Skimboard is a sport where a board like a surf board but without the fins is used to glide on the water. The board is put on the thin sheet of water right where the waves touch the beach, its like skimming the water and thus the term skimboard. It was used mainly by the lifeguards in southern California to cover the beach with the help of the waves. It later developed into a dedicated sport and users now venture a bit further out to crest small waves and do other kinds of tricks.
The board lengthwise when standing reaches mid chest level, it is much smaller than a surfboard. The thickness of the board ranges between 3/8” to 1”. The board has different types of curves to it which helps the user move in the water with more control. A constant rocker has a constant curve over the board, this type of rocker helps have better control in the water. A hybrid rocker means there’s a curve only over three fourth of the skimboard, this type helps with speed and control over the waves and is considered really good for tricks in the water. A traditional rocker is a board completely flat except for the nose.
This sport although not considered as extreme like surfing is still very dangerous. A lot of injuries and broken bones occur with this sport. Fractures, lacerations, twisted ankles, bruises happen due to this sport being played in shallow water. The skimborad user will most likely hit rocks and other obstacles causing these injuries. Also as the user is moving very fast in the water, legs especially ankles are prone to getting hit with any debris in the water.
Most of the injuries happen over a period of time by constant bruising or because muscles cramp up due to no proper warm up before doing the sport. Therefore stretching is a must before getting on the board. A proper warm up before any activity helps the body get supple and also recover faster from impacts. Many people forget that though water is liquid, it has a lot of compressed pressure and thus when one falls on it flat, the impact hits real hard and cause injuries as well. Head injuries and neck injuries also happen when slamming suddenly on the sand. Therefore this sport has to be practiced properly under supervision so that if any injuries occur help can be provided faster.
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