Fingerboarding is a Sport

Skateboarding made it big as a sport, but its mini counterpart, Fingerboarding, is not yet recognized as a sport by everybody. Fingerboards started as a collectibles in the 70’s. Earlier model of fingerboards are different from what we see today. Most of the fingerboards back then are homemade and are not playable enough to execute skateboarding tricks.

Nowadays, fingerboards look exactly like a real skateboard. Decks are either plastic (TechDeck) or wooden. Grip tapes are made from either real skateboard grip or foam tapes. Wheels are plastic or urethane, with or without bearings and the trucks are designed like real skateboard trucks, with bushings, kingpins and axles. The progression of fingerboard facilitates easy execution of tricks similar to skating. Basic tricks are executed by fingers  like the Ollie, kickflip, shove it, heel flips, slides and grinds up to the more complex tricks and transitions are performed the same way a skater do with his foot. Miniature obstacles like ramps, rails, stairs and verts are also made to give a skate like environment.

Fingerboard communities have their own contests, fairs and workshops. Competitions are made with the same rules of skateboarding. A game of S-K-A-T-E, flat tricks, vert tricks and “streets” are some of the category. You can see in networking sites and video sharing sites like YouTube some of the competitions that are organized by dedicated fingerboarders.

Fingerboarding is a sport, or better than that... a Lifestyle.