Tea trays? Saturated rubber sheet? Umm, sorry, wrong sport! Anyways, here is my best description. With a Skimboard (Either wooden*1 or foam/carbon*2) you can do two things. 1) Find a puddle, a shallow river/stream, even a flat beach to skim on. This is called flatland skimboarding. 2) Find a relatively steep beach with a close shorebreak to skim on (Usually with foam/carbon boards). The first way is easier, however takes some time to learn at first. What you do is start running (Anywhere from a trot to a sprint) and drop the skimboard in front of you. As you catch up to it you want to jump on it or walk onto it (Walking on to it maintains more speed). Once on the board, you will find yourself sliding across the water. Flatland skimboarding is usually done in 1 inch or less of water for maximum speed; the more water you have the faster you will slow down. The second way is much, much harder and more advanced. This requires what is know as a two step or a one step to maintain the most speed. What you do is start about 20 feet from the water and wait for a wave. When you see the wave coming, you start running at the wave. Once you reach the water line (Again, this is about 1 inch of water) drop the board and try to get on it with as little steps as possible. Once on the board, get ready to get to the wave. Once you feel yourself entering on to the face of the wave, do a turn so you are facing down the wave (Much like surfing). If the wave is favorable, you can either ride sideways down the face of the wave. If it is not a great wave, you can just ride down the fave of the wave and back to shore. Once on the shore; Reapeat! I hope that about summed it up for you guys! KEY: *1 = Wooden boards range from 10 - 60 dollars. These are good beginner boards. *2 - Foam/Carbon boards range from 150 + dollars. These are advanced boards and offer more float and manuverability to reach the waves easier. I would reccomend a 30-40 dollar wood board to start, and if you find youself really liking the sport go for a foam board. A good foam board is a Zap Wedge (Sm Under 100lbs?, Med130lbs?, or Lrg 160+lbs). A good wood board is a Western Flyers.