Skimboarding

Skimboarding technique and tricks
Speed in skimboarding is achieved by a good "take off". You run up to an obstacle with the board in both hands, or in flatland skimboarding, drop the board flat in front of you so that it glides through the water in front of you, and then jump onto the board flat from behind. The resulting aquaplaning effect makes you glide over the flat water and gives you a variety of trick options: Jumps out of the water, rotations of the board under the body so-called ,,Pop Shuvits" or rotations of the board around the longitudinal axis ,,Kickflip" called. Riding obstacles like rails, kickers, sliders etc. as known from wakeboard parks makes the sport spectacular especially for spectators. Many of the eponymous tricks were copied from skating and snowboarding.

Flatlandskimboarding
Flatlandskimboarding is about technical tricks on the skimboard as known from skateboarding. The tricks are performed or jumped from the flat, calm water without waves. So you don't need waves, strong surf or certain wind conditions and you can practice the sport at almost any lake with a sandy beach. So-called "obstacles" such as rails, sliders, kickers as known from wakeboarding allow a variety of tricks.

Hotspots of the scene
Flatlandskimboarding developed in the 90s in the USA and Canada, where a flatland scene was quickly formed, which still influences the sport today. Spots like Sacramento (USA) or Vancouver (Canada) belong to the hotspots of the scene today. In Germany, too, there is a flatland scene that has been growing for years and is attracting more and more followers.

Waveskimboarding is about skimboarding from the beach into the wave and then riding the wave back to the beach. The boards used for this are very different from flatland boards: they are much longer and wider and usually made of polyester or epoxy (like surfboards). In addition, waveskimboards have their own buoyancy to carry the rider a bit through deeper water to reach waves a bit farther from the beach. More info about skimboarding can be found at the boot by Benjamin Nagel and on the net at: inlandskimgermany.de