Since modern skateboarding first came about in the 1960’s, it’s definitely changed a lot.
From pieces of wood with metal wheels, to skating backyard pools, and eventually skating handrails, it’s safe to say that skateboarding has grown into something much bigger than what it originally started as.
This growth wouldn’t have been possible without having pioneers to lead the way, and there are a lot of people who can be credited with pushing skateboardings progression.
Today we’re going to be going over the best and most influential skateboarders of all time.
Eric Koston
Without trying to sound too dramatic, Eric Koston is not only one of the best skateboarders of all time, but one of the most respected people in the skateboarding community.
Koston has had an incredible amount of influence on skateboarding over the years, and has pushed the boundaries of street skateboarding altogether.
From all of his parts in the 90’s, to his part in fully flared, Eric Koston helped take skateboarding to a new level. He’s won dozens of contests including Tampa Am, X Games, and the Dew Tour.
Outside of his skateboarding, Eric Koston has also started a few well known skateboarding companies. He started Fourstar clothing with Guy Mariano, and he also cofounded the Berrics, which is one of the largest skateboarding media platforms around.
Even if you were to completely ignore his skating, the fact that he cofounded the Berrics makes his influence in skateboarding undeniable. The Berrics produces and hosts a ton of original content, series, and contests, and they’ve largely changed the standard for skateboarding media over the past decade, which may have never happened without Eric Koston.
Andrew Reynolds
There’s a reason why Andrew Reynolds is nicknamed “The Boss”, and it’s because he’s one of the best skateboarders of all time. Well actually it’s because Jim Greco just decided to start calling him that, but he’s still one of the best and most influential skateboarders.
Andrew Reynolds grew up in Lakeland Florida, and first started skating when he was 9 years old. By the mid 90’s, he was one of the best skateboarders in the world, at least as far as street skateboarding goes.
He became pro for Birdhouse before he even turned 18, which at the time was a big deal, because they had a lot of the top skaters like Heath Kirchart and Steve Berra.
Reynolds was among the first generation of skateboarders that were jumping down big gaps on a regular basis, and that era in general really pushed the progression of skateboarding.
He’s had several iconic video parts over the years, and he even has his own character in the first 7 Tony Hawk video games, as well as Skate 3.Andrew Reynolds is also the founder of Baker Skateboards, which is today is one of the largest skateboard companies in the world.
Tony Alva
Tony Alva is one of the original pioneers of modern skateboarding.
In the early 70’s, Tony Alva was a part of the Z-Boys team, and was one of the first people to start skating empty pools, which eventually led to transition and vert skating as we know it today.
Alva is credited as one of the first people to do a frontside ollie out of transition, which was absolutely unheard of at the time.
Along with the other Z-Boys, he pushed the progression of skateboarding from barely being able to roll down the street to being able to fly out of pools. He soon became one of the first ever professional skateboarders, and played a major part in putting skateboarding on the map.
Tony Alva is also known for having helped Vans develop the first official skate shoe in 1974. People had been skating in Vans since they opened in 1966, but he helped them develop a shoe dedicated specifically to skateboarding.
When he was just 19 years old, Tony Alva became the first skater to start his own company, and the first person to use layered Canadian Maple to make boards, which is something all major companies still do today.
Chad Muska
Chad Muska was one of the best skateboarders in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, and is largely considered one of the most influential skateboarders of all time.
There was no one thing that Muska did that really pushed skateboarding, it was more so his entire career in general as well as the influence he had on a lot of other up and coming skateboarders at the time.
He was one of the first street skateboarders to really start going for bigger rails and hubbas, and his video parts are often mentioned among some of the best parts of all time.
Chad Muska had a lot of sponsors from major companies like toy machine, shortys, and element, but he’s also started a few companies of his own.
His most well known company is probably Supra, which is the shoe company he started back in 2006. Even though it’s hard to point to one specific thing that Chad Muska did to change the industry, it’s still safe to say he was one of the most influential skateboarders of his time.
Lance Mountain
Lance Mountain is mostly known as one of the original members of the bones brigade, which might be the most influential skate team of all time.
The Bones Brigade was a team of the top skateboarders in the 80s. They invented the majority of tricks that people do today, and within the team, Lance Mountain was one of the top skaters.
During his career he invented tricks, won contests, and helped revolutionize vert skating. His current sponsors are Flip, Independent, Spitfire, Nike SB, and Stussy Clothing.
