Afingerboard is a scaled-down replica of askateboard orsnowboard that a person "rides" with their fingers, rather than their feet.
A fingerboard is typically 100 millimeters (3.9 in) long with width ranging from 26 to 34 mm (1.0 to 1.3 in), withgraphics,trucks and plastic or ball-bearingwheels, like a skateboard.[1] A fingerboard can be used to do traditionalskateboarding tricks, such as anollie andkickflip.
Fingerboards first existed as homemade finger toys in the late 1960s and later became anovelty attached tokeychains in many skate shops.[2]
In the 1985 Powell-Peralta skateboarding video titled "Future Primitive," Mountain brought fingerboarding to the skateboarders of the world. Around the same time, Mountain wrote an article on how to make fingerboards inTransWorld SKATEboarding magazine.[1] In the video, Lance Mountain rode a homemade fingerboard in a double-bin sink. It is widely accepted that this is where the idea for the ramp found inThe Search for Animal Chin came from. Some consider this the earliest fingerboard footage available for public viewing. That homemade fingerboard was built fromwood,tubes, andtoy trainaxles.[1]
The first company to mass-produce fingerboards that weren't intended to be used with a figurine or accessories was Somerville International's Fingerboard brand. They were also the first to include licensed graphics from actual skateboard graphics with the introduction of the Pro-Precision board.[1]
Although fingerboarding was a novelty within the skateboarding industry for years, skateboarding reached wider popularity in the late 1990s. Toy fingerboards became an inexpensive novelty toy and high-end collectible, complete with accessories one would find in use with standard-size skateboards.[3][2][4] Fingerboards are used by skateboarders as3-D model visual aids to understand potential tricks and maneuvers.[5]
In 1999, fingerboarding was popular in Europe, Asia, and the United States. Although fingerboarding originated in the United States, it gained popularity in Eastern Europe. Fingerboarding evolved from a hobby to a lifestyle for some people. Fingerboarders had regularcontests,fairs,workshops and other events. Examples include FastFingers and FlatFace Rendezvous.[1][2] Fingerboard-product sales were estimated at$120 million for 1999.[1]
Since the COVID‑19 pandemic, fingerboarding has seen a significant resurgence, especially on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram—with creators sharing trick compilations, custom setup showcases, and mini‑park videos that help drive global interest.[6] Several YouTubers, includingDavid Jones, have helped popularise fingerboarding through tutorial and challenge videos online.[7]
Fingerboards are used by a range of people, from those using them as toys, to skateboarders and related sports professionals envisioning not only their own skating maneuvers but for others as well. Similar totrain enthusiasts buildingrailway models, fingerboardhobbyists often construct and purchase reducedscalemodel figures that would be considered natural features to anurban skateboarder such ashandrails,benches, andstairs they would be likely to encounter while skating. In addition, users might build and buy items seen in askatepark includinghalf-pipes,[8]quarter pipes,trick boxes,vert ramps,[9] pyramids, banked ramps, full pipes, and any number of othertrick-oriented objects.[10] These objects can be used simply for enjoyment and also to assist the visualization of skateboarding tricks or the "flow" from one trick to the next (colloquially referred to as "lines").
Similar to fingerboarding, fingersnowboarding issnowboarding on a small-scale snowboard controlled with one's fingers. In December 1999 the first-ever World Snowboard Fingerboard Championships was held with a cash prize ofCan$1,000.00.[11] Sponsored by companies such as Gravity Fingerboards, TransworldSnowboarding andSnowboard Lifemagazines and others the competition featured twenty competitors utilizing a custom "fingerboard snowboard park."[11]Tom Sims, a world champion of snowboarding,[12] ended his run by landing his fingersnowboard into aflamingshotglass ofSambuca; he was treated for minor burns and donated his winning prize toSurfrider Foundation's Snowrider Project and toBoard AID.[11]
