Industry Giants

[novascotiaskate]

Who do you think has had more of an effect on skateboarding: Tony Hawk or Rodney Mullen?
The reason I ask is because of watching some lame "xtreme" sports show, where they were listed Tony Hawk having more of an impact on skating then Rodney Mullen. Personally, I think we use kickflips a lot more then the 900.
Sure Hawk has made skating mainstream, atleast more then it was, but Mullen set down tricks that we use on a daily basis.
Idk, just wondering what everyone else thinks.

[crazylou]

You make a good point. I think Rodney Mullen has had more of an impact 'cos of the flip tricks he invented.

[China Skate]

Personally, I think we use kickflips a lot more then the 900.
By the way, Tony Hawk has invented so many more tricks other than the 900. The 900 was just the 'big thing' thing that no one had done.
Both skaters have been around a long time;
however, both skater's accomplishments in skateboarding itself are different.
Therefore, both are equally effective to skateboarding (imo)

[dstructive131]

By the way, Tony Hawk has invented so many more tricks other than the 900. The 900 was just the 'big thing' thing that no one had done.
Both skaters have been around a long time;
however, both skater's accomplishments in skateboarding itself are different.
Therefore, both are equally effective to skateboarding (imo)
This guy knows what he's talking about.

[Sk8 Shorty's]

tony hawk in my opinion has more of an impact on skateboarding because he has games named after him and because of those games, people started to skate
without those games, some people most likely wouldnt of started to skate.

[snow_skate]

just think, if it were not for these guys, skateboarding would not be where it is at today.

personally i think tony hawks games suck and ea's skate will be better. have you seen the preview at skateboarding.com? your not going 500 mph and do realistic tricks

[Sk8 Shorty's]

just think, if it were not for these guys, skateboarding would not be where it is at today.

personally i think tony hawks games suck and ea's skate will be better. have you seen the preview at skateboarding.com? your not going 500 mph and do realistic tricks

true true
but still because of tony hawks games, people skate now.

[novascotiaskate]

By the way, Tony Hawk has invented so many more tricks other than the 900. The 900 was just the 'big thing' thing that no one had done.

True, but I was merely pointing out how commonplace the kickflip is. It's something everyone can do.
I know he invented other tricks (Gymnast plant, Madonna, etc) but Mullen has as well.

[vansokc]

one of the only thing i use that hawk created was a airwalk, for mullen just about everythign else.

[Dookie416]

not that it really pertains to the topic that much, but a common mistake of most people is the sentence, "rodney mullen invented the ollie." tony hawk invented it because he couldn't get air off the ramps so he ollied before he went off the ramp to get air, and people like his good friend steve cab made fun of him for it

[Dr._Skate]

dookie- alan gelfand invented the ollie not Hawk, Mullen recreated it on flatground

[Dookie416]

dookie- alan gelfand invented the ollie not Hawk, Mullen recreated it on flatground

hmm, i guess you're right. idk, i read it in some tony hawk biography i'm reading for english.

[Dr._Skate]

yeah, i did something on the history of skateboarding last year & got a lot of information on skateboards & stuff

[China Skate]

True, but I was merely pointing out how commonplace the kickflip is. It's something everyone can do.
I know he invented other tricks (Gymnast plant, Madonna, etc) but Mullen has as well.
Tony Hawk invented the bs pop shove it.

[PeeWeeSkater]

Tony Hawk invented the bs pop shove it.
did he really? then thats something used almost more than a kickflip..

[saikouslx]

hmm mullen contributed by giving flatland a bigger (and less gay in my opinion) variety and really is the father of fliptricks. Which is vital in street and i daresay in vert. Tony hawk 'advertised' skating more but trickwise mainly contributd to vert

[crazy_dave]

Mullen. Even the birdman himself said that some of his tricks were inspired by him.

Watch:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=p12CfR5ktzI
http://youtube.com/watch?v=DmLqWRsWypg&mode=related&search=
http://youtube.com/watch?v=lX_Fwbz5mH0&mode=related&search=

Mullens biography.

[rankz]

To be honest, I think someone else would have invented the kickflip if Rodney Mullen hadn't.
Having said that, he is probably one of the greatest skaters opf all time because not only did he 'start' flatground/street skating all them years ago, the tricks are still relavant today and he is still one of the best flatground techy skaters there is today.

And to clear up the who invented what thing:

Alan Ollie Gelfand - Invented the ollie to air out of pools
Rodney Mullen - Re-invented it for flat ground

[saikouslx]

^^^ gd point it wud have happened by mistake fdor sum1 probs, maybe thts how he found it out. Anyways i wasnt very sure bout the ollie but tht helps now

[frontside_slapp]

In a very broad sense, Tony Hawk is just about a household name, even to people who don't skateboard, probably largely due to mass exposure like the 900, the video games, etc. Rodney Mullen's name doesn't have the same impact to people who don't skateboard.

