating (also called vert skating), slalom, downhill, freestyle, and longjump. During the 70’s some of the most important innovations occurred in the style and tricks of skating. These advances included the Aerial, the Invert, and the Ollie. The Ollie is believed to be the single most important trick in the evolution of skateboarding, for it is the base of most skateboarding tricks, along with the Kickturn. The 70’s are marked by the first stars of skateboarding. These characters inspired many and became marked in history, the first real big names. These stars were Tony Alva, Jay Adams and Stacy Peralta. These guys became a major part of skating, but they did not stop as skaters, as time passed they even created their own skateboard companies, and produced products viewed from the eyes of real skaters, not simple business men.

At the end of the 70’s there came a growing insurance and slowing of attendance to the sport, this forced most skate parks out of business, and again skateboarding enters a slump.



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