Boardsports are sports that are played with some sort of board as the primary equipment. Surfing, first mastered in the Pacific islands, was the first board sport. Eventually, it was expanded to land applications, often with the addition of wheels. Many board sports are classified as action sports or extreme sports, and thus often appeal to youth. Board sports have had a history of being dangerous, "punk" or reckless, and thus were marginalized in the sports community. However, many board sports have gained mainstream recognition, and with this recognition have enjoyed wider broadcast, sponsorship and inclusion in institutional sporting events, including the Olympic Games.
Also known as sailboarding. A water sport involving travel over water on a small 2-4.7 meter board powered by wind acting on a single sail. The sail is connected to the board by a flexible joint
Wave riding consisting of a small, roughly rectangular piece of foam, shaped to a hydrodynamic form. The bodyboard is ridden predominantly lying down, (or 'prone'). It can also be ridden in a half-standing stance (known as 'dropknee') or can even be ridden standing up.
A surface watersport created from a combination of water skiing, snow boarding and surfing techniques. As in water skiing, the rider is towed behind a boat, or a cable skiing setup.
Involves using a power kite to pull a small surfboard, or wakeboard on water. Other variations are to use a wheeled board or buggy on land, or skis or a snowboard on snow.
A discipline of surfing involving riding a board on wet sand or shallow water. Not usually competitive, it is considered a miscellaneous beach recreation activity.
Uses a board mounted on wheels, and often ridden on a "half-pipe" or in urban settings. Some of the most famous skateboarders, and early pioneers of the sport are Rodney Mullen and Tony Hawk.
Similar to snowboarding, but on snow-less peaks (in between winter seasons). The board is wider and sturdier. Mountainboarding is similar to skateboarding in the way that mountainbiking is similar to regular biking.
A recreational activity in which a participant rides down the pine-needle-covered slopes of pine forests on a skateboard deck (without trucks or wheels).
Often said to be the board who's feel is the most similar to snowboarding. There are two extra castor wheels in the middle of the base that are somewhat lower than the other four. This allows the rider to distribute their weight to only one "edge", as in snowboarding. This gives the rider the ability to slide, an ability no other land board has.
similar to freeboarding but with long skateboards that come in different shapes and sizes, longboarding is mostly a racing sport but there are many other styles as well
a board that has wheels similar as a car excpt smaller, it turns better than most boards on four wheels, its main purpose is to cruise and carve, it can turn 65 degrees, and has spring loaded trucks that are almost as unique as a flowbaords trucks.
maintaining balance on an cylinder while using a board shaped (rectangular-oval) object as the balancing mechanism. Cylinder diameter sizes range from 5” – 8.5”. Board sizes range from 28" - 40" in length and 10" - 18" in width.
A cross between skateboarding and skiing, the board medium is snow, although the condition of the snow can have a major impact on snowboarding style and technique. The four subcategories are freeride, freestyle, alpine and powder. The top-ranked snowboarder today (as of 2006) is Shaun White.