Both skaters have probably invented so many tricks they probably can't even remember half of them.

They've influenced skating in different ways. I do think they have a common ground of creating mid-boggling technical tricks.

[FireFreek]

both of them have invented more tricks than you know how to do.

you can't compare ones importance to skating, because both of them were one of the fore-fathers of skateboarding.

[Mr.42]

Hawk has had more of an impact on the commercialization, for better or worse. But Mullen definetely has changed skateboarding itself more than anyone else.

[Slyde]

I don't want to come off as an asshole but I just might.

Alot of you seriously need to shut the **** up if you don't know what you are talking about. Tony Hawk most definitely did not invent the Ollie! It was invented by Alan "Ollie" Gelfand. Rodney Mullen though, changed the Ollie the trick so that you can do it on flatground. He did it the way we know it today, snap the tail, pop, etc. Where as Alan did it in a way what is now known as pop and drag of the ollie, but instead of leveling out, the weight is centered and foot pushed to the nose, so the skateboarder lands in a Nose Stop.


That being said, Rodney Mullen clearly has made more of an impact on skating. He revolutionized it. He invented well over 50 tricks, including the basic flip tricks. Kickflip, Heelflip, and the flatground Ollie among many others.

Tony Hawk though, is clearly the more renowned skater. Everybody knows this monster in the business, without really knowing who he is at the same time.
We can put into stone that Tony Hawk has 'recruited' more skaters than anybody else, but Johnny Rodney Mullen, is my inspiration to skate.

Rodney Mullen is an excellent skater, he who says different. Shall be forever shunned from a crowd of true skaters.

[frontside_slapp]

I don't want to come off as an asshole but I just might.

Alot of you seriously need to shut the **** up if you don't know what you are talking about. It was invented by Alan "Ollie" Gelfand. Alan did it in a way what is now known as pop and drag of the ollie, but instead of leveling out, the weight is centered and foot pushed to the nose, so the skateboarder lands in a Nose Stop.




Please define "Nose Stop." That term has me curious... Mullen is amazing. Thank you, Mr. Gelfand, both from Florida. Great skateboarders, the two of them.

[almostask8r]

I don't want to come off as an asshole but I just might.

Alot of you seriously need to shut the **** up if you don't know what you are talking about. Tony Hawk most definitely did not invent the Ollie! It was invented by Alan "Ollie" Gelfand. Rodney Mullen though, changed the Ollie the trick so that you can do it on flatground. He did it the way we know it today, snap the tail, pop, etc. Where as Alan did it in a way what is now known as pop and drag of the ollie, but instead of leveling out, the weight is centered and foot pushed to the nose, so the skateboarder lands in a Nose Stop.


That being said, Rodney Mullen clearly has made more of an impact on skating. He revolutionized it. He invented well over 50 tricks, including the basic flip tricks. Kickflip, Heelflip, and the flatground Ollie among many others.

Tony Hawk though, is clearly the more renowned skater. Everybody knows this monster in the business, without really knowing who he is at the same time.
We can put into stone that Tony Hawk has 'recruited' more skaters than anybody else, but Johnny Rodney Mullen, is my inspiration to skate.

Rodney Mullen is an excellent skater, he who says different. Shall be forever shunned from a crowd of true skaters.
no, you're deifnitely not coming off as an asshole, all you said was true and worth saying. Without rodney mullen, we'd still be skating old skool.
Alan gelfand invented the vert ollie, which is just a way to be able to do an air (on a halfpipe) without grabbing your board, but mullen invented the actual flatground ollie that you can do on flat ground, not to mention he invented like all the tricks based on the ollie (kicks, heels, hardflip, 360 flip, impossible, and so many others...)

[novascotiaskate]

Without rodney mullen, we'd still be skating old skool.

Thats a bad thing? Give me a pool over stairs anyday.

[Mr.42]

Give me a pool over stairs anyday.
Same for me.

[TrAnCe]

I think that the bird man has because its him that all the ppl who just started know (from his games n sht) n every1 knows him more, so when ppl think of our sport, they think straight away of Hawk. then when they buy clothes, they buy birdhouse n shit, coz of Hawk again.

[zoo_yorker_rep']

i think that tony hawk and rodney mullen have equal effect on young skaters, little kids see tony shred the half pipe, so they start to skate. then when they get more in depth into skateboarding, they see that rodney has done so many sick technical tricks, which will inspire them to to continue skating, (just my little theory)

[Ramp]