Skateboarding is the best hobby. The inclusive culture cultivates a great community, the creative nature of the sport attracts musicians and artists, and skateboarding gets you into a meditation like zone. These are just to name a few of my favorite aspects of skating.
If you are considering starting to skateboard as a hobby, then you are a wise soul. Let me try and break down why skateboarding is the best hobby and then answer some related questions at the end.
9 Reasons Why Skateboarding is the Best Hobby
Skateboarding is Cheap
The estimated starting cost for a skateboard, skate shoes and safety gear is about $200. After this point, you won’t need to spend another dollar until your shoes wear down or your board snaps.
You can skate in the streets for free. There is also almost always a free public skatepark nearby if you live in a decent-sized city or town. Spending money to skate is an option.
What else can you do in the city that is free and as fun? Maybe go for a walk or sit in the park, but that’s definitely not as engaging and fun as skating. Simply going out in the city means spending money whether it’s for coffee or lunch or to see live music.
Skating gets rid of that expectation. There are no costs or fees and you can meet your friends for free. That is kind of amazing.
If you’re interested in the complete cost of getting started, check out our guide to starting skating as an adult.
You Can Skate Anywhere
No matter where you live if there is concrete, you can skate there. Of course, so concrete spots are not as fulfilling to skate because they’re too small or the concrete is rough. However, you can almost always find a good spot to skate.
Not only that but skating new street spots always brings in a new element to your skating. You skate new obstacles and layouts differently so the streets are like a creative playground. I personally love hopping in my car to scope out new skate spots or cruise on a longboard while making mental notes of where to come back to later. I just love that feeling of exploration.
You won’t get sick of skating in the same spot, because there are infinite new spots to find and you can always learn something new at a more familiar spot.
You Will Make Down-to-Earth Friends
Skating friends are a bit different from normal friends. You will see your skating friends struggle, sweat, and bleed trying to learn new tricks. Through skating, you can become close very quickly.
Often people are so concerned with status in normal everyday life. They care about their career and money and how they dress but at the skatepark none of that matters. A banker making 6-figures a year is at the same level as some kid who also knows how to kickflip. No one is better than someone else beyond maybe skating ability.
This is why skating sort of filters the vain and superficial people out and you are left with some of the most earnest and genuine people you can possibly meet. Skaters are different. You can’t keep up appearances while you skateboard. Most people don’t get money or clout from skating. You do it because you love it especially if you’re an adult.
This affects the people you meet and the relationships you make.
You Can Skate Alone or with Friends
Skating alone is a bit different, but just as fulfilling as skating with friends. Each one has its merits.
I love the freedom to skate alone if I want to spontaneously do so. I love that I don’t need to rely on someone else to do it.
Don’t get me wrong, skating with friends is great. My previous reason was all about the great people you will meet. But I also love the independent nature of the sport. I can go skate the roof of a parking garage under the stars at midnight if I choose to. I can progress just as well all on my own. There are no obstacles.
Also skating alone is simply relaxing. Putting on your favorite music and just not thinking is a joy.
Skateboarding Gets You Outside
Being outside is proven to reduce stress and give calming feelings. The same thing goes for exercise, but we’ll mention that later.
Personally, I feel like the more I’m outside, the better I usually feel. And luckily, skateboarding is done almost exclusively outside (forgetting about indoor parks). Being outside also means vitamin D, which is associated with decreased depression and anxiety. Also, you’ll spend less time staring at a screen that is always positive. (source)
Skateboarding Helps with Your Balance
I remember going out to a lake in East Tennessee near Knoxville with my brothers and some of his friends. We rented kayaks and paddleboards. I was standing and riding my paddleboard easily while my brother’s friends couldn’t keep up and move at the same time. I still remember Alex asking from the water, “Did you used to skateboard?!”.
He was right. I used to and I still do as Mitch Hedberg would say.
Skating helps out your sense of balance and footwork that has its perks. You probably have learned to avoid a fall or at least fall correctly. This can really make you less prone to injury. Especially when trying new things.
If you want to know how often you should practice skateboarding to improve, check out our data-driven guide.
Skateboarding is a Workout
I like exercising and being active. Exercise release dopamine in your brain and reduces anxiety.
For many people though, exercise is a boring chore. They hate going to the gym or running on a treadmill. They don’t want to do aerobic exercises and join classes. Luckily, skateboarding is an exercise!
It is mostly aerobic and doesn’t build muscle as you can tell from the skinny skater stereotype, but it is great for core and endurance. Skateboarding can get pretty intense and can burn up to 350-575 calories an hour which is a bit more than longboarding.