Lance Mountain is also cited with inventing the first fingerboard, which that alone is a pretty monumental moment in skateboarding. So the next time you’re bored and you whip out a tech deck, you can have Lance Mountain to thank.
Daewon Song
Daewon Song is easily one of the best skateboarders of all time, and has influenced the skateboarding industry unlike anyone else.
Daewon Song is the kind of guy that’s your favorite skater’s favourite skater.
Ever since he began skating, he has constantly found creative ways to push skateboarding, and he continuously puts out videos trying new things and setting new boundaries.
Daewon is seriously one of the most creative skateboarders out there. He’s had clips skating with no wheels, or skating two boards at a time, or skating with just one truck, which are things that no one else is trying.
Aside from putting out random clips, Daewon has also had iconic video parts in videos like cheese and crackers, and Almost Round 3, and in 2006 he even won Skater of The Year.
Daewon Song has even invented several tricks, and he might just have the best board control out of every professional skateboarder.
Stevie Williams
Stevie Williams grew up as a poor kid skating in Philadelphia, and has since established himself as an entrepreneur and a mogul in the skateboarding industry.
Stevie Williams was one of the best skateboarders in the ’90s and early 2000s, and some of his sponsors include Supra, G-Shock, and Beats by Dre.
He’s had a lot of the same accomplishments as some of the other best skateboarders like full-length video parts, contest wins, and appearances in video games, what really sets Stevie Williams apart is his entrepreneurial mindset.
He’s started companies like DGK, and Asphalt Yacht Club, and he’s even opened a few skate shops as well as a skatepark.
Aside from all of that, he’s also hosted a lot of charity events, mostly geared toward helping disadvantaged kids.
It might not seem like starting a few companies and hosting some events had any real effect on skateboarding, but through his companies, he’s had a major influence on skateboarding.
Tony Hawk
Tony Hawk is without a doubt one of the most influential skateboarders of all time. If you went up to a random person on the street and asked them to name 1 skateboarder, chances are they’re going to say Tony Hawk.
Throughout his career, Tony Hawk has won hundreds of contests, invented dozens of tricks, and pushed skateboarding to an entirely new level. I mean the dude did the first 900 back in 1999, and kept doing them until he was 48.
He’s been in basically every movie that involves skateboarding, he gave us the glorious gift that was the Tony Hawk Pro Skater Series, and more recently, he even helped get a skateboard emoji.
Aside from all of that, he also started the Tony Hawk Foundation which helps build free skateparks for underserved communities.
There have been a lot of people who have influenced skateboarding over the years, but very few have made as big of an impact as Tony Hawk.
Steve Caballero
Steve Caballero is one of the most recognized names in skateboarding.
He’s the inventor of the frontside boardslide, the fakie 360, which is also known as a cabellerial, and even the Vans Half Cab, which is one of the longest-running signature model skate shoes in history.
Steve Caballero was a member of the iconic Bones Brigade, and was one of the best skateboarders of his time. He’s invented tricks, won contests, and was even on the cover of the first-ever Transworld Skateboarding magazine.
Steve Caballero was also one of the first skateboarders to really bridge the gap between street skateboarding and vert skating.
A great example of this is some of the records he’s set. For about 10 years he held the record for the highest air achieved on a half pipe when he aired 11 feet high in 1987. He also set the record for the longest boardslide on a handrail when he skated a 44 stair in 1999, which to this day might be the longest set that’s ever been boardslid.
Mark Gonzalez
Mark Gonzalez is largely recognized as one of, if not the best and most influential skateboarder of all time.
Mark Gonzalez, also referred to as Gonz, is largely credited as one of the fathers of modern-day street skateboarding.
At the time, people were already skating rails and ledges, but Mark Gonzalez was the first person to really push street skating to the next level. While most people were doing boardslides on rails, Mark Gonzales was doing 180 nosegrinds.
He wasn’t just a technical skater either. Mark Gonzales was the first person to ollie Wallenberg, which up until that point was only known as a ledge spot, because no one even thought about jumping down it.
Nowadays this might not sound very revolutionary, but at the time it was completely unfathomable. Even if the tricks that people are doing today are much harder, Gonz was the first to do it, and he paved the way for future generations of skateboarders.
The Most Influential Skateboarders
Skateboarding has changed a lot over the years, and most skateboarders would agree that overall it’s progressed in the right direction.
Every single skateboarder has some level of influence on skateboarding, but every few years someone new comes along that really pushes things forward.