Your Guide to Longboarding Safety
- By Jack Landry
- Published 03/10/2010
- Wellness
- Unrated
Jack Landry
Jack R. Landry is a former dental assistant and has authored hundreds of articles relating to oral health and cosmetic dentist in Las Vegas. He has been a guest dental lecturer for over 15 years.
Contact Info:
Jack R. Landry
JackRLandry@gmail.com
http://www.TrueDentistry.com
http://www.leadgenix.com
Longboarding has become a very popular sport on the West Coast. It has caught on and experienced exponential growth since its birth.
The sport was originally created so that surfers would be able to surf on land. The bigger boards with the bigger wheels simulated the feeling of surfing on the cement.
There have been many modifications made to long boards since they were first introduced and they now come in many different styles. There is a large population of people that use them solely for transportation.
This group of people realizes that the longboard is not as difficult to master as the skateboard because it leaves more room for error. The longboard is larger and riders have much more stability.
These hybrid skateboards are also very easy to control. Your feet have a lot more room on the board to be able to turn and lean.
When you turn and lean on the board you are able to change the direction of the board. One of the cons to riding a longboard is that the turning radius is much wider.
This can be frustrating if a boarder is trying to turn quickly or if they are trying to avoid pedestrians. Often times the pedestrians that are around make longboarding more complicated than if the longboarder is simply riding on the boardwalk.
Longboarding has become a very popular form of transportation around college campuses. Not only does longboading provide a type of enjoyable exercise but it saves college students a lot of money.
The student that decides to longboard instead of drive does not have to pay for gas or insurance on a car. Granted, the student that decides to only longboard will not be able to go long distances in a timely fashion.
If you are looking into starting to longboard you will want to consider many different factors. First, you will want to assess your ability on a longboard.
If you have a friend that has a board you may want to ask them if you can give it a whirl. If you are just a little uncomfortable at first do not be worried, it is a foreign way for your body to move.
If you are extremely uncomfortable and very scared you may want to make sure that you ease into the process very carefully. You do not ever want to put yourself in apposition where you are not able to control yourself or your board because you are scared.
Make sure that you practice longboarding in a secluded area before you start to longboard in the highly populated areas. You do not want to injure yourself or someone else because you are incapable of control.
When you begin to get comfortable in the basics of longboarding you may want to try to race competitively. The majority of these races are downhill races.
Find a hill near you that the competitors of these kinds of races compete in. First, start off by watching these competitions.
They may be very intimidating at first because of the high speeds that the racers will travel. You will notice that the competitors will be wearing protective gear that you may have never seen before.
Many of the racers use their hands on the asphalt as they turn or as they are slowing down. This is the reason that they wear the guards on their hands.
The competitors may also be wearing protective gear on their knees or elbows to ensure that if they do wipeout they will not have serious damage done to their skin. This protective gear is very important.
If you are going to try to start racing you will want to invest in high quality protective gear. This gear will be necessary and even if it is expensive it is worth it.
The gear will be much less expensive than the trip to the hospital or to your doctor if you fall and seriously injure yourself. Take the time to find good gear and educate yourself about how to race properly.
After you have invested in good gear you will also want to make sure you have the right kind of board. The quality of the board that you are riding will have a major impact on your ability to race.
If you do not invest in a good board you will be far behind your competitors. You can even ask local competitors or coaches to find out which types of boards are the most beneficial when it comes to racing downhill.
The sport was originally created so that surfers would be able to surf on land. The bigger boards with the bigger wheels simulated the feeling of surfing on the cement.
There have been many modifications made to long boards since they were first introduced and they now come in many different styles. There is a large population of people that use them solely for transportation.
This group of people realizes that the longboard is not as difficult to master as the skateboard because it leaves more room for error. The longboard is larger and riders have much more stability.
These hybrid skateboards are also very easy to control. Your feet have a lot more room on the board to be able to turn and lean.
When you turn and lean on the board you are able to change the direction of the board. One of the cons to riding a longboard is that the turning radius is much wider.
This can be frustrating if a boarder is trying to turn quickly or if they are trying to avoid pedestrians. Often times the pedestrians that are around make longboarding more complicated than if the longboarder is simply riding on the boardwalk.
Longboarding has become a very popular form of transportation around college campuses. Not only does longboading provide a type of enjoyable exercise but it saves college students a lot of money.
The student that decides to longboard instead of drive does not have to pay for gas or insurance on a car. Granted, the student that decides to only longboard will not be able to go long distances in a timely fashion.
If you are looking into starting to longboard you will want to consider many different factors. First, you will want to assess your ability on a longboard.
If you have a friend that has a board you may want to ask them if you can give it a whirl. If you are just a little uncomfortable at first do not be worried, it is a foreign way for your body to move.
If you are extremely uncomfortable and very scared you may want to make sure that you ease into the process very carefully. You do not ever want to put yourself in apposition where you are not able to control yourself or your board because you are scared.
Make sure that you practice longboarding in a secluded area before you start to longboard in the highly populated areas. You do not want to injure yourself or someone else because you are incapable of control.
When you begin to get comfortable in the basics of longboarding you may want to try to race competitively. The majority of these races are downhill races.
Find a hill near you that the competitors of these kinds of races compete in. First, start off by watching these competitions.
They may be very intimidating at first because of the high speeds that the racers will travel. You will notice that the competitors will be wearing protective gear that you may have never seen before.
Many of the racers use their hands on the asphalt as they turn or as they are slowing down. This is the reason that they wear the guards on their hands.
The competitors may also be wearing protective gear on their knees or elbows to ensure that if they do wipeout they will not have serious damage done to their skin. This protective gear is very important.
If you are going to try to start racing you will want to invest in high quality protective gear. This gear will be necessary and even if it is expensive it is worth it.
The gear will be much less expensive than the trip to the hospital or to your doctor if you fall and seriously injure yourself. Take the time to find good gear and educate yourself about how to race properly.
After you have invested in good gear you will also want to make sure you have the right kind of board. The quality of the board that you are riding will have a major impact on your ability to race.
If you do not invest in a good board you will be far behind your competitors. You can even ask local competitors or coaches to find out which types of boards are the most beneficial when it comes to racing downhill.