Great Footwear For Safe Skateboarding

Years ago, when skateboarding first took off, people said that it wouldn’t last. A craze that would soon die out. How wrong they were.

Today there are many millions of skateboarders worldwide. There can’t be many towns that don’t have some sort of skate-park, and if they don’t have one then skateboarders will have built one for themselves.

Skateboaring experts can make it look so easy and graceful, which can be misleading.

Skateboarding takes a whole lot of skill and can be immensely dangerous. Skateboarding injuries have risen as the sport has grown in popularity. Some of the most common injuries are fractures to the ankle and wrist. Over a third of all injuries occur as a result of loss of balance and around 26% occur as a result of a failed trick attempt. The highest proportion of moderate injuries occur as a result of surface irregularities.

Statistics like these should tell any skater that safety must always come first. Skateboarders should ideally use skate-parks and always wear protective clothing. Knee and elbow pads, along with a good helmet will go a long way towards keeping a skater safe. But footwear is of utmost importance.

Some foolish people think that any old pair of trainers will do for skateboarding, but this is far from true. Skateboarding footwear is subjected to some of the most severe wear and tear that any shoes are ever likely to get. They need to be flexible, extremely comfortable and provide tons of grip. They also need to offer protection for the ankle and support the instep.

Clearly, skateboarding shoes need to be immensely robust. They are subjected to lots of scuffing and abrasion and cheap, flimsy shoes will quickly come apart. Many hardcore skaters use a product called shoe goo to apply to worn areas of their shoes in order to get a little extra life from them.

One of the most important features of skateboarding shoes is the sole. These tend to be flat, with a large surface area, made from extremely tough material that provides a lot of essential grip with the skateboard.

If you go shopping for skateboard shoes you will find an almost bewildering selection. One of the favoured brands is Vans shoes. They have been around since the early days of skateboarding and they have really learned how to produce fantastic skate shoes.

Another reliable brand is DC Shoes from the USA. They too have been making top quality skate shoes for many years and there are some fantastic styles in their collection.

No discussion of top brand skate shoes would really be complete without mentioning Nike shoes. The Nike air trainers are favourites with many of the world’s top board jockeys.

Skateboarding is a fantastic sport but skaters need to keep themselves, and those around them, safe. Wearing the right protective clothing and a good pair of skate shoes will help to keep them out of hospital.