How To Do An Ollie On A Skateboard for Beginners in 2024 – Explained with Pictures
The ollie is one of the most fundamental tricks in skateboarding. It is the foundation of the majority of skateboard tricks that you will learn in the future. Before learning how to do an ollie on a skateboard, it is important to have a thorough understanding of all of the information regarding foot placement, body positioning, and balance on the board. Once you are comfortable with all aspects of these basic techniques, you can proceed to step one.
|How To Do An Ollie On A Skateboard|
The ollie is one of the most essential tricks to learn on a skateboard. Not only is it a building block for more advanced tricks, but it’s also just really fun to do. Luckily, once you learn the basics, performing an ollie is relatively simple. Here’s a step-by-step guide:
- Start with your board in a rolling position and your back foot on the tail.
- Bend your knees and lean forward, placing your front foot near the center of the deck.
- Shift your weight to your front foot and jump straight up, scooping the back end of the board with your back foot as you go.
- As you reach the apex of your jump, snap your wrists downwards, causing the board to pop off the ground.
- As the board comes up to meet your feet, place your back foot on the tail and ride away.
With a little practice, you’ll be nailing ollies in no time!
Focus on your balance:
Keep your balance as you ride around the board, so position it in between wherever is most comfortable for you. Make sure that one foot stays behind each truck and near to where they’re at on either side of the middle – this will help assure stability if you know how to push on a skateboard. Shift your weight slightly in the direction of the trick you will be performing, this is usually done by pushing away with either foot so it turns out to be easier for yourself if you use one mostly than none at all.
Foot placement:
Positioning of your front foot will change how high you can ollie. If it is farther back, then jumping might be more difficult but if put forward there’s a small jump that should work quite easily, and start off by standing on the board with different feet in front to see what feels natural for yourself. No matter which position works best- stay relaxed while performing any tricks or else they could end up being less successful than planned.
However, you need to put your back foot as far down on the tail of the board as possible. This will give it more leverage and make popping easier! If someone only has half their leg sticking out when they try this trick then there’s not enough space for them – but if both feet are planted deeply in accordance with where we want our wheels to land, then everything should go smoothly.
Kick the Top of your board:
As the front of the board reaches its highest point and your foot approaches the top, push your foot forward into the board. This will force the front of the board to lower down and the back to raise up, lifting the whole board into the air and straightening it up.
When you land your kickflip, keep rotating your feet so that they hit the ground softly and flat. You might need to push them forward a little bit as well for it all to go smoothly. The board slides out behind you and your tail end slams into the corner of whatever surface you’re skating on if not then try to practice again until this becomes second nature.
Back foot at the back/Tail skateboard:
It’s important to know how far back on your board you can put both feet when ollie-kicking. The more angle there is, the easier it will be for that side of the shoe/footwear and also gives additional traction with which direction they are being pushed in order to turn over smoothly while landing without doing anything fancy or risky.
Many riders will put their front foot all the way up to the nose of the deck (width of the board) with two feet on, and then maneuver with their back leg like a cowboy. If you can do this, it is good for starting out as you will not fall as much as those who don’t.
Moreover, you need to be able to do an ollie without having too much pressure on your shoe. The sole of the board should never touch any part of yourself, and all contact between these two surfaces must happen at this point in order for you to slide up or down easily while practicing techniques that will eventually allow one to enjoy skateboarding as well.
When you’re ready, put your front foot in the middle and back one near to edge. Bend slightly at knees while ensuring that shoulders are roughly level with each ground step for balance purposes; if not then off will be done entirely too soon.
Be confident on your board and bend your knees:
Bend your front knee to a 90-degree angle directly over the ankle of your front foot, making sure that your knee does not go over your toes (this can cause injury). Try to make sure that both legs are at equal angles (left and right). Hold on to the board with one hand.
As you prepare to jump, try not to put too much weight on your feet. If this happens then the board starts spinning away from you. With the weight on your back foot, give a small jump and then push away from your front leg to straighten out into a spin. If this was done correctly, the board should have popped up and you should be in a free-fall with the board spinning underneath you.
Jump upward into Air:
The trick is to use your front foot to push down on the tail of the board, while simultaneously jumping into the air with your back foot. You’ll notice that when learning to ollie it’s easy to get off-balance and end up putting a foot down. This is a result of the board popping up or your jumping too far off of it – don’t worry, this will come naturally with practice. When performing an ollie, you will need to bend your knees upwards and jump as high as possible. The height of this leap depends on how much power is in the board for that specific technique.
The key to landing softly is in taking off with your front foot first and then jumping away from it. That way, your back foot will be the last thing to leave the board and you’ll be able to control how high you jump. You may find it helpful to visualize a wall in front of you as you approach; this is the most common trick that people try when learning inverted tricks at first – they hit the wall with their back wheel and fall over. If you visualize the wall it may help prevent you from making this mistake.
Land like a pro:
When you feel like the board is going to roll out from under your feet, use those legs and bend your knees slightly so that the shock isn’t too hard on the body. Quickly bend your knees and bring your feet together (make sure that you bend your knees before bringing your feet back together; if you do it the other way around, you’re going to hurt yourself). Jump with the board and when you’re in the air, softly move your front foot and push the deck and back foot to face forward.
Key Steps:
- Place your front foot near the middle of the board and turn 90 degrees to face toward one end of the board (this will be your back foot).
- Place your back foot behind the board at approximately a 45-degree angle and roughly an inch off of the end of it (closer to you than not). Make sure that when you place your back foot down you are able to wiggle your toes and that they aren’t too close together.
- Jog lightly on the board with both your feet (this will help you balance and prepare for the jump).
- Swing your back leg up and over and towards the front of the board (you should be jumping off of one foot). At this point, you are aiming to kick the tail of the skateboard deck with your heel.
- As the front of your foot makes contact with the tail, simultaneously push down on the tail with your back foot and lift your front foot up (make sure to bend your front knee as you are skating off). At this point, if all has gone well, you should be in mid-air.
- Land on both feet at the same time, making sure that when you land your knees don’t extend past your toes.
Conclusion
To start, place one foot on either side of your skateboard and push down with just enough force so that it stays in place. Next, use the ball-end of your back foot to press against its base while lifting up slightly on top for balance; then let go and watch as you’re cruising through town.
Once you’ve got the front of your board up, use one foot to hold it in place while sliding another upward. Rotate both feet as needed for stability and control so that when they’re at their highest point or deepest concave. Your feet should be shoulder-width apart. Turn your front foot in the direction that you want to ollie (i.e., if you want to ollie backward, point your front foot directly away from you).
