If you ask 100 experienced skaters what style is, they will come up with 100 different answers. They will all say that it is something that you do/use to give your tricks flair.

If you look at a skater, their style is unique. Some skaters get accused of having no style - this is wrong.

Everybody has a style. There is no given amount, and no person is given that much more or less. Style, at the moment, is judged on what the skaters think to be style. In fact it is their own opinion. If somebody does a trick that is completely different from the way it is usually done, they will not be given much respect. This also is wrong.

Every person has their own individual style. It is just like reality - everybody is different. This means each person will have a slightly different style than the next. Unfortunately style is judged on how a person bends his or her arms/legs, and how he or she skates. You can't give an opinion as to how good somebodys style is or how bad it might be. You can only compare it to those who have gone before.

You could look at the other side and say that a person makes their tricks look really good by the way they bend or twist, and that some people make their tricks look silly because they don't put their body in a specific position during a trick. This might be true, but it could also be regarded as a type of prejudice or discrimination.

I think that as you gain more style the tricks look easier. If you make your tricks look really hard and complicated, you aren't using what the sport regards as 'style'. If people say that the skating you do looks really easy, and that they could do it, then you have what I call style.

Skate for your individuality. Those who stand out from the crowd are the ones who are focused on. Remember that.

Written by Nick Habibi