Park vs Street Skateboarding: Which is a Better Choice?

Can you still recall the first time you held a skateboard? You suddenly wanted to learn everything, am I right? Because that is how enthusiastic skateboarders are.

And while that has to be the perfect learning mindset, everyone still has to go through the appropriate process, taking each step at a time. With various skating styles ruling skateboarding, you could feel confused about which one to try first.

There are many disciplines we can talk about, but first, let’s begin comparing park VS street skateboarding.

	Skating Spots	Type of movements	Skateboard setup
Park Skateboarding	Bowls, transitions, and ramp copings	● Skating lines ● Riding on various park areas	● 8.3″ to 9″ deck ● 52mm to 56mm wheels at 99a to 101a hardness level
Street Skateboarding	Rails, ledges, and stairs	Ollies on stairs and street obstacles	● 8.0″ to 8.25″ deck ● Smaller, softer wheels at 90a to 99a

Park and Street Skateboarding: Defined

It’s inappropriate to make one skating style win over the other without understanding how both work. Let’s distinguish park and street skateboarding with the following.

What is Park Skateboarding?

Park skating has a dedicated place to ride your board: skateparks. This style lets you do transitions skateboarding and play on ramps and bowls, the most common park fixtures.

How about ollies and other tricks you can do both at parks and streets? In such a case, the categorization depends on where the skater performs the tricks.

What is Street Skateboarding?

Straightforwardly, street skateboarding entails all the activities you can do with your skateboard on the streets. The key to this style? Creativity.

We know that we’re not riding on a flat road endlessly. On the sides could be fun boxes or stairs. Or, in a nearby area, there could be rails, ledges, or benches. These are some of the instruments you can use to maximize the streets with your skateboard.

As mentioned, we can consider some tricks as park or street depending on where we perform them, like in the case of ollies.

If you’re landing them from stairs or ledges, chances are you’re riding on the streets.

Is Street Skateboarding Dangerous?

Generally, skateboarding could be hazardous, depending on how the media or platforms like Reddit depict it.

But in reality, what makes it difficult are the unseen or unexpected mishaps preparation could not prevent. Are these normal? Yes, but these occurrences can result in injuries.

While data about how much the sport contributed to recorded accidents are vague, rest assured it’s not the worst street activity to do.

Differences

Now, let’s learn the differences between skateboarding street VS park.

Let’s be fair. What happens in a skate park remains under park skateboarding.

Otherwise, if the skater rides on the streets and nearby obstacles, it’s street skateboarding.

Park skateboarding has more obstacles dedicated to your four-wheel boards only. These obstacles include bowls, ramps, verts, pools, spines, and pipes.

On the other hand, street skateboarding will hand you banks, staircases, ledges, handrails, or rails.

As seen in the table above, skateboards for park skating have a broader deck with minimum dimensions of 8.3″, the biggest size for street skateboard decks.

The smallest wheel for park skateboarding could also be used for the streets. Specifically, these rollers have a 52mm size. However, park skaters can also avail of wheels as wide as 56mm.

Additionally, wheels for park skating have the upper hand in hardness levels at 99a to 101a on the durometer scale. Street skateboard wheels are on the softer side, usually up to 99a but often lower in durometer.

Pros and cons

Let’s get into the best and not-so-desirable areas of park and street skateboarding.

The Verdict: What Style Suits You Best?

It could be unreasonable for others to tell you which of the two styles will work best for you. It’s a matter of preference, after all. But here are a few key points to consider.

To say that you want to master park skating or street skateboarding first because one is easy would be inappropriate. Both styles have equal levels of difficulty.

Second, the popularity of one style should not influence which skateboarding type you should try first. Street and park skate Olympics events show both have their fair share of attention.

Frequently Asked Questions

Street and park skateboarding: what is more popular?

Street and park styles are both present in the Olympic skateboarding arena. Without being biased against park skating, street skateboarding is slightly more popular.

One of the things that could potentially prove it is the popularity of professionals doing street skateboarding. Some of the most-followed skaters today specialize in the streets.

But no, we cannot undermine Tony Hawk and Lance Mountain. Despite being famous vert skaters, they can also do street skating.

Another area that could influence street skating’s popularity is the frequency of social media content on it. Nonetheless, park skating remains next to rank.

Who are the best street and park skaters?

Are you looking to find an inspirational skateboarder in this generation? Here are a few park and street skater names from recent years.

What are 4 types of skateboarding?

The number of skateboarding types may vary based on how skaters classify them. But here are the primary skateboarding styles we should master.

Other styles include downhill skating and cruising skateboarding.

Conclusion

Skateboarding is a lifelong adventure with our four-wheeled boards. Each day, we learn new things in skills, maintenance, and other aspects. Thus, doing this sport is never going to be dull.

With various styles to try out, distinguishing park VS street skateboarding and other types is necessary. This way, we can identify our preferences better and focus on specific areas. Remember, park skating is for the bowls and ramps, while street skating is for the stairs and rails.