How to Ollie

Guide Note: The ollie is one of the most essential skateboarding tricks. Once you learn it, other tricks based on the ollie will come much quicker. This page provides a simple step-by-step guide on How to Ollie. If you're completely new to skating, see How to Skateboard.

Table of Contents:

Introduction

  • In 1976, the ollie was invented by Florida skater Alan "Ollie" Gelfand. Before it, skateboarding was more or less a dry-land imitation of surfing, all about carving gracefully up and down cement embankments and weaving around obstacles without falling off the board. By 1978, when the trick was popularized in Skateboarder magazine, skaters were suddenly airborne.
  • Ollying is essentially just jumping and taking your board with you, but the trick is the foundation of lots of other tricks. Without the ollie, street skating pretty much wouldn't exist and ramp skating would be a lot less fun. Ollying can be a frustrating skill to master, but once you do, other maneuvers follow easily.

Step 1: Warm Up

  • Pre-ollie stance: knees bent, feet close together. (Creative Commons photo by Miles Gehm)
    Pre-ollie stance: knees bent, feet close together. (Creative Commons photo by Miles Gehm)
  • It may seem incredibly uncool, but the best way to learn many skating tricks is on grass or carpet, where the floor is soft and the wheels are prevented from rolling.
  1. Jump.
    • Put your skateboard aside for a minute. When you ollie, you're essentially just jumping, except that you're taking your board with you.
    • Stand with your feet about a foot apart, bend your knees, and hop straight up in the air.
    • When you come down, bend your knees to break the fall.
  2. Assume the Position.
    • Place your board on the ground.
    • Place your front foot near the center of the deck and your back foot on the tail.
    • Bend at the knees, just like in the photo at right.
  3. Ollie!
    • This is the tricky part: in one quick movement, you're going to:
      1. Stomp the tail of the board against the ground.
      2. Jump.
        • As you jump, you'll do two things:
      3. Slide your front foot forward in order to level out the board, so that it's parallel to the ground.
      4. Bend your knees. The more you do, the higher you'll ollie.
  4. Land.
    • As you come down, begin to straighten your legs, but keep them slightly bent in order to break the fall.
  • For a concise live demonstration, watch the video below.



Step 2: Graduate to Concrete

  • Okay, now that you've gotten comfortable with the maneuver, let's try it in motion.
  1. Find the right spot.
    • You'll need a roomy, level area of concrete, away from cars.
    • Porches, level driveways and basketball courts will all do nicely.
    • Make sure there's no one close by, especially kids. Your board is going to get flung all over the place, and you don't want to cause a concussion.
  2. Get some speed.
    • Pump the pavement with your back leg once or twice.
    • Don't go too fast, just get some good momentum.
  3. Ollie!
    • Follow the same method outlined in the third section of Step 1.
    • Since you're moving forward, it should be easier to level out the board once you're in the air.
  4. Don't get discouraged.
    • If you can only ollie a single inch off the pavement, you're still on the right track. Just keep working at it.

Step 3: Ollie an Obstacle

  • Ollying over an obstacle—in this case, a sewer grate—can be a useful challenge. (Creative Commons photo by Olivier Bareau)
    Ollying over an obstacle—in this case, a sewer grate—can be a useful challenge. (Creative Commons photo by Olivier Bareau)
  • Once you've mastered the basic technique, you can learn to ollie higher and farther by using an obstacle. The reason this works is purely psychological: if there's something in your way, you're going to hop over it. The same principle applies when high-jumpers use hurdles.
  1. Start small.
    • Try a stick, a book (last year's math text is an excellent choice), or a ridge in the sidewalk.
  2. Go bigger.
    • When you find that you're able to clear the obstacle dependably, try something bigger.
    • Try ollying up curbs, or over the cement blocks in parking lots (empty parking lots).
  3. Be safe.
    • Don't ollie over anything that could cause serious injury, such as other skateboards (which could flip up and hit you), other people (who may never forgive you if when land on their ribs), or fire hydrants (think about it).

Conclusion

  • Some people pick up this skill much quicker than others, but anyone can learn with a little persistence. So keep at it, but don't forget to have fun!

Resources for How to Ollie

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