Home » Sports & Recreation » Extreme Sports

Skateboarding Shoes

Ranked #3,325 in Sports & Recreation, #96,554 overall

Skateboarding Shoes

So what exactly are skateboarding shoes and why do I need them? Aren't my basketball high tops good enough?

Well, technically, you can skateboard in any shoe. Just like with any other sport, you can play in just about anything, but a professional football player would never dream of stepping on a muddy football field with basketball shoes and a basketball player would never dream of stepping on the court in golf shoes. Virtually every sport relies on good footwork and skateboarding is not different. Without the proper skateboarding shoes, you will never be able to control the skateboard and your body the way you want to. To make it worse, you could get hurt for no good reason.

Skateboard Planet

Like this lens? Want more info on the awesome world of skateboarding? Then check out my new website (Skateboard Planet). It has trick tips, videos, pro bios, and a lot more! Click here to check out Skateboard Planet!

So what makes a good skateboarding shoe you might ask?

First a skateboarding shoe has flat, grippy soles that are usually wider than normal shoes. Sometimes, skateboarding shoes will have extra padding on the side and on the tongue to protect your feet when you are doing tricks. Sometimes, skateboarding shoes will be thin and flexible to allow you to have better feel with your feet. This type of skateboarding shoe will still have a flat bottom to give you maximum area to control the board with. Some other features that skaters might want include reinforced sides to protect the shoes when doing ollies or extra padding on the heels to protect your foot and cushion the impact of landing after a jump. While it may not seem like it, there is a lot of research and design that goes into making a skateboarding shoe.

So who makes good skateboarding shoes?

There are a lot of companies that make skateboarding shoes. Some of them are the professional skateboarding teams and companies. Some shoes are made by the big name shoe companies like Nike. No one shoe or one company is best for everybody. Once you get the basic features you need like a flat bottom and the amount of support and padding you want, go with a shoe that feels good. Every foot is different and many times, the shoes from one company or the other will fit your specific foot and feel much better than shoes that are more expensive with a different company. Sometimes, the best fit is the most expensive too, but when a shoe is expensive it will probably last longer than cheaper shoes and feel better too. One last thing to consider is image. Make sure you will be proud to wear the shoe you choose and look good wearing it.

Click here for awesome skate shoes!

Etnies Skateboarding Shoes

One company that has been making skateboarding shoes for a long time is Etnies. They have done a lot of research on making the best shoes possible and are commonly considered to have the best shock absorbing souls for skateboarding shoes as well as snowboard boots.

Etnies on Amazon

Vans Skateboarding Shoes

Vans has been producing some of the highest quality skate shoes available for years now. Vans is a brand that knows what skaters want.

Vans on Amazon

Nike SB Skateboarding Shoes

Nike is another company that makes a lot of shoes for every sport. While you might not consider Nike to make mainstream skateboarding shoes, they probably spend more money than any other shoe company in the world developing shoes and if they choose to make a skate shoe, you can be sure it has been tested and designed to be top quality.

Nike SB on Amazon

Lakai Limited Footwear

Lakai is a well known and respected shoe company in the skateboarding world. Lakai makes very cool shoes and amazing videos.

Lakai Shoes on Amazon

More Skateboarding Shoes on Amazon

Choose the Best Skateboard Shoe for You!

Regardless of what type of skateboarding shoes you want, make sure you try on several different types and find the one that fits you best. There is nothing worse than having bad shoes making you sore and keeping you off your skateboard. Don't forget to make sure they fit your style as you also don't want to be embarrassed to wear them.

Good luck in your search for the perfect skateboarding shoe!

Guestbook

submit

Reply

jeremiahjpwalton Oct 18, 2011 @ 1:12 pm | delete

I'd recommend lakia or emerica. Don't go with vans or niki or osiris high tops. Those are all terrible for skating

Reply

Papier Sep 14, 2011 @ 11:42 pm | delete

Seeing these skateboarding shoes, with their gripper soles helps to understand how you guys manipulate those boards.

Show All

Share this Guestbook
- Stumbleupon
- Facebook
- MySpace
- Twitter
- Digg
- Delicious
- RSS
- Email

Skateboarding links

If you liked this lens check out these other great lenses!

Plan B skateboards: Plan B is a skateboarding team that has some of the best pros, sweet boards, awesome videos, and tons of other sweet stuff!
Element skateboards: Check out how Element Skateboards got started, some stuff about their skaters, and some sweet videos!
Birhouse skateboardfs: Check out Birdhouse's skaters and some sweet videos of them here!
DC shoes: DC shoes is a huge company in skatebaording. They make some of the best shoes in skateboarding. They also have an awesome skate team!
Alien Workshop skateboards: Find out cool stuff about Alien Workshop and watch sweet videos here.
Etnies shoes: Watch sweet videos and find out cool stuff about Etnies' riders here!
Almost skateboards: Here you can find out awesome things about the Rodney Mullen and Daewon Song and the skaters of Almost.
Baker skateboards: Click here for cool videos and info on the skaters of Baker.
Girl skateboards: Check out the Girl skateboard team and watch cool videos here

Squidoo

Skateboarding Shoes