Skateboarding Generations

[Dent_Face]

If you do not like rambling, half-formed posts, you do not have to read on!

I was listening to this recent podcast featuring Peter Sidlauskas (of Bronze fame), which I thought was pretty entertaining, and it struck me that although Peter (mid-30s) and the interviewer (27) were not that different in age, they had some differences in how they saw skateboarding. Peter seemed like a big skate and popular culture nerd, talking about stair counting and Slap, whereas the interviewer seemed less keen on skating (weird for a skateboard podcast host!) unless it was in NY and confessed that the clothes had been just as important to him for getting into skating.

This got me thinking, what are the differences you have noticed between the different generations or ‘waves’ of skateboarders? Or, what would a social history of skateboarding look like? Obviously, this will involve very crude generalisations, but that might also make it funny.

I’ll have a go:

The Back to the Future/Police Academy Generation
Started skating in the second half of the 1980s. Watched a lot of Powell videos and skated jump ramps, but came of age when street skating was really coming into its own. Now propping up the skateboard reissue market and doing slappies.

The THPS Generation
Love stairs and handrails, hate pools. Tend to think in terms of ‘tricks’ as a marker of a good session/progress. Have lots of hangups about what counts as ‘legit’. Can still switch heel but coming to terms with diminishing returns.

The Streetwear Generation
Got into skating at a slightly older age than previous generations, and as a result know less flip tricks. Love doing bean plants and other wretched manoeuvres on street for some reason. Prone to safety hands. Clothes, which they once called ‘garms’, are very important to them.

The Olympic Generation
Loves skating parks and is pretty good at it, but is institutionalised. Might never leave the park and consumes skateboarding almost solely via social media. Can do those floaty, alley-oop back 3s like Oski.

This has turned into one of those terrible Jenkem articles. Apologies. Also there are big gaps and I have totally neglected women’s skating (does that have a different set of generations?).

[hugo]

@Dent_Face

Can still switch heel but coming to terms with diminishing returns.

This is me haha

[Mark]

I remember being 12 and seeing people skateboarding at 20+ and thinking ‘give it up mate, you’re way too old to be skating’ and now obviously the script has completely flipped.

Now the under 40s are the groms

[anonymity]

@Mark

Now the under 50s are the groms

FTFY youngster

[Mark]

DO A TRE FLIP GRANDAD

[BvS]

I think whats interesting is that all of the markers you’ve suggested exist within mainstream culture first and inside skateboarding culture second. Not sure if I’ve worded that correctly, but it’s like at some point every decade there is something that pushes skateboarding into the mainstream and that’s what captures a lot of who will make up that next generation (obvs theres lots of people who find skateboarding organically).

[buildafire]

@Dent_Face

The Streetwear Generation

Love doing bean plants and other wretched manoeuvres on street for some reason.

This must be a regional thing because it’s nothing like that here. Or any of the places I go.

[voodoo]

The Marseille bowl comp seemed like a big deal back then too.

[buildafire]

@anon28148673

I think the generation that refused pool skating or just about any transition skating was my generation during the very early nineties. 38mm wheels didn’t help much either. However, true skaters just rode everything eg Mike Manzoori. If you remember back to the St Albans, Radlands, Spitalfield comps of that era, skaters were ripping on the trannies.

Did you contradict yourself in the space of one paragraph?

[Dent_Face]

@buildafire

This must be a regional thing because it’s nothing like that here. Or any of the places I go.

It might be. I haven’t seen it too much since I moved to Glasgow. Although a lot of youngsters can slappy up here. I really meant younger skaters who grew up on Welcome skateboards but with jazzy trousers. Someone like Jake Church, but I quite like his skating.

[buildafire]

But you didn’t just say pool skating.

@anon28148673

I think the generation that refused pool skating or just about any transition skating was my generation during the very early nineties.

“…or just about any transition…”

@anon28148673

If you remember back to the St Albans, Radlands, Spitalfield comps of that era, skaters were ripping on the trannies.

Then you go on to identify how big transition skating was in the early '90s, and say that people were ripping at it.

It’s not that you’ve got some crazy new take on things, it’s that this doesn’t make any sense.

[anonymity]

@anon28148673

Apologies to all for having an opinion that ruffles certain people’s feathers

Don’t apologise - this is a forum. Both you and everyone else can post whatever they want.

[anonymity]

@BvS

I think whats interesting is that all of the markers you’ve suggested exist within mainstream culture first and inside skateboarding culture second

For me, this is the most interesting aspect of this conversation. It also goes back much further than Back to the Future as the previous generation had things like Hot Wheels & Big Deals (which ran as the warm up film to Grease) as their mainstream intro to skating - see also Skateboard Kings etc etc. The generation before that had their own versions too.

Hot Wheels n Big Deals - skateboarding film shot around London and Brighton in 1978

It makes me wonder what the impetus for new generations to pick up skating will be now seeing as it’s now absolutely mainstream culture.

For example.

[buildafire]

@anonymity

It makes me wonder what the impetus for new generations to pick up skating will be now seeing as it’s now absolutely mainstream culture.

Chatted to a former professional skateboarder (who’s still in the industry) yesterday and he was saying that he has absolutely no idea why anybody would want to start skateboarding now.

[buildafire]

I’m not reading all that. Just pointing out that you said, in the same paragraph, that there was a generation who didn’t skate transition (which is a sweeping - and entirely wrong - statement anyway), then you went on to say the transition scene at the time was thriving. It’s hardly fucking semantics.

[anonymity]

@buildafire

Chatted to a former professional skateboarder (who’s still in the industry) yesterday and he was saying that he has absolutely no idea why anybody would want to start skateboarding now.

Based on what? The level of skating? It being shit now? Or?

[buildafire]

Said it was the same as any other organised sport now, and basically the opposite of why we started. I guess people are into it for different reasons though, people like the sporty side of it now. I’m nowhere near as bitter as him but it was interesting hearing that from somebody like him.

[jimo]

Well that’s one persons opinion, and a very jaded one at that!

Skateboarding is still as good as ever.

[buildafire]

Definitely jaded.

[anonymity]

@buildafire

Said it was the same as any other organised sport now, and basically the opposite of why we started.

I think you’d only get that opinion from someone who had experienced being a paid professional in a previous era. To everyone else, todays situation is better imho. More skateparks, more actual diversity not sanctimony, more opportunities etc etc. I can understand why people in that particular position might think that but I’d say it’s objectively (but not subjectively) wrong.
Also I know you can’t but I’d love to know who