Globe Shoes Pro - Rodney Mullen

Rodney Mullen is one of skateboarding tips undisputed innovates and pioneers of the sport of skateboarding. His unique style and constant ability to pull off new, unimagined tricks has kept him in the skateboarding worlds spot light for over 35 years now!. Creating fundamental tricks such as the flat ground ollie, the kick flip, the impossible and the 360 flip, it is no wonder he is considered a living legend.Born in Gainesville, Florida 1966, Rodney Mullen is one of the greatest skaters of all time. Originally a free style skater he has crossed the boundaries to street and even ramp skating with style and innovation.

Pads A Must

Mullen began skateboarding at the age of 10 when, after much objection, his father bought him his very first skateboard, who told him he was only allowed to have it if he wore his pads always when skating. Rodney immediately took to the sport with enthusiasm and raw talent and nine months later he was sponsored by Island Surf Shop. Shortly after he then won first place in the Kona Florida boy's freestyle contest. It was at this event he was noticed right away by the head of Walker Skateboards, Bruce Walker who offered Rodney Mullen a sponsorship deal with his company. Over the next few years Mullen went on to win almost thirty first place victories and won the Oceanside Nationals in the summer of 1976. During these years he honed his skills wherever he could usually finding solace in quiet non assuming areas like deserted parking lots or old abandoned barns.

Bones

In 1980 Rodney Mullen joined with Powell Perlta as one of their pro skaters.

Being at the top of his game meant he was also now in the "Bones Brigade" Powell's eliete top pro skating team. Many greats like Tony Hawk and Lance skateboarding tips have skated on this team. Rodney was among the greats now! He appeared in several of Powells first feature movies and was one of the few pro freestyle skaters on the team along with Kevin Harris and Per Welinder. During the 80's Rodney appeared in a feature film "Gleaming the Cube" with Christian Slater.

The End of an Era

By the time professional freestyle skateboarding died out in mid 1990 Rodney Mullen had won a mind blowing 34 of the 35 freestyle competitions he had entered in.This translates in to the most successful professional competition run in history! In the early 90 Mullen left his sponsored team of World Industries and joined plan B as more of a street skater.

His lethal, over the top integration of freestyle tricks into street moves could be witnessed on the Plan B blockbuster hit "The Questionable Video.

What's New?

In 2003 Rodney joined forces with another devastatingly awesome street skater and all around skateboarding ninja, Daewon Song, to create Almost Skateboards. Be sure to check out the video "Rodney Mullen VS Daewon Song" It was also in this same year that he was voted "The All Time Greatest Action Sports Athlete" by the extreme sports channel's "Legends of the Extreme Countdown"

In 2004 Mullen wrote his autobiography entitled"The Mutt - How to Skateboard and Not Kill Yourself"

Geoff Wheeler has been involved in skateboarding for the past 20 years and writes about Etnies shoes and Ipath skate shoes.

Controversies in the World of Skateboarding

No sport out there is without its controversies, but the problem is that too many spectators focus on those rare occasions instead skateboarding tips the positive. That is exactly what happens when there are controversies within the world of skateboarding. Then even people that have never followed the sport seem to have an opinion on it and what should be done about it.

The biggest controversies in the world of skateboarding have to do with scoring. While every effort is made to get legitimate and fair judges it doesn't always work that way. When scores are way different with one judge than they others it certainly does raise eyebrows. When even the spectators notice that something is amiss with the scoring process then you know you have a problem.

In their defense, it can be tricky to accurately score skating events. There is so much flexibility and creativity brought in by each performer. You aren't judging each of them doing the same thing out there. Offering spectators and participants current information on what will be scored often helps them to be more accepting of what those final scores are.

While there are more competitions open to female professionals in the sport than in the past, they continue to feel blindsided. They don't feel they get the same opportunities as the males. They don't get to make as much money and they aren't often asked to take on endorsements. Such controversies can become quite heated though. Even though ESPN offers the same events for both sexes, they can't compete against each other. Many feel this is sexist and so the controversy continues.

To get the huge scores in competitions, having moves that are difficult and different are part of the equation. There is plenty of controversy out there that one professional has spies that find out what the others are doing. This is how they steal moves or they develop their own routine that is more complex than what the competition is going to be doing. If such spies exist they aren't letting their identities be known.

Holding world records for various skating events is a big problem as well. The problem is that only those events that are verified can take those titles. So if someone performs extremely well and beats a record but it isn't verified with the right people to certify that it is all authentic, their claim means nothing. There are plenty of people out there that simply don't think this is fair at all.

There are even controversies when it comes to endorsements. Parents often feel that the industry takes advantage of children. They get these amazing skaters that they all look up to and have them do a commercial in particular articles of clothing and on special boards. Then these kids are continually hounding their parents to buy those items for them. They don't understand the power of marketing like adults do so they aren't going to see through it all.

Each time that there is a type of controversy in the world of skateboarding, it is a learning experience. Then changes can be made to rules and guidelines out there so that similar events will be avoided in the future. It is hard to get a grasp on every possible problem that could crop up. The fact that the media can turn anything into a three ring circus certainly doesn't help matters either.

It is important to take such controversies with a grain of salt. What is sensationalized within the media usually isn't the entire picture. Too many people assume that the media always goes with the facts. They tend to do so loosely though as they go with an angle on the story that gains them attention. Being factual all the way skateboarding tips will always take a back seat to that.

Skateboards are one of the most popular sport equipments among young groups. There are two kinds of skateboards can be chosen when you come to buy one. One is complete skateboards which are good options for beginners. Another one is customized skateboards which are senior level skaters' favourites. You can find both kinds of skateboards in SkateboardsPro.com.au