You found us. Huzza.
When we first set up the Flatlandia website in 2023, it was pretty basic:
- ABOUT told you that Flatlandia was there to support Australian freestylers
- BLOG had some information about freestyle skateboarding, freestyle skateboard setups, and a couple of interviews.
Since then, the addition of SHOP and over forty blog posts has made the website more complex, making it easy to miss out on a lot of interesting stuff, especially when you’re a first-time visitor. To quote some feedback from one skateboarder:
‘I found there is a wealth of knowledge and resources…[that] are just buried amongst the pages and if you’re not scrolling and reading each article you can very easily miss them. I found myself stumbling upon information I didn’t even know was on there.’
It’s great to hear that netizens are getting something out of Flatlandia, but we don’t like that people are having difficulty locating things, so here is a virtual signpost for the first-timers.
Fresh to freestyle skateboarding?
‘What is freestyle skateboarding? (And why haven’t I heard about it?)’ is a short and sweet introduction to the sport. If you’re new to skateboarding as well, Stuart Maca’Ghobhainn’s ‘What I have learnt as a beginner freestyler’ shares some insider tips and tricks. Speaking of tricks, Flatlandia has TRICK TIPS, a blog category that has tutorials on rail toespins, k-walks, and other things.
Curious about gear?
If you’re unsure whether you should buy a dedicated freestyle setup or work with what you’ve already got, we suggest looking at Josh Dunstone’s opinion piece ‘Can you skate freestyle/do freestyle tricks on a popsicle (street) setup?’.
Leaning towards buying something freestyle-specific? ‘The “yeah, nah, yeah” guide to freestyle skateboard setups’ goes through the parts that make up a freestyle complete, as well as where to source products in Australia. Do keep in mind that this article was written prior to us setting up our SHOP which now stocks freestyle brands such as Decomposed, Moonshine, Protostyle, and East Frisian Skateboards.
If you want reviews, Rohan Cowley has been testing out freestyle boards, including the Denny Riordan reissue and MLM Skates’ Goose Country. Jamie Wong also talks about his experience skating three board shapes from Waltz Skateboarding. More product reviews are in the pipeline, so do keep tabs on the REVIEW blog category.
Freestyle brands are very niche and are often run by one, maybe three, passionate skater(s). We thought it important to get to know the people behind the brands. You’ll find questions and answers with people like Decomposed’s Witter Cheng under the MEET THE MAKERS blog category.
Thinking of competing?
It feels like freestyle competitions are popping up all over the place, and there’s talk of one happening in Australia next year. Go ask David Mock for details.
Competing in freestyle requires more than just turning up though. To help you prep, we’ve written posts about freestyle-skateboarding contests, with much input from the global freestyle community.
Needing to connect with more Aussies?
In ‘Fostering freestyle-skateboarding communities’, we talked about the importance of skating with crew.
Freestyle is a fairly small scene, hence it can be hard to find local freestylers to skate with. To make things easier, Flatlandia aims to unearth freestyle-minded folk around Australia. We’ve interviewed skateboarders from Adelaide (SA), Deception Bay (QLD), Inverell (NSW), Melbourne (VIC), Sydney (NSW) and Perth (WA).
Plus don’t forget to follow us on Instagram (@flatlandiafreestyle) where we repost and share stories from Aussie freestylers.
Still lost?
Let us know in the comments below