Top 9 Skateboarder Gifts Ideas

This one's a no-brainer! The perfect gift for any skater would be a new skateboard, right? But be careful - some skaters fall in love with thier skateboard setup.

A new skateboard can run up to $120 or more for a complete skateboard, but you can find cheaper ones out there. But, be careful - if you go TOO cheap, then there's a great chance that you're buying a poor quality skateboard. And with skateboards, poor quality can mean injuries, if not just less fun! Check out the Skateboard Buying Guide for some help in picking out the right skateboard!

Tony Hawk Ride is a new revolutionary skateboarding video game. Ride is more expensive than other games, because it also comes with a large skateboard-sized controller. To play the game, the player stands on the board and moves around on, leans, and does other things to control the game. It's a great idea, especially if you want to get your kids off the couch! Tony Hawk Ride is available for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Skaters have their own style, and most skaters would love to get a new shirt, hoodie, jeans or wristbands. The trick is making sure you buy the right skateboarding clothes, especially if the skater you are shopping for is a teenager! Take a look at the brands they like wearing, or just ask what brands are cool right now. If you want to surprise them, take a look at some of our reviews of skate clothing to get some good ideas. Also, see this list of skateboarding brands for more ideas.

For most skaters, skate videos are always a great idea. Check out this list of the top 10 skate videos available for some ideas or browse the Pricegrabber list for some great deals on skate videos. Another approach would be to talk to the person you are buying the video for and find out who their favorite skaters are, and go for videos featuring them! Not sure what teams they ride for? Send me an e-mail and ask, and I'm sure I can help!

A serious skateboarder needs serious skate shoes! Take a look at the top 10 skateboarding shoes on the market, and get some ideas. Or, ask the skater you are shopping for what brands they like, and go from there! Skate shoes can end up costing quite a bit, but they are worth it. Skateboarding in inappropriate shoes will not only lower your ability, sometimes it can be flat out dangerous. So if you know a skater who's using tennis shoes, skate shoes could be a perfect gift!

Skateboarding camps are a great way to learn new skills, make friends, and to be exposed to a larger skateboarding world. For a gift, giving your skater a stay at a skateboarding camp would be incredible, and they're all over the place! Take a look at this list of skateboarding camps, and find one near you. This list is by no means exhaustive - ask at your local skateboarding shop to see if there are any other camps or clinics near you.

Everyone learns skateboarding at their own pace, and there are several cool products out there to help skaters learn the skills of skating. Here are a couple of great ideas:

• Indo Boards - The original Indo Board is the perfect all around balance trainer for any sport where balance would be key. The Indoboard can be used by beginners to pros - there's always room to improve. I can't really recommend the Indo Board enough.
• Practice Trucks - These are a great way to learn technical tricks like the Ollie or Kickflip without having to worry about rolling, and also great for experienced skaters to get year-round practice and build muscle memory. There are two main brands of these, Softrucks and Ollieblocks (Compare the Two)

Skateboarding Explained is a walkthrough DVD for beginner or intermediate skateboarders to learn the basics of skating, and all the tricks you need to know to be a truly intermediate, competant skater. There are several how-to-skateboard DVDs out there, but Skateboarding Explained is honestly the best one I've seen. This video takes the time to really teach the basics of skating (basics that anyone of any level could really use), and the style is such that any skater of any age (even adults!) should feel comfortable with it.

Gift Certificates are a great idea for the picky skateboarder, or if you want to make sure you don't buy the wrong thing. The best place to get a gift certificate is at your local skateboarding shop. Or, if the gift certificate is for someone far away, many online skateboarding stores offer gift certificates - try CCS.