Skateboards are generally divided into two main types; long boards and short boards. In order for you to buy a skateboard you have to first decide what exactly you would be doing on your board. If you just want a skateboard to do some cruising around, or some downhill racing then longboards are for you. If you intend to use the board to learn to do flips and skateboard down ramps and stairs then the shortboards is definitely what you need. Unlike the regular skateboards, the longboards are just as the name explains, a little longer than the regular skateboard. These are mostly used in competitions and for just cruising from one point to the other. These boards are used to do big wide turns. In fact the art of using long boards is called longboarding instead of skateboarding. The other type of skateboard is called a shortboard. Shortboards are used for doing flips and tricks. They are much shorter and lighter than longboards. Whichever you choose have fun skateboarding.