The Difference Between A Longboard And A Skateboard

 (May at first seem small)

Upon first glance you are completely correct; the skateboard and the longboard seem very similar. Anatomically speaking they are composed of all the same parts. There are wheels, bearings, trucks, decks and screws and spacers and all of those parts appear vary similar in form an function. The basic appearance and format are the same but the differences between longboarding and skateboarding go far deeper than even the grain in the bamboo decks. From the manner that each device was conceived, to the time and part of the world that they came from; skateboarding and longboarding are far more different than their parts would depict.

Of course there were skateboards first, but this is not true either really. The original source of the skateboard is debated, and generally assumed to be a spontaneous creation of general ingenuity and human need. Like it had been predestined that man skate. Physical evidence would show that first there were various sizes of boxes with wheels and handle bars attached, but they were not used in the manner that today's folding scooters or trick scooters were used. It was not a common sight to see a  kids or flat boards until the first apparent sightings in Paris in the 1940's.

Longboarding, of course, was began in Hawaii in the 1950's, but did not face the same consistent popularity that Skateboarding had faced. Longboarding fit a certain type of boarder that was used to surfing and and was more popular in beach and coastal areas for this reason. We have all heard this same story told a million different ways; but the actual differences between being a “Skater” and a “Longboarder” are not so superficial as the differences in origin, either.

The differences in each type of board permeate even into the riders mentality. It may be a remnant of the island start of longboarding, it may be the competitive atmosphere of skateboarding. While a skateboarder may see rails and benches and want to jump or grind or smash face; a longboarder will seek the smoothest stretch of road or the sidewalk with the least deep cracks to slow the board. (That is not to say that a longboarder won't smash their face from time to time, these things happen. Often in fact.)

For a great many years skateboarding has been a professional and extreme sport and has consisted of very intricate and demanding skills that are often showcased in competitions that take the spotlight in extreme sport interests. While there are now just as many competitions and events for Longboarding as for Skateboarding; this has only been the case for the last twenty years or so and the competitions are far different from each other.

In Skateboarding the competition theme these is generally trick skating. This consists of your various ollies, your kick-flips, your grabs, and generally the most daring maneuvering. These tricks are dangerous, and the internet in teeming with videos of the great number of fail videos to prove this. While longboarding can be just as (if not WAY more) dangerous than skating, it is generally accepted that longboarding is a bit more laid back.

Longboarding allows for more momentum from each push and is generally considered better for  transportation. Longboarding competitions are more themed to speed races, downhill “bombing”, carving, drifting, and other things relevant to speed and distance competing. These competitions require whole stretches of road and attract some of the fastest long boarders in the world, and require highly specialized longboards and full body safety gear to complete the run without turning your entire body into a road rash.

Both Skateboarding and longboarding do require specialized equipment, but the myriad of board shapes and lengths and practical specialized applications is also greater in longboards. A generic skateboard fits a generally recognizable shape, while the length is really the only defining factor for a longboard and it can fit a great many other formats.

Longboards come in shapes like Street Surfer forms that are generally surf board shaped, the downhill bombers like the ones with drop-through decks and sunken bellies to sit the rider low, all the way to the  lifted longboards that can even have motors and even treads instead of tires. That right; treads as in tank treads, for your longboard.

These two very different devices are often seen as two sides of the same coin, but both of these wheeled boards are very different when you look closer at their creation, their proliferation to the market, their popularity, and even the mentality of the riders. These differences do not mean that either type of boarding is better than the other; but we are all aware who looks the coolest surfing down the sidewalk.

Photo by @NoahBergPhotography