High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Skimboarding (or skimming). (a smaller counterpart to) is used to glide across the water`s surface. Unlike surfing, skimboarding begins on the beach by dropping the board onto the thin wash of previous waves. Skimboarders use their momentum to `skim` out to breaking waves, which they then catch back into shore in a manner similar to surfing. Another aspect of skimboarding is `flatland`, which involves performing tricks derived from skateboarding such as ollies and shove-its on the wash of waves without catching shore breaks. Skimboarding originated in Southern california when lifeguards wanted an easy way to get across the beaches of Laguna. Skimboarding has developed since then to extreme riding into big shorebreak.