Re-learning to ollie

[Andrefosho]

I can't ollie. I have been skating >10 years, and my ollie is shyte. My back foot is coming off the board, my landings are sloppy. Popping of kickers feels awkward, I can't get air on pyramids. It is starting to bother me recently, because for the most part I have skated only flat ground and ledges, and somehow my ollie capabilities were fine for that. I could easily clear knee high obstacles and flat gaps. I have not tried anything more than 6 stairs tho.

Now I have moved locations, the skate infrastructure has improved, and along my skate habits changed. Starting skating more switch, my switch ollies start feel more natural. I haven't skated streets much, and now what pisses me off, even popping on smallest curbs approaching diagonally can be toughest challenge, because the regular ollie is so awkward.

So far what I have identified is my front foot is all over the place on the board. Not really pushing the board forward with the side of foot, but staying flat. I guess I have identified the weak spot. Trying to work on it, but only every few ollie attempts are successful. Mostly I result just losing the board or flying off.

I feel I would give up my tricks to just have a stable ollie and be able to snap off obstacles and just ride around.

Wanted to share this with SLAP. Any tips or condolence is appreciated.

[Sleazy]

i've been working on mine a lot lately. i set up a ladder on it's side with some cones on it that get higher as the ladder gets higher and just keep working on getting them higher. and then i also will put cones after my flat box to work on ollie up, ollie over. for me ollie'n over stuff is the best way to improve my stability.

my biggest issue these days is landing without being in a squat.

good thread idea. looking forwad to getting pumped on the tips that pop up.

[j....soy.....]

For me I've started questioning it and being lazy so I'm trying to just cruise around my house and Ollie manhole covers and stuff....

Man...squatting when landing is good...that's one of my problems never bending my knees and being too stiff....

I'm also doing stupid things like jumping rope....

But yes...it feels sometimes like my board is not under my feet which is sketch or I'm hail marying an Ollie? 

It's crossed my mind to buy the stupid high bar thing but I think I'm gonna steal a recycling box or a pylon and leave it in my car....

[Andrefosho]

j.soy., skipping rope isn't dumb. It builds stamina. Respect for doing that.

I can pop a good ollie with both feet sticking the board and stable landing while stationary. As soon as I'm moving it is bad. Now I'm trying to reposition myself above the board and have equal pressure on both feet. Feels awkward with both knees sticking out.

What is the best weight placement?

Are there any good stretches for ollie? I'm regular stance and feels my left leg has limited sideways movement.

[perverted super otaku!]

I'd suggest Qi Gong warmup to get a rich vibe goin, cultivating the right vibe/energy/whatever is key



Then go out of your front door, go for a cruise and ollie everything in your path(within reason of course), no need for hauling ass, as this makes ollieing manholes and other small obstacles  way to easy, chill cruise, but fully popped ollies with a lot of forwards thrust, guiding the boards kinetic energy up instead of pulling it. Avoiding rigidity is key.

Also pondering Daoist principles is helpful, especially Wu Wei

 

[paraquat]

[paraquat]

I have the dreaded "lazy" ollie. It only goes away during mid summer if I have been skating 4-6 days a week and my pop has returned.

I have become a fitness nerd and I gotta say it's helped. I also bought a 12in orange cone and keep it in my trunk. I bust it out in empty parking lots and work on sucking up my legs and trying to level out.

[j....soy.....]

I live near a semi industry zone so I pushed around last night ollieing stuff and I feel better......that's kinda how I first started skating so it's fun...

While moving when ollieing stuff.....I keep centred or even lean back a tiny bit so the pop is easy and then lunge forward while ollieing....

The front foot directs the motion of pulling up...then dipping down to bone it or clear whatever....the back foot you suck up to reach the same maximum height as your front....

Really I think it's just practicing ollieing stuff and giving yourself a chance to succeed ie ollieing something small to medium so you can time it and get comfortable....then move up....like ollieing boards....we did that for hours...

[Sleazy]

this is about max for me right now. this is from a few months back.



when i was in my prime i comfortable with waist high stuff like over tennis nets and onto picnic tables and all that. but these days this is pretty much it. i've also noticed that the height that i can ollie into tricks is way less now too. my max height for locking a tail slide or five 0 is probably about a 3rd of that.

[Andrefosho]

Thanks for feedback guys!

I have been trying to put your tips in practice, and I feel I am on the right track. A solid ollie always feels nice.

Sleazy, that's a solid snap! 

[Sleazy]

I never had the direction problem but when I was working on leveling them I got a tip to do a jumping side kick in the air. That pretty much it. If you pull your back foot straight up your board will follow.

[N.L.]

