Tips to Avoid Skateboard Breakage for Larger People

Skateboarders come in all shapes and sizes. Some are heavier than others -- a little overweight, taller or just more solidly built. Being heavier means your chances of snapping your board are higher than for your smaller skateboarding pals, even if you're careful. But this shouldn't cause you to give up all that fun. Here are some ideas on how to handle this circumstance.

Land Correctly

First off, remember that breaking skateboards is normal. It can get expensive, but it happens, and being muscular or heavy means you're probably going to break a few more than smaller skaters. Also, if you are good at skateboarding, you will probably break more boards -- when pro skaters are filming for videos, they usually go through a skateboard every couple of days.

One helpful strategy: Learn to land with your feet over your trucks and bend your knees deeply when you land. These two moves should save a lot of skateboard decks.

Use Pro-Grade Skateboard Decks

Second, buy good, solid, pro-grade skateboard decks. They should be made by a legitimate company, like Zero, Element, Powell or Plan B.

Use a Tougher, Stronger Skateboard Deck

If you've been riding good quality boards, landing correctly and still breaking them, then you might want to go for something stronger. This is your third option: Buy a tougher, stronger skateboard deck. Here are a couple of ideas:

• Lib-Tech Skateboards: Lib-tech boards are made with a lot of thought put into the technology behind them. They brag that their boards are super strong, and a lot of people agree. One problem is that with all the fiberglass in the board, breakage is uglier than just snapping a wood board. Plus, wood has a good, natural feel to it.
• Revdeck Revolution Skateboards: These are made from carbon fiber and are extremely strong. They claim to be the strongest on the market. The big drawback that most skaters experience is that they feel nothing like wood skateboards.

If you need more personalized assistance, stop in at a skateboard shop in your community and see if the store's staff has any good advice and suggestions about which boards they think would work the best for you. 

Or, Buy Boards Regularly

If buying a tough or strong skateboard isn't your style, just accept the fact that you'll have to buy more boards and there are some cheaper pro-grade quality boards you can ride. You can always keep the broken boards and make something out of them or just hang them on your wall to show off how intense you are!