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 A 2002 report by American Sports Data found that there were 12.5 million skateboarders in the world - 85 per cent of skateboarders polled who had used a board in the last year were under the age of 18, and 74 per cent were male.
The sport originated sometime in the 1950s and coincided with the popularisation of surfing in California. The earliest skateboards were home-made and were constructed of flat wooden planks attached to rollerskate trucks and wheels.
Skateboarding was originally called "sidewalk surfing" and early skaters emulated surfing style and moves. As the sport matured it developed a unique style.
In 1970, Frank Nasworthy started to develop a skateboard wheel made of urethane. The improvement in traction and performance was so immense that the popularity of skateboarding started to rise rapidly, and companies started to invest more in product development.
The skateboarders took advantage of the improved handling of their skateboards and started inventing new tricks.
With increased control, skateboarders could skate faster and perform more dangerous tricks, such as slash grinds and backside airs. This caused liability concerns and increased insurance costs to skate park owners.
Today most boards are about seven to eight inches wide and 30 to 32 inches long. The wheels have an extremely hard "durometer" so that they will slide better during grind and slide tricks.
Additionally, very high durometers offer the benefit of reduced drag on hard surfaces which results in an overall faster ride.
The wheel sizes are relatively small so that the boards will rotate more easily during flip tricks. Modern wheels are currently around 50 to 58mm in diameter and advances in technology have made them extremely light.
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