Skateboarding for positive mental health

Skateboarding is well known for its physical health benefits, but a recent study has shown that individuals who partake in skating stated they do so to reduce boredom, provide them with escapism, help them to build their confidence and use skateboarding as a coping mechanism for their emotions. 

Youngsters also attributed skateboarding to helping them feel a sense of achievement (when performing new tricks), learning and progressing when getting better on a board and feeling like they could be themselves  when at a skatepark, surrounded by others with a similar outlook.

On our recent Club of the Month Award shoot with Happy Skateboarder Skate School, we met Jack and mum, Hannah, who told us first hand about some of these positive effects:

"Jack's ADHD makes him very hyperactive, makes him quite impulsive. He struggles to regulate when he's feeling like that. Coming somewhere like this is giving him, like an outlet for all of that energy. 

"He says that when he's skateboarding, his head is calm and quiet, which is such a nice thing to hear."

"He comes out of here and sometimes there's frustration

"... having something regulating like this has just been pretty life changing for him. I'm really grateful for skateboarding and I'm really grateful for, Happy Skateboard School as well, because the way that they approach teaching skateboarding. I don't think anyone else could have got through to Jack the way Richard (Happy Skateboarder Skate School) did."

Recent figures showed a huge growth in the popularity of skateboarding since the start of the pandemic, with an rise of over 70,000 people in the UK participating in the sport, with the largest growth being with females getting on a board for the first time.

With the rise in creation of more skateboard schools and more adaptive lessons being provided around the UK, plus the skate scene being one of the most naturally inclusive across all sports, there's an options for every body to find a way to try skateboarding and experience the positive benefits to mental health.

Discover inclusive activities in your local area on Every Body Moves here.