Skimboarding

Skimboarding (or skimming) is a boardsport which involves riding a board on an outgoing wave.

History

The earliest known record of skimboarding goes back to 1920 in Laguna Beach, CA.[1] There are photographs from that time period of Laguna Beach lifeguards skimming along the sand on large plywood boards. Skimboarding continued to grow in Laguna over the first half of the century, as well as worldwide, as people everywhere fashioned home-made wood boards out of plywood and used them at their local beaches.^{[citation needed]}

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.

Technique

Unlike surfing , skimboarding starts on the beach. The skimboarder stands within running distance from the point of entry into the water with the 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 and runs on the board 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 attempt to launch off the waveface and attempt an aerial trick.

But 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. A common misconception is that the board is thrown ahead and chased then jumped onto, this is not considered proper form.

File:Fistral turn1.jpg

Novice demonstrating the Fistral Turn

Once on the board, the skimmer faces the difficult task of remaining stable to avoid allowing the board to dig into the sand or simply sliding out from under the rider's feet, thus losing control. Proper balance is needed keeping your weight centered on the board. 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.

There are many possibilities for riding the waves and this is where skimboarders can really get creative.

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 instead of going for waves the rider may attempt to ride a rail or do "tech" 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. The best size board, in most cases is about your mid-chest height. 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 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch thick. Most skimboards will have some nose lift, or rocker, in addition most advanced models will also have a slight rocker in the tail. Often an Arch Bar and/or foot traction pad made of soft foam rubber will be added on the deck of the board after purchase to improve traction. If the board does not have a stomp pad, surf wax can be used. Traction pads can be purchased for a low price at most surfing stores. Traction pads come in all shapes and sizes and are mainly used to cover only the back portion with arch bars covering the middle section of the board where the front foot goes.

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 patients with fractures or dislocations to the lower limbs, some required operative intervention. Other injuries may include, drowning, broken bones, skin lacerations, twisted ankles, or other injuries that are related to hitting a hard surface at abnormal speeds.

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. The most common cause of all this is when your back foot misses the board and you are unable to stop nor catch balance. This is called "Foot Drag."^{[citation needed]}"

Most injuries that skimboarders suffer happen over a long period of time. Such injuries include: fractures, leg pains, etc. These Injuries can be prevented by a good stretching before and after a session. And to prevent eye crusties you wear sunglasses and avoid looking at the sun.

Styles

There are several primary 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 Laguna 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 Laguna Beach, California, 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, Australia, Asia, and South America. However since not everywhere has access to waves, many people skim inland. 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 Washington, British Columbia, Ontario, California, Florida, Utah, The Great Lakes, and Australia.

External links

SkimOnline.com - The largest skimboarding site on the internet
Skimboarder Magazine - Online Skimboarding Magazine
United Skim Tour - The Professional Skim Tour which determines the World Champion.
Foreverskim - Online magazine with great media covering the sport