Skateboarding helps middle-aged with health issues, study finds

Older people take up skateboarding to deal with breakups, look cool on television and prevent dementia, reports Furvah Shah

Dr Paul O’Connor, from the University of Exeter, carried out 30 interviews with middle-aged skateboarders in Hong Kong and the UK (John Walton/PA) (PA Archive)

Skateboarding for middle-aged people helps them navigate health issues, bond with their children and cope with personal challenges, a study has found.

The study by Dr Paul O’Connor, a lecturer at the University of Exeter, involved interviews with middle-aged skateboarders and observations of skating communities in the UK and Hong Kong.

Dr O’Connor found older people who take part in the sport described it as a “spiritual outlet” in their lives which helps them build friendships, freedom and a wider community.

Speaking to The Independent, Dr O’Connor said: “I spent a lot of time in skateparks and was frequently hanging out with skaters my own age. It struck me that the way they spoke about skateboarding was incredibly earnest, that is was so important in their lives. So I began to do some extended research on what is it like ageing in a youth subculture.”

He said his initial research highlighted that despite some negative media portrayals of older skateboarders as people going through “a midlife crisis trying to be cool”, the evidence suggested veteran skateboarders were respected by their peers.

He said: “They never gave up, they had both knowledge and skill, and they frequently worked in some informal capacity to help the local skateboarding community.”

The major outcomes of the study - titled Identity and Wellbeing in Older Skateboarders, published in the journal Lifestyle Sports and Identities - found multiple reasonings as to why middle-aged people picked up the sport.

Dr O’Connor said: “For some it was social connections, getting to skate with kids and make new friends their own age. For others it was freedom and catharsis, getting to be completely themselves, creative and independent. For others it had become a spiritual outlet.

“[Some] had simply started again after a break of 20 years or more. They began because of their kids most often. Other reasons included the building of new skateparks … one guy said that the balance would stop him getting dementia, another said he thought it looked cool on television.

“One woman began again because of a break up, she split with her girlfriend and bought a skateboard as it was the only thing she could remember from her youth that gave her pure joy. The big benefits from skateboarding seem to be the feeling of self-determination and freedom.”

On the benefits of taking up the sport, Dr O’Connor said: “The big benefits from skateboarding seem to be the feeling of self-determination and freedom. No one can really do it for you, and there are no real rules so you can pretty much do what you want.

“As an individual activity it is remarkably good at plugging people into a community. You skate on your own, but you also skate with others. It gives people a feeling of informal sociability that has been distinctly disrupted by social media and other forms of modern living.”

His advice to those who want to start skateboarding but fear they are too old to try? He said: “Firstly you are never too old. Many of the people I spoke to - myself included - had to deal with feeling too old to skate when they reached 20. Now people are picking up boards for their first time in their fifties and sixties.

“The best advice is to go at your own speed. It is a slow process and there is no end goal. We are all still learning regardless if you began a day or decade ago. For the real older novice, invest in some pads and a helmet, wrist guards especially watch others skate too.

“Also don’t be afraid for asking for some advice from other skaters, they will happily give you tips.”