Do you know what fingerboarding is?! 🛹
It is basically a mini skateboard that you ride... with your fingers.
And 11-year-old Julian Kuczma is an absolute pro at it!
The boy from Chesapeake, Virginia, USA, can perform 128 ollies in 60 seconds, a truly amazing feat which earned him the title for the most ollies on a fingerboard in one minute.
About a year ago, Julian started learning how to fingerboard from his friends at school and by watching YouTube videos.
He eventually got very good at it and wanted to use his fingerboarding skills to show others how fun it is and that you can become good at it too if you practise enough. 💪
He decided to set the record about 6 months before his official attempt...
“I started trying to do tricks on them and picked it up pretty quickly,” Julian told us.
I would fingerboard just about everywhere I would go; at school during lunch, at home, and even when my mom forced me to go shopping with her and my sister.
Julian says he would take his fingerboard along to see what surfaces he could find to practise on that were different to what he'd used in the past.
“I would even get in trouble trying to use my fingerboard at the dinner table.”
Oh, Julian. 🤪
“I like that it is an activity that you can just take about anywhere!”
Have you ever tried fingerboarding?
According to Julian, fingerboarding is very similar to skateboarding - only of course, instead of using your legs and feet, you use your fingers. ✌️
In fact, did you know that some of the tricks that can be performed on a skateboard can be performed on a fingerboard as well?
An ollie is a perfect example of that!
“It is a trick where you lift the board up so that all 4 wheels are off the surface,” Julian explained.
“You then have to land it back with all 4 wheels touching the surface.”
Julian's top tip to perform an ollie on a fingerboard, is to roll the board backward to get momentum and then guide it off the surface.
Once it’s in the air, you have to have enough momentum to then land it back on all 4 wheels. 😎
Julian says he enjoys the speed he can achieve when performing ollies on a fingerboard, and that there are some differences in how he can manoeuvre the fingerboard depending on the setup used.
“Some wheels are more grippy than others and some are smoother,” he clarified.
Having the different factors at play makes it more of a challenge.
Julian says the most difficult part of performing ollies on a fingerboard is keeping the consistency you need in order to keep landing them and initiating them.
Not to mention, your hand will get so tired. 😆
However, he is super proud to have achieved a Guinness World Records title and says that, although he wasn’t nervous when breaking the record, it was a big deal to have so many people watching, timing, and recording him...
“Normally I fingerboard just at my house and no one is paying much attention,” he said.
Julian also says his family and friends are impressed by his skills and have tried to fingerboard before realizing it takes time to learn these tricks.
Keep in mind, it can be way trickier than it looks! 👀
But will Julian try to break more records?
Well, aside from trying to break his own record, Julian says in the future he would like to attempt to break the record for the world's longest fingerboard ollie.
His advice to anyone interested in fingerboarding is to simply “keep at it.”
“Enjoy all the aspects of the fingerboard community since there are so many,” he said.
I like the artwork on the board, the quality of the products, and the dedication it takes to learn or master a skill.
Congratulations, Julian, and welcome to the Guinness World Records family! 🥳Related Articles
