Shawna Newman

Longboarding can seem a bit intimidating. You’re controlling a large board with only the movements of your body, while also trying to maintain your balance. I’m not going to lie to you, balance on a longboard is a learned thing. You will have to put in a little effort to be comfortable when you first […]

When you first start to longboard, you have several essential techniques you have to learn. The first of these techniques – balance, pushing, stopping, and turning – are the same techniques used to ride a skateboard or a cruiser. The design of longboards, however, makes them good for another basic skating technique – carving. What

All longboards – drop-throughs, pintails, drop-downs, dancers and long cruisers – have a lot of the same things going for them. They are longer and wider than standard skateboards or shortboards, making them more stable and easier to ride. This makes them ideal for cruising and commuting and great boards for beginners. Most longboards also

Nickel skateboards are just a little more than penny boards. It sounds like a joke, but it’s actually a spot-on definition. Nickels are exactly like pennies in a lot of ways. In the case of a nickel, though, you get a bit more deck, bringing nickels closer to standard skateboard size without quite getting there.

Both wakeboarding and snowboarding have you standing up on a small board that your feet are locked into and performing tricks. In that sense, these two sports are really similar. But are they really? The truth is that snowboarding and wakeboarding have some major differences. Here’s what to know about wakeboarding versus snowboarding. What Snowboarding

The Penny Board Longboard, released in 2015, is a 36-inch pintail that bridges the gap between the boards that made the Penny brand famous – their 22” cruisers – and the wider skateboard commuter market. The components of a Penny longboard are exactly what you would expect of a Penny – a sturdy, molded plastic

If you’re looking for a new way to commute that saves wear on your feet but doesn’t make you a menace to other pedestrians, penny boarding might be the answer. Penny boarding is an ideal way of skating through congested areas, like city streets and college campuses. Due to their small sizes, penny boards are

Penny boards have some advantages in skateboarding. They are small and lightweight, making them highly portable, and have good weight capacities for their size. Penny boards are also cheaper than many comparable wooden skateboards. If one of the most important factors for you in choosing a penny board is its lower price point, these value

Penny boards get a bad rap in skateboarding. Some of the complaints are valid (their plastic decks are bad for the environment). Others are subjective (they’re just not good skateboards). As far as we’re concerned, penny boards are neither inherently bad or good. They are just one more option for skaters. But penny boards do

Skateboards are made up of numerous components that come in a variety of sizes, styles, and materials. Since there is no standard skateboard build (even completes can be wildly different), there is no standard skateboard weight. Instead, a skateboard’s weight is a total of all its parts. A skateboard’s components also determine how much weight

When your skateboard’s griptape gets dirty, it’s more than just an eyesore. Dirt and debris in griptape can actually interfere with your tape’s grip. When griptape has less grip, your feet are more likely to slide on the board and it’s harder to get lift for jumps and tricks. The solution to dirty griptape, of

Griptape is the abrasive covering on the top of a skateboard deck that helps your shoes cling to the board. It’s essential for most skating and can help you perform tricks. Most skate decks come with griptape already applied. But if you somehow end up with a naked deck or are refurbing an old deck,