If you’re new to skating, or if you don’t skate at all, then it might come as a surprise to learn that a lot of skateboarders don’t really like longboarders.
At first, this might be a little confusing, because on the surface they seem kind of similar, but they’re actually pretty different, and the two communities don’t coexist as much as you would think.
Now even though this is a skateboarding website, keep in mind that the point of this post isn’t to say which one is better, it’s just to explain the problems between them.
Personally, as long as you’re a decent person, I don’t care what you do, but as someone who’s been in the skateboarding community for over 10 years, I feel like I have a good grasp of the real reasons why skaters don’t like longboarders.
The Real Reason Why Skaters Hate Longboarding
There are several reasons why skateboarders hate longboarders, and it’s worth reading into all of them.
However, for those of you in a rush, here’s a quick overview.
The main reason why skateboarders hate longboarding is that they see it as an easier, more corporate version of skateboarding that’s mostly done by posers. Longboarding is easier to learn than skateboarding, it’s mostly made up of large corporations, and the majority of longboarders only longboard as a hobby in college. This is a stark contrast to skateboarding, where it takes years to get good at, it has an underground culture, and a dedicated community.
Of course, just because some skaters feel this way doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the truth.
With that said, longboarders aren’t entirely innocent, and there is some justification behind skateboarders’ thought processes.
1. Longboarding is easier than skateboarding
The first reason why skaters don’t like longboarding is that it’s not really that hard to do.
Now, this isn’t to say that all longboarding tricks are easy, but for the most part, they’re much easier than skateboarding.
For example, if you took someone who has been longboarding for a few years and asked them to kickflip a normal skateboard, there’s a good chance they couldn’t do it.
On the other hand, if you put a normal skateboarder on a longboard, they could most likely do basic tricks right away.
Even at a more fundamental level, just standing on a longboard is way easier than standing on a normal board, which is exactly why a lot of people choose to longboard in the first place.
You might not personally agree with this perspective, but since skateboarders see longboarding tricks as easier, they don’t get the same level of respect.
Again, if you take the top percentile of longboarders in the world, they’re probably doing tricks that a normal skateboarder can’t do, but if you take an average group of skateboarders and an average group of longboarders, the group of skateboarders are most likely going to be doing tricks that are a lot harder to learn.
2. The longboarding community is small
Reason number 2 why skaters hate longboarding is that the core longboarding community isn’t that big.
Skateboarding is something that people live and breathe, and base their entire life around.
There are some people who just skate when they’re a kid and eventually quite, but there’s also a large percentage of skateboarders who spend their whole life skating.
These people are normally active members of their skate scene and do things like start skate companies, host different skateboarding events, or even help get new skateparks built.
Every person who picks up a skateboard might not be a lifelong member of the community, but plenty of them are, and most skateboarders are pretty heavily invested in it.
When it comes to longboarding, it’s more so a hobby that people try out when they’re in college, and it’s not really a lifelong endeavor.
Most people just use longboards as a form of transportation, and there aren’t many people who even take the time to learn tricks, let alone devote their life to it.
Of course, there are some people out there who are committed to longboarding, and I’m sure there is a community to a certain extent.
However, it’s definitely not on the same level as skateboarding, so skateboarders don’t really take it seriously.
3. Longboarding doesn’t look good
So the third reason why skaters hate longboarding is because of how it looks.
This one might seem kind of petty, but it is the truth.
Style is really big in skateboarding, and what looks good in the world of skateboarding isn’t the same as what looks good in the world of longboarding.
In longboarding, people do tricks where they put their hands on the ground or step off of their board completely, or just do an excessive amount of powerslides. In skateboarding, a lot of those things get hated on.
Even if you just consider how someone looks when they’re riding a longboard, it’s not really appealing to most skateboarders.
I’m not saying that’s how it should or shouldn’t be, but as of now, that’s just how it is.
The problem is, because of how longboards are designed, it’s difficult to do a trick that would look good to a skateboarder.
Since longboards are so much more cumbersome than normal boards, most longboarding tricks just look weird and clunky, and there are very few longboarding tricks that would be considered stylish from a skateboarder’s perspective.
As it is, a lot of skateboarders hate on normal skateboarding tricks, so getting them to like a trick done on a longboard is going to be pretty tough.
4. Longboarders get in the way at skateparks
The next reason is that longboarders tend to get in the way at skateparks.
Now longboarders aren’t super common at skateparks, but you do see them occasionally, and whenever they are there they usually get in the way.
Often times the people who gravitate to longboarding have no experience at skateparks, so they don’t understand basic skatepark etiquette.
This means that when longboarders go to a skatepark, they often end up breaking a lot of these unspoken rules, which can definitely rub skaters the wrong way.
Things like not snaking other people, going with the normal flow of the park, or just not standing or sitting on ramps, are all basic skatepark rules that a lot of longboarders break.
This isn’t exclusive to longboarders though and most people who are new to skateparks don’t understand the basic rules yet, but since a lot of skateboarders already don’t like longboarders, it definitely doesn’t help their case.
5. Longboarders are seen as posers
So the next reason is that a lot of skateboarders see longboarders as posers.
