Are you ready to master the ollie? You should know that this trick isn’t for the faint of heart. But with the right information and a diligent effort, you’ll be well on your way to nailing this foundational skateboarding trick. This article will help you master the ollie by providing easy-to-follow instructions broken up into workable steps.
If you want to ollie like a pro, you’ve got to consider your foot position, weight distribution, timing, and more. So, it makes total sense to get an in-depth primer before hopping on your skateboard. By the end of this guide, you’ll have the instructional foundation you need to land ollie after ollie.
Learn to Ride Your Board
Before you even start to ollie, you’ll need to ensure that you’re comfortable on your board. By this, we mean that you should be able to easily push off, avoid cracks, execute kick turns, and more. If you’re not confident in riding your skateboard on a basic level, your road to achieving an ollie will be more frustrating than anything.
Ride your board everywhere – to school, to work, to family outings, in your backyard, etc. This will help you sharpen your basic skills.
Get Your Foot Placement Right
After getting comfortable with your skateboard and feeling confident enough to take on the ollie, the first step is to get your foot placement right. Your feet should be perpendicular to the board – not in line with it.
Your front foot should be near the middle of the board, but err a little closer to the bolts. And the back foot should rest on the tail (back) of the board. Ensure that your feet aren’t hanging too far off the board – a good way to ensure your feet are in the right place is to align your toes with the long edge of the board.
Adjust Your Body Position
For the best possible landing, your shoulders should be in line with your board’s length. You won’t move your shoulders at any point during this trick. If you allow your shoulders to move, your weight distribution will be off, and this could affect your landing.
Pop Your Skateboard
This is where you officially start your ollie. Pop the front of your skateboard by shifting your weight to the ball of your back foot and lifting your front foot simultaneously. Your back foot should be pushing down on the tail of the board. While doing this, you’ll crouch down and bend your knees in preparation for jumping. Try to keep your shoulders from turning either way.
Jump Up with Your Board
As the front of your board lifts upward, you’ll jump upward and slide your front foot upwards toward the nose of the board. Your foot should not be flat when doing this motion – you’re sliding the side of your shoe along the grip tape. Bend your knee to achieve the desired motion.
Crouch Down and Land
Your board will be unlevel at this point – you’ll need to fix that if you want to land correctly. The best way to do this is to bend your knees, center your body weight, and get your feet in the right position on the board. Both feet should be flat and perpendicular to the board. Now wait as your board makes contact with the ground.
Practice, Practice, Practice
One of the best ways to ensure success when learning ollies is to do drills. Stationary drills involve going through the above steps while your board isn’t in motion. These drills are important for solidifying the motions required for the ollie. Once you are able to master a few stationary drills, you can do some drills while the skateboard is in motion.
Pro tip: Now and again, you can record yourself while attempting your ollies. Watch your recordings back later to see where things might be going wrong.
Mistakes People Make When Learning How to Ollie
Many people find that learning how to ollie seems impossible, and this can be due to one of the following mistakes.
- Trying to land without balancing the board. The only way to land an ollie is to ensure that your weight is evenly distributed across the board. If your weight is unbalanced, you’ll have trouble landing.
- Not bending your knees when landing. Keeping your knees bent during your board’s descent is incredibly important. Doing so will help to absorb impact and save your knees.
- Leveling out at an inappropriate time. One of the keys to a successful ollie is height. Though you may be a little hesitant in the beginning, the more height you get, the more time you have in the air to get your movements right. Try to level out at the maximum height of the jump – not too early or too late. This part will take lots of practice to perfect.
- Being impatient. Some people will master the ollie in just a few tries, while others require much more time. Don’t allow frustration to hamper your progress. Accept that everyone learns at a different pace and give yourself some grace.
- Not watching others ollie. In addition to learning each granular step of the ollie, watching others can help a ton. It can help you gauge timing and evaluate your foot and body positioning.
If you avoid the above mistakes, you can ramp up the learning experience and eliminate common roadblocks you may otherwise encounter. Just remember that learning the ollie isn’t a race; learn at your pace and be patient. This will prevent a lot of the frustration people tend to deal with throughout the learning process.
So, there you have it – how to learn how to ollie like a pro. If you closely read and understand the instructions in this article, you’re well on your way to nailing those ollies. We hope you found all the information you were looking for, and we wish you the best along your skateboarding journey.
