6 DOs and DON’Ts for Female Longboarding Lovers

Nowadays, it is not rare when you see girls longboarding on the street. This is more than just a hobby. This is a passion, a lifestyle, and a culture. Longboarding is not difficult for females to learn, but it is easy to make mistakes and bad habits if you are not fully aware of it. Here are the six most popular things which girls should and shouldn’t do when they are into longboarding. Let’s find out more!

1. You should learn and practice longboarding with the opposite sex.

Most girls think that they will never skate with boys and men. This is a common mistake that results in girls lacking knowledge, skills, and experience in longboarding. Boys usually have more experience and are more aware of longboarding than girls as they have come to this game for a long time. They will be supportive and helpful when you learn and practice with them. 

You can learn more about longboard for beginners before you start.

Building and joining a community with female-only is significant to grow and develop. They can organize some events, sessions, and club meeting to discuss, talk, and share the experience. It is easy and comfortable for them to do activities in their area, which is only for girls. However, this may lead to gender inequality as there is no participation of other male players in the area.

2. You shouldn’t wear short shorts when riding downhill or fast free riding

Why? Because it is dangerous when you may fall and get injured much more than you think. 

Riding downhill and fast free riding are among the most adventurous parts when you do longboarding. Why? Because you ride with the high speed while facing opposite vehicles such as cars, motorbikes, vans, and trucks.

 You may get crashed if you are unlucky someday, but you cannot entirely avoid the road rash. Yes, if you can’t prevent the injury, why don’t you cover yourself as much as you can? 

Cover your body as much as possible to reduce injury from road rash

Nowadays, girls care more about their images in social media than their passion for the sport. They have to look beautiful in a sport gear no matter they can play it well or not. It is even worse that they do not take their safety seriously and as a result, some of them wear short shorts when freeriding or down hilling. This can cause some serious injuries or road rash if they fall or get crashed.

The ideal suggestion for girls is not to show off their body too much when  longboarding. Beside wearing adequate protective gear and preparing carefully before starting, you should also choose comfortable pants or trousers for the trip. In short, you shouldn’t allow short shorts in longboarding for your own safety.

3. You shouldn’t think that there is a specific longboard for women

Why? Because no tools or equipment are labeled “male-only” or “female-only”. This opinion is nonsense and a little bit idiotic. Especially in longboarding, there are only longer, shorter, wider, or thinner boards than others. Longboards are made for everyone regardless of their size, weight, height, or gender. 

4. You should pay more attention to the race than to the prize

There is the fact that most of us love money, rewards, gifts, and awards. These are the things that motivate or inspire us and are something that we aim to. However, this is not true in all cases. This is a sports game; it enhances the spirit, passion, enthusiasm, and health as well. 

Instead of considering how much money you win, you should focus on the competition, the experience you will get, the lesson you will learn, and the joy of playing the game you love. That’s all about the sport and about longboarding. 

In general, prizes of men’s race are more valuable and more significant than those of women’s race. Here I will explain the reason why. 

First, men have to beat over 100 other competitors to win the race, while women only compete with a fewer group of racers. Second, rewards are made up of the tickets and entry fees. For women’s events, these tickets and fees are less than those of men, so there is not enough money for the cash prize. Finally, the event sponsors for men have stronger finance support than for women.

In brief, you should not compare the prizes between men’s races and women’s races. Instead, you should get up and practice more to prepare for any upcoming races to learn experience and build your sport spirit.

5. Don’t think you are cool just because you are sponsored

As I said before, this game is not about personal images, outlooks, or fame on social media; this is all about the passion, lifestyle, and culture. It takes time, sweat, blood, and sacrifice to be a part of the community and truly become a longboarder. 

If you are sponsored, it may be a good thing, but don’t think this is your final target or what you aim to. Instead, learn and practice more skills and tricks such as shutting down slide, taking a good line, etc. to be more professional, skillful, and experienced. 

Sponsors will not make you better or more experienced. Don’t think you are cool just because sponsors pay some attention to you. You are only here to promote the products based on your good looks; you are decreasing the value and image which a sponsored female should have.

6. You shouldn’t mistake gender equality for sexism

This happens in some of the sports, not only in longboarding. It is true that women always demand more special treatments or lower standards in competition. Meanwhile, they complain that they are not treated and equipped as much as men are.

For example, there is a man and a woman who is showing the same level as each other. However, that woman gets sponsored in her community because of her skills, but that man doesn’t get the same thing in his community. This is one thing that doesn’t make sense. 

Next, that woman creates skate media, and the result is not what she expects. It doesn’t receive praise or level of exposure that she thinks it would be, then she blames on the brands.

In fact, there is always a mixture of male, female benefits and rights. This makes things more reasonable and helps build a greater society.

Conclusion

Longboarding is not just a game. It is a culture and a community that we have to build it by our passion and enthusiasm. There is no way of getting famous quickly by longboarding or making money by this sport. It is only for those who are trying hard to learn, practice, and compete for becoming better. Do not forget choosing best longboards can be reduce injured.

Above are the six things that you should and shouldn’t do if you are a female longboarder. I hope you will find your justifiable reason to pursuit longboarding and help build the community together.