Even though longboarders might take the time to learn how to ride around and do a few tricks, it’s not nearly as difficult or time-consuming as skateboarding. This means in the eyes of many skateboarders, they’re still considered posers.
When someone learns how to skate they have to take a certain level of risk in order to get better, and it also takes a significant amount of time and effort to get good at it.
In skateboarding, you kind of have to earn your stripes, and a lot of skateboarders see longboarders almost as pseudo-skateboarders who didn’t really earn anything.
They dress like skateboarders and they try to give off a skateboarder vibe, but they didn’t put in the same level of time and effort that actual skateboarders do.
It’s definitely possible to get hurt longboarding, and it does require time and effort to learn. However, since it’s not on the same level as skateboarding, skaters view it as something for posers.
It probably doesn’t help that tons of people who longboard only do it for the aesthetic, and oftentimes they can barely even ride it, let alone do any tricks.
The majority of longboarders might not fall into that category, but a decent amount of them do, so in the minds of skaters sometimes they get grouped together.
Since longboarding is already seen as the safer easier version of skateboarding, and a lot of longboarders can barely even stand on a board, some skateboarders just see them all as posers.
6. Longboarding is more corporate
So moving on, another reason why skaters hate longboarders is because longboarding is way more corporate.
Skateboarding has essentially always been an underground activity, so naturally, skateboarders don’t like big companies.
Keeping the skate scene core is a way of protecting it, and preventing it from getting too commercialized.
By trying to keep out larger companies and only supporting smaller skater-owned companies, the skateboarding community keeps things tight-knit. This means the people involved actually care about skateboarding, and not just making money.
Of course, there have always been larger companies trying to push their way into skateboarding, especially in recent years, but most skateboarders at least try to support smaller companies that actually help the culture.
When you look at longboarding, almost all of the companies are larger corporations, and most of them are more concerned with making money rather than helping the scene.
There are probably a few smaller longboard companies who do actually care about their scene, but the vast majority aren’t like that, and their only concern is profit.
To make things worse, since longboarders aren’t invested in their scenes the same way skaters are, most of them don’t even care which companies do well since there’s no real connection between the community and the brands.
This is a stark contrast to skateboarding, where the majority of skateboarders reject larger companies that try to push their way into skateboarding because they understand the importance of putting the community first.
This isn’t to say skateboarders are perfect when it comes to supporting smaller brands (because they’re not) but there is a general understanding that you should at least try to when you can.
There are a few larger corporations who’ve forced their way into skateboarding, but most successful skate companies are smaller skater-owned brands.
Skateboarders are by no means perfect when it comes to supporting smaller companies, but they do a decent job.
Longboarders on the other hand really don’t care at all, which is definitely a negative in the eyes of skateboarders.
7. Longboarding has fewer tricks
The next reason that skaters don’t like longboarding is that there’s a limited amount of tricks you can learn.
Since longboards don’t have a nose or tail, they can’t be flipped the same way a skateboard can, and they aren’t meant to skate ramps, rails, or gaps, they’re much more limited in terms of what you can do with them.
This means if you’re one of the few people who actually put time and effort into learning more advanced longboarding tricks, in a sense, you’re almost wasting your time because eventually, you’re going to hit a ceiling.
One of the biggest appeals of skateboarding is that there’s essentially an unlimited amount of tricks you can learn, and it’s impossible to ever reach a limit of what can be done.
With longboarding, there are only so many powerslide variations out there, and sooner or later you’re going to learn most of the tricks that are possible.
This is a similar dilemma to both scooters and rollerblades.
Even if someone gets to the point where they can do tricks that are impressive, they’ve spent a significant amount of time learning something that has a much lower ceiling than skateboarding.
So even if regular skaters respect the tricks longboarders are doing, sometimes they still see it as a waste of talent.
For example, if someone got really good at unicycling, a lot of people would be impressed by it.
But at the same time, they could have used that effort to put towards something with more possibilities.
There’s nothing wrong with someone getting good at unicycling if that’s what they want to do, the same way there’s nothing wrong with getting good at longboarding.
The thing is, they’re just kind of limited, so in the eyes of a skater, it makes sense to put that effort towards something else.
If someone only uses a longboard to commute, or if they simply enjoy riding down hills, this might not matter, but if someone is going to invest their time into learning tricks, it’d be better to pick something that’s a little more scalable.
8. Skaters hate everything
The next reason why skaters hate longboarders is that skaters kind of hate anything that isn’t skateboarding.
What people need to realize is that skateboarding has its roots in counterculture, so a lot of skaters just naturally hate everything.
Whether it be other sports or certain types of clothes, skateboarders are always going to hate on things, so if you happen to be a longboarder, try not to take it too personally.
Even though a lot of skaters think longboarding is lame, if you like to do it, then by all means go for it.
Again, the point of this post isn’t to try to compare skateboarding vs longboarding and say which one is better.
The main purpose is to explain (from a skateboarder’s perspective) why some skaters don’t like longboarding because a lot of people genuinely don’t know.
I’m not saying whether these points are justified, I’m just pointing out some of the more common perspectives I’ve observed as a skateboarder.
Personally, as long as someone is respectful and courteous, I don’t care what they do, and I think most people these days would agree.