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ollies. literally ollies. for how simple and fundamental they are, they are becoming the bane of my life! i’ve heard people say it took them 6 months to get decent ollies and i was kinda surprised but now that i’m learning them myself it’s understandable why it takes so long. i can do other stuff too, i like skating transition and can do other basic tricks that don’t require ollies. it just seems like i’ve hit a wall on my skating where i gotta learn how to ollie at long last. and so the battle begins.. with that, anyone got any pointers/secrets that come to mind that’ll help a beginner out?
shalom pals
If you got the fundamentals down then it's a matter of timing and muscle memory, while not neglecting body posture. Body posture basics like not dipping your head, hunching your shoulders too much or sticking your ass out too much.
Post up a video if you feel so inclined so we can judge you for you choice of setup and shoes. But mostly to give pointers on technique.
can’t post video (idk how rn lmao) but my setup is an 8.75 anti hero with ace 55s and like 50mm conical fills 101a + 1/8 riser. oh also skating blazer mids or rowan pros
i think i’m having trouble getting my foot to travel up the board. like how it’s supposed to kinda roll and slide up the board? when i try to do that my foot comes off the board while i “pop”, and then bonks the nose when the board comes up.
and also like when i’m tryna “pop” i’m keeping my back foot on the board too long and not *really* jumping but that comes with time/practice i think
practice practice practice and it will all come together eventually, skateboarding is really hard! make sure when youre trying them you are rolling, and when I was learning I found going over something small (for me it was hockey sticks) or up a curb helped trick my brain into committing to it. then make it a game of going up or over bigger and bigger things (in small increments). keep those shoulders square!
I think a lot of experienced skaters forget how difficult and non-intuitive an ollie is. On the surface it's jumping but with your board, but the fact you have a moving platform under you complicates things.
Just getting the motion of the pop, snapping your tail down, is a vital step that experienced skaters take for granted. Just practicing getting a solid snap on your tail (no pop, kind of like you're scraping your tail to stop) is a good start.
Next, focus on getting a solid drag, more forward than up. I think it's more important to have a low but leveled out ollie than one that is high but rocket (like I have them).
Another thing I notice when beginners learn to ollie is how far they have their front foot behind their bolts when they ollie. Your skateboard is like a catapult, the more weight you have closer to the fulcrum / pivot point (your truck) the less stable you well feel, even more so as you crouch down to setup your ollie. Front foot just behind the bolts is a good place to start; you aren't competing with Danny Wainwright or Reese Forbes in a high ollie contest, and even they don't have their front foot too far back.
After this it's a matter of 1000s of repetitions while paying attention to your form. Like all martial arts (or sports), 1000s of reps means nothing if you're form is crap. Kicking a sandbag 1000s a day in kickboxing is pointless if I'm hunched over, flat footed and not getting my hip into the kick to enhance the impact. Be mindful of your head position, how much you're hunched over, is your butt sticking out and are your shoulders in line with your board. It's far less sexy than looking at tutorial of people doing boned out ollies with shit explanations, but I'm all for fundamentals over flash.
(sorry for the wall of text, too much coffee after lunch)