What is an Ollie

The ollie is an aerial skateboarding trick which is the basis for many tricks. While performing an ollie, the skateboarder does not grab his board with his hands, toes or accessories attached to the skateboard.

The front foot is moved slightly more towards the center of the board. The skateboarder jumps up, and as he is about to take off he kicks the tail of the board down. The kick gives the front end of the board upwards momentum and as the tail hits the ground it rebounds bringing the board completely airborne. When the board takes off, its nose is much higher off the ground than the tail. The skateboarder slides his front foot up and forward on the griptape. The movement between the shoe and the board levels the skateboard and takes it further off the ground.

The vertical ollie was invented by Alan "Ollie" Gelfand in 1976 and it remained as a vert only trick until 1981 when Rodney Mullen, who was 13 years old first performed the trick on flat ground. Rodney Mullen came upon them in a completely different way than Gelfand. In his autobiography, The Mutt, he mentions how he was doing a routine piece of freestyle footwork one night. This piece involved doing what is now known pop and drag of the Ollie, but instead of leveling out, the weight is centered and foot pushed to the nose, so the skateboarder lands in a Nose Stop. This was a fairly common Freestyle trick/footwork to get into Nose Stop/Stall where he would usually do a Tail to Rail to Tail. Rodney Mullen realized that by stopping in the middle of the drag, instead of taking it all the way to the nose, would level out the board. This made it an effective way to get height.

The highest officially measured ollie from flat ground is 44.5 inches performed by Danny Wainwright, at the Reese Forbes ollie challenge by Quiksilver, although Jose Marabotto from Peru is seen on a video from the early 90's clearing a stack of boards estimated at over 50 inches. The highest official switch ollie is 40.125 inches performed by Alex Bland in a similar switch ollie competition.

Other versions are the Power Ollie which is putting the tail on a ledge or rail or end of object and then doing an Ollie off it. A Boned Ollie which is an Ollie off flat ground then extending your board and legs forward, like a Melon Grab except without the grab. Then there's an Ollie North which is a One-Foot Ollie, a Pressure which is an Ollie without the pop, a Switch Ollie which is an Ollie in switch, a Nollie: a Nose Ollie and a Fakie Ollie which is a Switch Nollie; basically an Ollie going backwards.

How to do an Ollie

	Stand on the board and get a good feel for its shape, the tightness of your trucks, and the size of your wheels. Ollies are always easier on a familiar setup. If your trucks are too loose and you can't keep in control while crouching, then tighten them until things are smoother.
	Adjust your feet to the appropriate position. This can be the first really tricky part of an ollie to master. The idea is you're on the balls of your feet, which will help you greatly when crouching. This can be tricky because if you just go up on your tippie-toes, chances are you'll start turning back-side 'cause when just cruising on your board, the balls of your feet will usually be closer to the backside edge of the deck. (If you weren't already aware, the backside edge is the one nearest your toes.) There are two good ways to reposition your feet. The first is a tiny little jump, just big enough to let you land with your feet where you need 'em. This is the best and quickest way, but also the trickiest. The other way is to just shuffle your feet into position. It's a slower, less accurate method, and it ruins your shoes pretty quick unless your griptape is dead--which it shouldn't be if you want to be able to ollie well. The actual position of your feet is very important. The ball of your back foot should be half hanging off the edge of the deck's tail. The ball of your front foot should be central to the deck, somewhere between the bolts. How far forward/back you choose to have your front foot is mostly a preference thing, but it can affect your ollie too. Huge monster ollies will require your foot to be further back, but will be more difficult. Little kurb-hoppers can be easily done with your foot further forward.
	Bend your knees and crouch down, getting ready to jump. Balancing your crouch properly is crucial. Don't bend your back too much and don't stick your butt out too far. Try to drop down and keep your shoulders level with your feet.
	Jump. Yes, as if off the board. That board's going nowhere with your weight on it, so the beginning of an ollie maneuver is to jump. Kick down (known as popping) on the tail with your back foot just before it's ready to leave the deck. A good strong pop is very important. It's the power behind your ollie. It's called a pop 'cause of the noise of your deck hitting the ground, which will make it bounce. I'm sure if you've had a skateboard in your hands you will have tried the fundamental noobie maneuver of stamping on the tail to make it jump at you? It's the same principal with a pop, 'cept you're doing while stood (actually, more like jumping above) the board. Split seconds after you pop, drag your front foot toward the nose of the board. At this point, you are starting to ollie and creating friction between your front foot and the nose of the board. Bring your front foot up, using the grip tape to carry the board with your front shoe.
	Suck your knees up towards your chest. Exactly how far you need to do this depends on how high your ollie is, but that board can only go as high as your feet, so if you want your ollie to be high you have to bring those feet up.
	Level out. Leveling out means making the board level to the ground while in mid-air. In other words, don't have the front of the board sticking up in mid-air. This technique will help tremendously when you get to jumping gaps.
	Try to land both feet at the same time, preferably with your feet as close to their respective trucks as possible. If you land an ollie with both feet in the middle of your deck, it's gonna snap. Likewise if you land on your nose and tail, they could break off. Also, landing with your feet too close together can be hazardous to your health, since your balance will be compromised.

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