Just as there are all kinds of skateboards out there used for different terrain or desires, so too there are various skateboard professional sports. These professionals are graded against each other in competitions held around the globe: from the USA to Australia, from the Ukraine to Spain and back again. It is these competitions by and large that allows a skater to be seen and gain popularity. It is also such competitions that can make or break a professional skater. A professional skateboard skater can earn a living doing the sport he loves most. The competition for such a lifestyle, as you can imagine, is quite high. The greatest of the best get signings, magazines, video games, book deals, cards, commercials and all sorts of press. As the media hypes up a skater or a competition, the skater takes his or her competitions to whole new levels.

The skater’s goal is to get roars from the crowds and high marks from the judges, though these don’t always come hand in hand—what the crowd finds amazing, the judges may find poorly performed. Things can get ugly at professional skateboard sport competitions when this happens. Even so, this rarely happens as professional skaters keep pushing the envelope in mastering certain tricks. It is when these tricks are properly completed over and over again (within the same competition) that a skater takes home the trophy, the purse and the glory. Those in second or third place can be lost in the shadow of another skater who just has a talent for skateboarding.

Most great skaters treat skating as a lifestyle, not only a sport. They practice hours each day, staying fit and trying and trying to get a superior routine down. Like gymnastics, the skater must complete his or her routine flawlessly within a given timeframe to score the highest amount of points. Professional skateboard sport competitions are tirelessly competitive and those who do not execute the best routine will be left in the dust of other, high-flying, breaking-new-ground skaters. It’s the up-and-coming stars of the sport that inspire new skaters to reach for new boundaries. As the sport grows, the media grows, the fan base grows, the competition grows, the money grows and professional skating is taken to all new heights.

Most professional skateboard sports involve the use of a point system. The skater (or performer) who earns the most points from judges (3-5) wins the competition. A routine, then, that magnify difficult tricks will likely take home the most points, thus the winnings. All sorts of criteria are taken into account before the judges awards points: style, routine, smoothness, execution, air, newness, and attitude all account for the total number of points awarded to a professional skater during sport. These pros make it all look so easy, but don’t be fooled. They may act nonchalant and dubious to the “world” but they hid behind a mask to seek glory, honor and to be called the best.