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In the 1990s, skateboarding was everywhere. It was a sport, a lifestyle, and a rite of passage for many American children. Riding a skateboard wasn’t just fun—it was an act of rebellion. And that’s what made it so cool.
Today, skateboarding is still cool—but to nearly everyone’s surprise, scootering is taking over skateboarding as the next generation of extreme sports. Seem more like a toy for kids? Let’s check out all the facts first:
Mode of Transport Turned International Sport
According to a report published on Statista by the Outdoor Foundation, the number of skateboarders in the United States fell from 10.1 million to 6.4 million between 2006 and 2016, with a more significant reduction among skaters aged six to 17.
So what does that mean? More kids are riding scooters than ever before—and they’re not just riding them recreationally at the park or in their neighborhood. They’re riding in city streets and on roads, using them as transportation instead of cars and bikes, and most importantly learning new tricks. Within the new sport is a whole world of computations, sponsorships, fame, and future for the taking.
Thanks to social media platforms like Instagram and Tiktok, scooter riders have become overnight celebrities who are seems as influencers for the next gen of athletes.
“There are infinite tricks that you can learn. There’s so much possibility. There’s never a stopping point in progression!” -Jeremy Mallot
Scootering Stats
First off, let’s start with the fact according to a report published by National Association of City Transportation Officials, people in the United States took 136 million trips on shared bikes, e-bikes, and scooters in 2019, up 60% from 2018.
Skateboarding has been declinin as an activity since 2006, while scooter riding has seen huge growth in recent years. So we think that skateboarders will likely be looking for new ways to have fun and stay active, which is where scooters come into play.
Benefits of Scootering & Skateboarding:
- Ease of use: the scooter is easier to handle and more stable
- Convenience: A skateboard is easier to transport than a scooter
- Learning curve: for a scooter is lower than that of a skateboard
- Mastery: Advanced maneuvers are difficult to master on both a skateboard and a scooter
- Safety: a scooter is more secure than a skateboard (more stable)
- Image: Skateboarding is frequently seen to be cooler (scooter on the rise)
- Exercising: both the skateboard and the scooter provide an excellent workout
Basics of Scootering
Let’s have a look at the key actions you make when riding a skateboard or a scooter and compare their difficulty.
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Kick Pushing
Because you hang on to the handlebar, kicking for speed is simpler on a scooter than on a skateboard. On a skateboard, there is nothing to hold onto, so you must balance on one leg while pushing with the other.
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Steering
Turning is faster on a scooter than on a skateboard since all that is required to steer is a modest turn of the handlebar. Turning on a skateboard demands pushing your toes or heel onto the rail and bending forward or backward without losing your balance.
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Rolling
Riding a scooter while rolling is easy since it is pretty steady and you hang on to the handlebar. A rookie rider on a skateboard might quickly lose balance and have the board fly out from under them owing to a bump in the ground, causing them to tumble sideways. On a scooter, this is less likely to occur.
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Maneuvering
Posturing on a scooter is easier than on a skateboard because the single front wheel and fork allow for very tight turns in very little space, similar to riding a miniature bike. Because of the four-wheel configuration, tight turning on a skateboard without losing your balance (e.g., completing a kick turn) necessitates greater ability.
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Stopping
Stopping is usually easier on a scooter since most of them include a foot brake – a fender-like component that you may push on with your back foot to rub against the rear wheel. Other kick scooters incorporate hand brakes similar to those seen on BMX bikes.
Even without a brake, stopping on a scooter is simpler than on a skateboard because you use the handle to keep your balance while putting your foot down for brakes. Foot braking on a skateboard, on the other hand, is difficult and needs practice. Another sophisticated method of stopping on a skateboard is sliding.
Skateboard VS scooter: which is more difficult to master?
Beyond the fundamentals, though, learning complex feats on a pro scooter may be just as difficult as on a skateboard. A beginner may need 6-8 hours to learn how to make a solid ollie or kickflip on a skateboard. Similarly, learning to do a tailwhip or a 360o on a scooter requires a lot of work.
Although some stunts are simpler to learn on a scooter than on a skateboard, scooter riders tend to do more difficult maneuvers to compensate. So a 360 on a scooter may be comparable to a 180 on a skateboard in difficulty, and a double whip may be akin to a kickflip.
A kickflip (skateboard) may be more difficult to master than a tailwhip (scooter), but a backflip 4 whip is unquestionably more difficult to learn than a kickflip. On a scooter, nose manuals and 50’s are significantly more difficult to pull than on a skateboard.
Of course, there are more difficult skateboard tricks, such as hardflips and Tre Flips, that might take a long, long time to master. However, while scootering is quicker to learn, it is similarly difficult to properly master and grow past a certain level when compared to skating.
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So here’s the deal: Scootering isn’t going away, and it may just end up being a part of the Olympics or the biggest extreme sport of the next decade. We’re calling it – will you be a part of it?
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