Cultural Debate: "Are there any differences between longboards and skateboards?"

Ever since the resurgence of longboarding, there has been a bit of a debate between some about what defines a longboard. An even bigger question often asked is, “Are there any differences between longboarding and skateboarding?”

Back when skateboarding first got big back in the 60s and 70s, boards were being made mostly very small. They were often flat, but the nicer ones had some functional curvature to them. The two most important early advancements that were made with this curvature were concave and kick-tails. 

Concave refers to the curved top of the deck that allows it to respond much more significantly to the riders toe and heal weight than any flat deck would. And then a kick-tail is a bending up of the tail of the deck which is used for ollies and popups at first, and freestyle tricks later.

Over time some trends started to arise through the natural experimentation of talented riders. One of these very early trends was the trend of longer boards excelling on hills while shorter decks were more agile for tricks.

At that point it started to become true, that the type of riding you’re interested in doing is what actually determines the type of deck one rides.

All types of skating have gone in and out of trending, but within the culture surrounding the hobby/sport/phenomenon, these experimented trends and contextual determinism have held constant.

Now that we understand a bit about the origins and differences between longboarding and skateboarding we can more effectively attack the question, “Are there any differences between longboarding and skateboarding?”

It is my opinion that they are the words we use for two adaptations of the same general thing. So as far as I’m concerned, as long as you’re riding a deck, two trucks, eight bearings and four wheels, you’re all doing the same thing. They’re all skateboards, but longboards is a more specific sub classification. And for some dumb reason, old-school shaped decks are called shortboards!?

I’d love to hear some comments on this age old discussion within the community, give me your thoughts on my theories, tell me what you think, even argue with me haha.