After pushing and riding, learning how to ollie on your skateboard is considered among the basic fundamentals. Yes, nearly every single trick you can think of starts with the mastering of the ollie. So, if you want to be a proficient skateboarder (and have a lot of fun), you need to know how to ollie easily.
In this article, you’ll go from learning what an ollie is, to practicing your way to perfection. You’re reading a one-stop solution for all things ollie.
It’s time to get that board in the air and have some fun!
What Is An Ollie?
Before learning how to do an ollie, let’s discuss where the term comes from. It’s a trick named after Alan “Ollie” Gelfland, who created it back in 1976. Before the ollie, if a skateboarder needed to lift the board, they typically picked it up with their hands.
That doesn’t look cool at all, does it? Well, after inventing and perfecting the ollie, Alan and all his friends were able to perform skateboarding tricks that grew more and more complex with time.
Yes, the ollie is the cornerstone of modern skateboarding. If you want to learn how to do pop shove-its, 180s, kickflips, Trè flips (A.K.A. 360 kickflips), and heelflips, for example, you need to master the ollie first.
Why Should You Learn How to Ollie?
I know what you might be thinking. “What if I just want to ride my skateboard and I’m not into tricks?” Well, learning how to ollie for beginners can be helpful for your everyday rides, too. Think about it – you can learn how to ollie up a curb. This will help you ride all the way to your workplace, school, friends’ houses and more without ever stepping down from the board.
So, besides unlocking all of the skateboarding tricks in existence, learning how to ollie a curb can take your skateboarding experience to the next level.
Five Simple Steps to a Great Ollie
It all sounds great and lots of fun, but how do you ollie on a skateboard? Don’t worry, you’re in the right place. Let’s get the fundamentals down with the following step-by-step tutorial.
- Get ReadyLet’s get one thing straight: An ollie is a jump with your skateboard. This means you’re very likely going to fall backward, forward, and sideways. A lot. So, to get ready, please:
- Use protection, especially on your wrists, knees, and elbows.
- Start your practice over a softer surface, which can be a small rug or a patch of grass. It’s important that your skateboard doesn’t move freely and that you don’t land over a surface that might hurt you.
- Use the right footwear. You need comfy rubber-soled sneakers to do this trick properly.
- Position Your FeetThe first thing to do is to put your feet in the right position. Your back foot needs to be on the tail. Your front foot should be on the front of the skateboard but right before the bolts of the front track.With your feet in that position, try squatting to jump. Remember, this is not a small jump, so make sure your legs form a 90-degree angle. Try landing first on the floor with your feet close to the bolts. Once you have that down, try landing on the board.
- Get off the Ground
- Try small jumps first and make sure your shoulders are straight, looking forward. If you move them sideways, the board will follow, and you’ll fall.
- Try not to detach your front or back feet from the board so much when you jump. Otherwise, it’s difficult to position them for landing.
- Drag the Front FootWhen you jump with the board by pressing on the tail, you need to level it up in the air. Otherwise, you’ll land in a very bad position, and it will be impossible to carry on moving. So, the front foot needs to slide to the nose of the skateboard to level it up in the air.Doing this step perfectly will ensure that your skateboard falls flat on the ground and you can roll away. Remember, if you don’t bring that nose down with your front foot, you’ll never level the board in time.
- Don’t Move and Bend Your KneesIf you’ve done steps 3 and 4 correctly, then you need to make sure you land correctly for a flawless ollie. So, once you’ve moved your front foot towards the nose, try aiming for both feet to be over the bolts.While doing this movement, make sure you’re bending your knees. They will absorb the impact, so if you don’t bend them, you risk harming them.
Let’s see that in slow motion:
Common Problems and Solutions
Let’s break down some common mistakes and the solutions in this ‘how to ollie correctly’ tutorial.
The Board is Turning
This is a very common issue among people wondering how to learn an ollie and attempting it for the first time. The secret is in the shoulders. Keep them straight, always.
Your Back Foot is Not Staying on the Board
When first learning how to ollie, foot placement is a nightmare. If your back foot leaves the board too much, just try a lower jump and work this skill closer to the ground. The closer your back foot is to the board, the easier it is to land the trick properly.
Your Front Foot Lands in a Weird Position
Speaking of landing the ollie (and this is paramount to learning how to ollie while moving), you need to land it properly in order to keep on rolling. So, practice the movement of your front foot with small jumps until you’re confident it will land on the bolts. Try focusing your brain only on your front foot until you’ve mastered foot placement.
Not Leveling the Boarding Properly
This is a very common mistake for people trying to learn how to ollie higher. The only way to fix the problem of your board not leveling out properly in the air (and falling in a weird position) is to move your front foot faster. The faster you move that foot in the air, the quicker you’ll level the board, and the more air suspension time you’ll get. Try this with small ollies before going higher.
The Magic Trick
The one and only magic trick you need to know if you want to learn how to ollie better? Practice a lot.
I’m sorry to be the one to say this, but there are no shortcuts to learning how to ollie consistently other than hours of practice (and a few minor bruises.) The easiest way to ollie is to follow the tutorial above, and the shortest distance to mastery is practicing a lot.
Conclusion
If you arrived at this piece wondering how to do an ollie on a skateboard for beginners, then I hope this 5-step method was enough to get you off the ground. If you’re wondering how long it takes to get good at it, that’s a different discussion. There’s no set timeframe, and each of us rolls in his or her own skateboard journey at our own unique pace.
My final pieces of advice are: don’t compare yourself to anyone, enjoy the ride, and practice a lot. Believe me, you’ll be jumping curbs and enjoying your skateboard more than ever in no time!