Freestyle skateboarding

Perhaps the oldest style of skateboarding itself, Freestyle Skateboarding (or most commonly, freestyle) is a type of skating that was popular intermittently from the 1960's until the early 1990's, when the last large scale professional competition was held. Then in 1995 pro freestyler Stefan "Lillis" Åkesson started the International Network for Flatland Freestyle Skateboarding (INFFS) and produced Flatline and the then the online version Flatline Online. All over the world freestylers realized they were not alone and through the internet they could connect and interact in ways never done before. In the year 2000 the World Freestyle Skateboard Association WFSA was founded by Bob Staton, Stefan "Lillis" Åkesson and Daniel Gesmer. Freestyle now started to attract lots of young kids but the main skateboarding media was still focused on streetskating and vert but magazines that focus on other "alternative" skateboard dishiplines as slalom and longboarding showed interest in cover some of tha activities in freestyle. The emphasis in freestyle is technical flatground skateboarding. Often times a freestyler will need little more than a board and a smooth, flat surface to initiate a session. Music and choreography have always been an essential part of the professional freestyle routine. In the 1960's, many freestyle tricks were derived from dancing and gymnastics. With that being said, the early influence of surfing has always been maintained. Freestyle changed significantly in the 1980's, when ollies and ollie based flip tricks were invented and introduced to the discipline. Freestyle has a noticeable impression on modern Street Skateboarding and even if still not accepted by the mainstream skateboarding media freestylers continue to have their own contests and sessions and a number of freestylers do shows all over the world.

Related Topics:
Skateboarding - 1960's - 1990's - WFSA - Technical flatground skateboarding - Music - Choreography - Dancing - Gymnastics - Surfing - 1980's - Ollie - Flip tricks - Street Skateboarding

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Some of the most prolific freestylers of all time are as follows:

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Rodney Mullen (aka, the Mutt)

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Per Welinder

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Kevin Harris

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Stefan "Lillis" Åkesson

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Bill Robertson

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Russ Howell

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Steve Rocco

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Pierre Andre

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Yoyo Schulz

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Stacy Peralta

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Ty Page

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Keith Renna

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Tommy Harward

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Yoyo Skates Freestyle Skateboarding Homepage http://www.yoyoskates.com/history.html

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