Skimboarding 101

Seaside, Oregon

Seaside's beach is an ideal location for beginner skimboarders. Long waves and clean, flat sand allows plenty of time for newbies to master mounting, balancing and riding their board, as well as opportunities to practice many different tricks & moves. Boards can be purchased very inexpensively, making skimboarding a fun sport that can be enjoyed by a wide range people.

What you'll need
Where to buy
Selecting your board
How it works
Selecting the best wave
Skimming Locations
Tips
Tricks

What you'll need

All you really need to get started is yourself and a skim board. There are a few optional accessories that you might like to try, such as traction pads, straps or wax, but these are not necessary. Since weather is always a consideration, sunbock, sunglasses, and appropriate clothing should be worn as needed. You will of course get wet ... but just how wet depends on how serious you get and how much you fall. :-) A wetsuit is not necessary, but it certainly helps protect you from the cold water and sand when you fall.
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Where to buy

A great place for beginners to get skimboards is Shearwater Clothing in downtown Seaside (about 1/2 block from the Beach & turnaround on Broadway). You'll have a nice variety of sizes and designs to choose from, and the boards are inexpensive (around $20). Shearwater has the lowest prices in town, and since renting a skimboard for the day at one of the local Surf Shops would cost you about the same amount, you might as well buy your board.

After you've tried skimboarding for a while, you may find that you would prefer a different size or shape to your board, or perhaps one made out of a different material. The differences between boards are all a matter of personal preference. But be prepared ... skimboards can be very expensive. Many woodies are over $50 and foam boards are usually between $100 to $300.
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Selecting your board

Wooden boards are very hard and heavier, but they are also usually thinner and more durable, which means you can skim in shallower water and perform sand tricks (also known as sand skimming or flatland skimming). Foam boards (foam core, fiberglass outer) are lighter and work better for advanced skimmers who like to ride waves and deeper water (a.k.a. wave skimming or wave riding).

A smaller board size allows for a great number maneuvering possibilities and "tricks," but smaller boards are also slower. If you want to make your board go faster, you can try putting bowling ball alley wax on the bottom (this will also help protect it). Putting surfboard wax (or a traction pad) on the top of your board will help keep your feet from slipping. Because skimboards have flat bottoms without fins/skegs, they are a little harder to control than surfboards, but this same feature allows for greater maneuverability for those that master the skill. Many different kinds of spins, flips and aerials are possible in the sport of skimboarding.
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How it works

Skimboarding is basically like hydroplaning on wet sand. Stand along the shoreline, close to the water. Immediately after a wave reatreats and the next one is breaking, begin running towards it. Once you get to the thin film of water (about 1/2"), drop your board (diagonal to the oncoming wave) and jump on it as quickly as possible. This step can be tricky to master, but practice pays off. Try to keep your knees bent, your weight balanced & centered on the board, and pointed towards the ocean. If your weight is not balanced over the board, you will have difficulty sliding on the water's surface. When you are first learning how to skimboard, don't run too fast. Your momentum will cause you to accelarate too quickly and it will be more difficult for you to maintain control, or worse, the board may fly out from underneath you. As you approach the wave/whitewash, shift your weight to your back foot. This will allow the nose of the board to lift slightly, enabling you to go up over the wave, rather than having the nose catch on it and dump you forward. Once you've mastered these steps, you can practice increasing your speed, turning, banking off the wave, and actually riding it back to shore (wrap or cutback).
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Selecting the best wave

Keep in mind that not all waves are created equally, and the waves that are best for you depend in part on your skill level and personal preferences. You will need to learn which waves are best to ride ... this takes patience and experience. When selecting a wave, look at what the water is doing in front of it. You want the water to be moving towards you, not being sucked back towards the sea. If you want to try riding on a breaking wave (deeper water) it is best to go at high tide, when the waves break closer to the shore. A steeper bank (more dramatic slope towards the water) and closer waves are preferred by people who want to actually ride the wave or catch air, however this also means a shorter ride.
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Skimming Locations

Seaside is an excellent beach for beginners. The waves here are super long, allowing plenty of time for beginners to practice balancing and riding the board. Beginner and intermediate skimmers can do many different tricks and moves in the wet sand. Seaside has a nice, flat, clean beach (very little rocks & shells), which means you can skim for a long distance (good for sand tricks). However, advanced skimmers who are skilled enough to attempt wave riding may want to try another location since most Seaside waves are so long that it is difficult to make it to the breaking wave quickly enough to ride it back. Short Sands Beach, just South of Cannon Beach in Oswald West State Park is another popular skimboarding location.
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Tips

Try to throw your board down level, parallel to the sand, so that it skims properly and doesn't dig in to the sand. Don't throw it too hard or you won't be able to run after it, and don't just drop it or it will dig into the sand. If you are "regular footed" (you prefer to have your left foot in front, your right foot in the back), you will want to hold the board on your right side with the tail end in your right hand and the side edge ("rail") in your left hand. If you are "goofy footed" (you prefer to have your right foot in front, your left in back) you should hold your board the opposite way (tail end in your left hand, the side rail in your right hand). When you hop onto the board, try not to let both your feet hit the board simultaneously (the board will stop and your momentum might make you fly off). Instead, after you throw the board down, run alongside it and hop on, landing softly, one foot at a time on the board. This will help you maintain or possibly increase in speed. It should look almost look like you are running onto the board, rather than jumping down or leaping onto it. To maintain balance and control, land with your back foot as far back on the tail of the board as possible and keep your front foot somewhere between the center/middle of the board and the nose, or about halfway up the board. Crouching down can also help increase stability. Watch where you are going, and make sure you aren't headed towards any rocks. Also keep an eye on other skimmers around you ... their boards may slide out of control and hit you, or if you're not paying attention you could crash into each other. If you start to fall, try to roll or slide out of it. Trying to catch yourself often results in pulled muscles or other injuries.
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Tricks

Many skimboarding tricks are adapted moves from skateboarding. There are many possibilities and room for creativity and innovation ...but here are a few of the more common tricks.

Spin - bend down & drag your hand in the sand and/or stand-up straight and pull your arms in ... with practice you can perform many rotations and travel a great distance while spinning

Ollie - jump by pushing down on your back foot and lifting up with front foot (pull your knees up towards your chest); ollies can be combined with various grabs

Shuvit - jump/bend knees and kick board around 180 degrees or more using your back foot; when combined with an ollie, you can do a "pop-shuvit" where the board rotates in the air rather than on the sand

Turning/cutback - run diagonally towards the water, put weight on your back foot and the side you are turning towards, you may also try dropping your hand into the water

Other fun moves
Sitting/laying down on the board as you skim, drag your hand if you want to spin too
Flyaway or Flip - as you reach the wave, jump or launch yourself from the top of it; can be combined with various grab moves
Acid drop - instead of dropping the board and jumping onto it, you can try jumping into the air while simultaneously putting the board beneath your feet and (hopefully) landing level on the sand so that you skim

Turns
Backside turns - turn with your back to the wave
Frontside turns - turn facing the wave
Down the line/liner - turn and continue heading "down the line" in the same direction (opposite from the direction you came)
Wrap/wrap around turn - turn and head back the direction you came from
Floater - turn at the wave, then glide or jump on the whitewash/foam lip and ride it back

Turning tips: Begin your turns early, before you reach the wave. Crouch down and dip your hand into the water if you need help turning. Keep your weight on your back foot to avoid being dumped forward by the force of the wave.

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