So, while skateboarding isn’t the perfect workout, it is fun which might be more important. The best workout is one that you can stick to. It doesn’t matter is you optimize your macros if you exercise 3 times one week then 0 times the next.
If you can skate 3 times a week, then that’s a great amount of core and cardio workout that you get each week.
Skateboarding Culture is Creative
So many musicians, graphic designers, actors, and other creatives skateboard that it can’t be a coincidence. You can express yourself skateboarding by your style of dress, your board’s artwork, your style of skating, and through video parts.
There is also a huge amount of freedom in the expectations of other skaters. Normal status things like money and career that people use to limit themselves don’t come into play here. Creative expression and trying new things are so accepted in this community that it is kind of crazy. Look at how skateboarding has influenced music, fashion, movies, and even gaming.
Through skateboarding, you are free to really form your own little culture bubble. Because skateboarding is viewed as something on the fringe of society there are few outside pressures to act in any way. This is so healthy and allows you to create a culturally rich and healthy environment in an otherwise atavistic dominant culture.
There is a graphic from Alien Workshop with a guy reading in a circle with a plant while surrounded by a crowd of people and I love it so much. The deck is called “Bubble Up” so you can search it if you want. That graphic just encapsulates what skateboarding is for me.
You Can Skate When You Travel
Traveling is fun.
Skating while traveling is more fun.
Running off to a new place or country is amazing in itself, but what if you could bring a piece of home with you? If you skateboard, you can visit famous local spots and skateparks and connect with locals through skating unlike you would from just doing the touristy things.
Locals in New York aren’t just hanging out in Times Square, but you could make some friends at Brooklyn Banks while also enjoying an iconic skate spot. This goes even further when you travel to a country where English isn’t the first language. A language barrier will make it hard to speak with most locals, yet skateboarding can transcend that. You can skate with a Japanese person while not speaking a bit of Japanese. This is super cool.
It also is kind of reassuring to bring a piece of home with you when you travel. While everything is new and strange, skateboarding will keep you grounded in a new place.
Why is Skateboarding Fun?
I could probably write an essay about this if I break it all the way down. I’ll settle for writing a little list.
- Skateboarding is fun because there are no expectations.
- There is really no one to impress other than other skaters who mostly don’t care.
- The community is typically very supportive and likes to congratulate each other.
- Normal “status” things like money and career don’t factor in at the skate park. Everyone is equal.
- You have an excuse to be outside.
- You learn and go at your own pace. There is no pressure.
- There is nothing more satisfying than landing a trick and rolling away smoothly.
- Making skating videos and getting photos is always a joy.
- You can spend time with friends or on your own without the expectation of spending money.
- There is never a shortage of places to skate. There are infinite spots.
Does that start to break it down for you? I could go on and on, but honestly, you need to experience skateboarding to really get a feel and idea of what it is. Just rest assured that skateboarding is fun and in my opinion, the best hobby.
What is the Point of Skateboarding?
Personally, I think skateboarding is about creating your own culture and escaping from the pressures of day-to-day life. However, just for fun, I aggregated some online data where people answered what skateboarding meant to them and summarized it in the chart below.
From the survey results, 25% of people believe skateboarding is for stress relief or some sense of escape from everyday life. Fun and social reasons are the next biggest responses for what is the point of skateboarding. These are 16% and 14% of all responses respectively.
There really is no “point” to skateboarding. It can be considered a hobby, creative expression, or can be considered a sport depending on who you ask. The reality is that skateboarding means different things to different people.
The meaning, or “point”, is whatever you want it to be. This is similar to how you define what life means to you. For some people it’s about enjoyment and for others, it’s about serving others. The is no one correct answer.
If you are nervous about skating in public, check out our guide on how to overcome your skating in public anxiety.
Is Skateboarding a Hobby or a Sport?
Unless you are competing against someone, skateboarding is a hobby. Though it is entirely viable to compete with yourself.
Skateboarding can be done simply as a hobby, but it is also a competitive sport. Skateboarding competitions go back as far as the 60s, soon after skateboarding was created. Skateboarding as a sport is generally split into two categories; street and park. More than 6 million people skateboard worldwide. The majority of these people do so as a hobby.
So really it is up to how you want to skateboard. I personally think it’s a hobby, but I did tune in for the Olympics. Skateboarding is too social and relaxing for me to consider a sport. What do you think?
Conclusion
So that’s it. Skateboarding is an amazing hobby and pastime that I think everyone should at least try. It gets you out of your comfort zone, gets you healthy, and helps you join an extremely open-minded community where normal “status” doesn’t exist.
I love skateboarding and hope that you do too, or at least that you give it a try. If you agree that it’s the best hobby, leave a comment explaining why.
So that’s it. Thanks for reading and look out for more articles from Board and Wheels.
