If you are shopping this holiday season and want to pick up something for the skateboarder in the family a new skateboarding video is a great way to go. You don’t have to worry about size, style, or color. Skateboarding videos are one size fits all.

What you should be aware of is whether or not they have the video you plan on getting them, and if it is a new skateboarding video or an old one. For the most part videos don’t go out of date but like anything else the newer it is the more hyped they will be.

To help you out I have found two videos that are new.

The first is Tony Hawk Trick Tips Volume 3 Skateboard Instructional Dvd. This would be great for a beginner or someone who just needs that extra bit of instruction. It features;
•Tony Hawk and Mike Vallely have an entire section dedicated to “old school” skating
•Bucky Lasek joins Hawk in giving away guarded secrets about vert skating
•For the advanced and daring, Tony explains how to do the elusive 900

The second video is not instructional but defiantly has some crazy riding. It is more suited for a more mature rider who knows what to appreciate when watching a video. Any one who has been riding for a few years or seems to think little of Tony hawk will appreciate this one.

Here is their write up on it: “5 Long years in the making, Flip finally has released Extremely Sorry. Everybody put it down for this video. Expect some raw, mind-bending skateboarding and incredible quality film making. Full parts from: Geoff Rowley, Mark Appleyard, David Gonzalez, Rodrigo Tx, Ali Boulala, Luan Oliveira, Bob Burnquist, Rune Glifberg, Tom Penny, Lance Mountain, and Shane Cross (RIP). Also featuring Louie Lopez, Curren Caples, Ben Nordberg, Willow, and more. The Flip team is consistently pushing skateboarding to new heights while keeping it core”

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For many years skateboard movies consisted only of promotional videos put out by companies featuring their team riders in an effort to sell more of there products. In the past few years I have noticed a rise in the number of movies centered on skateboarding that were not created for the promotional purposes. The most notable is Lords of Dogtown released in 2005. If you haven’t seen the movie, it is an account of the skate scene as it developed in Venice CA during the 1970s.

What I find interesting is that it wasn’t that long ago when the social acceptance of skateboarding was less then great and now you see it all over the media. What was the catalyst for such a change in perception? Don’t get me wrong I am glad the change is occurring but the thing is skateboarding has remained the same.

My opinion is that once people in the media decided there was room to make money with skateboarding and they found a way to market it (the X games) and the general public began to accept skateboarding more and more. Consequently skateboarding and all “extreme” sports began to become a little more commercial in the publics making them social acceptable.

What are your thoughts, have you been around long enough to see this dynamic take place?

Technorati Tags: skateboard movies