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Being away from the beach, I sought to improve my skills on a board so I could maintain my kiteboarding level and be ready to hit the waves again. My friends had also recently picked up skateboarding, so I decided to give it a try myself and borrowed a board from my cousin.
When I first tried using the board, I found it quite difficult to push around, and thought it was probably my inexperience. After all, skateboarding does have quite a bit of a learning curve. Although I was experienced at kiteboarding, it was something about moving on wheels stuck to the ground that scared me a little. When kiteboarding, I could confidently try the most insane jumps and tricks because I knew if I failed I would just fall into the ocean with a large splash. But when skateboarding, one mistake could have me rolling across the road and picking up scars. On my very first day, I already managed to slip and fall, but luckily avoided bruising myself too badly.
I continued skating, trying to balance and master cruising around outside, but I would always notice the board jammed or locked to one side, forcing me to jump off to avoid crashing into the sidewalk. I thought with constant training, I could improve my riding abilities, but struggled to make progress. It was only when my friends tried using my board and also had difficulty skating with it did I realize that maybe something was wrong with my skateboard after all.
From my friends' comments, I took apart my skateboard to see if there were any problems. After removing all the screws and bolts, I noticed that the ball bearings on the wheels had lots of dents in them. At the same time, the trucks (parts of the skateboard responsible for turning and holding the wheels) were missing caps that was causing the axles to lock to one side or another. I subsequently ordered some new parts online to replace the missing and damaged components, and after swapping them in, I noticed it was much easier to skate!
Researching on the different parts of the skateboard also made me appreciate the amount of physics involved with the sport. Although skateboarding is normally associated with countercultures and rebellious teenagers, the different parts of the board and riding have a lot of scientific basis. For example, the ball-bearings in each wheel have the balls rotate with the inner race (the inside cylinder) instead of having the races directly slide against each other to reduce friction. This in turn allows the bearing to spin more freely, reducing the need to push the board and increasing the top speed and acceleration of the skater.
Similarly, there are actually a wide range of wheels available for skateboards, varying in size (measured in mm) and elasticity (measured in durometer). Bigger wheels carry more angular inertia, causing them to retain speed better. However, they reduce the maneuverability of the skateboard because the board needs to be adjusted to tilt less so the bottom of the board doesn't graze against the bigger wheels.
The elasticity of the wheels is also very important: higher durometer (harder) wheels have less friction with the ground and keep speed better. This also allows skaters to perform tricks like ollies (jumps) more effectively because there is less rebound from the wheels. However, lower durometer (softer) wheels grip the road better and absorb small bumps better. This makes them ideal to ride on bumpier terrain. The roads around my home are quite bumpy with lots of cracks, so I had to figure out a route that had the smoothest roads that I could skate on.
As I got better on my board, I started trying some tricks. A basic trick I'm trying to learn is the 'manual', where you shift your weight to lift the front of the board off the ground and balance on the rear wheels. The tricky part is keeping your weight balanced once you're off the ground: the moment (turning force) on the back of the board needs to match the moment on the front of the board to keep the system in equilibrium. Especially on my skateboard, which is quite small, it's less forgiving with balancing as the back foot is closer to the pivot point (rear wheels). Hopefully I can master this trick soon and move on to other exciting parts of skating!
Skateboarding has managed to combine my love for board sports with my interest in physics and scientific analysis. I enjoy skating so much that I actually got a new board - after analyzing the specs of available options using my knowledge of skateboarding physics! To account for the bumpier roads around my village, I got a 'cruiser' board with a wider wheelbase, larger wheels with a lower durometer. If you see me flying down the street, just know it might be a physics experiment!
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