I never had the direction problem but when I was working on leveling them I got a tip to do a jumping side kick in the air. That pretty much it. If you pull your back foot straight up your board will follow.

I try that and I get the less than desirable back foot flapper. If anyone has got any tips on how to  minimize back foot flap.... its a terrible habit of mine when I'm really trying to crack good ollie...

[givecigstosurfgroms]

  If you want ollies just stop trying to go for height.  Do tiny but solid ollies and emphasize style over height.  The higher ones will start to happen once you're comfy.  (if you're landing crooked it means you're going too ham with you're front foot trying to get higher - just chill.)

[Olabade]

Expand Quote

I never had the direction problem but when I was working on leveling them I got a tip to do a jumping side kick in the air. That pretty much it. If you pull your back foot straight up your board will follow.

[close]

I try that and I get the less than desirable back foot flapper. If anyone has got any tips on how to  minimize back foot flap.... its a terrible habit of mine when I'm really trying to crack good ollie...

I suppose your problem is either the pop and jump or frontfoot drag. With backfoot snap hard and quick and jump straight up and also keep your shoulders straight and look straight down at your board. Drag front foot all the way up the nose (literally all the way up) with the side of your foot (this will level your board and keep it in contact with your back foot, which will come off the board momentarily when you pop) and suck both your knees up.

[WantSomeSlaw]

I can ollie, not crazy high or anything, but I can pop an ollie. But I can't ollie over anything. Like, even a crack. Just some sort of weird mental block I have. Not to steal the thread, but any ways of overcoming that?

[layzieyez]

I can ollie, not crazy high or anything, but I can pop an ollie. But I can't ollie over anything. Like, even a crack. Just some sort of weird mental block I have. Not to steal the thread, but any ways of overcoming that?

I started by ollieing over aluminum cans. Move onto little plastic bottles on up to 2 liter then traffic cones. Start jumping skateboards interlocked into one another when you're ready.

[perverted super otaku!]

I can ollie, not crazy high or anything, but I can pop an ollie. But I can't ollie over anything. Like, even a crack. Just some sort of weird mental block I have. Not to steal the thread, but any ways of overcoming that?

just practice doing it, and going faster makes things easier

[Andrefosho]

This thread is about ollies and any constructive input is appreciated. Keep the experiences coming! 

[swag nollies]

Keep your shoulders level. When learning its all about the back foot snap, you wanna get that board as vertical as you can before bringing that front foot up. You wanna also not stomp it down when you get in the air, just try and hang out in the air and land softly, and use your front arm as a guide to where your going.

[j....soy.....]

Expand Quote

I can ollie, not crazy high or anything, but I can pop an ollie. But I can't ollie over anything. Like, even a crack. Just some sort of weird mental block I have. Not to steal the thread, but any ways of overcoming that?

[close]

just practice doing it, and going faster makes things easier

Ollie lines and cracks....vary your speed up...can you Ollie up anything? 

[Suangi]

Ollieing up and off manual pads will help you out. Another thing that helped get more comfortable learning switch ones was to put two sticks down with a small distance in-between that I knew would move if I hit them and then just ollie them, then move them further apart. I felt so much more comfortable really quickly.

[Sleazy]

i have the rotating problem with my switch ollies. i probably should work on switch ollie over stuff. i think i'm basically doing fakie nollie and landing fakie instead of switch if that makes any sense. i land all wrong.

[tiltmode43]

This thread got me surprisingly hyped to skate!

Not sure if anyone is having trouble from square one but this is always how I explained it to friends.  Snap down with your back foot, knee bent.  Once the tail comes in contact with the ground, you'll basically want to make an instant jumping jumping motion off of your back foot.  Instead of jumping up, jump in the direction your board is going (i.e. regular would jump 'left').  Don't think about sliding your front foot or anything like that - that will happen naturally with the sideways/forward jump.  My switch game is weak so I'll apply the same sort of logic and it seems to work.

[Sleazy]

It's been getting me hyped to. I'm going to try the jump forward tip, I like that. I was watch Cody m on sl yesterday and his switch like controlled fake so maybe I just need to aim and jump forward.

[Andrefosho]

I have been on trying guiding my front foot and implementing other tips here. Feels like making baby steps forward.

I skate regular, and when really pushing front foot forward, I feel strange pain in my right hip/pelvis area. I guess that calls for stretching.

[j....soy.....]

After the front foot guide.....start sucking up your back foot up to get height.....

I bet after it becomes a more regular movement the pain will subside.......

[Zimmer]

I'm in the same boat, learning ollies after 10+ years off a board.

One thing I found that helped my progress is to try a lot of different tricks while you're working on your ollie. For instance: After a few tries, I'll start trying to nollie, kick flip, shove-it, switch ollie, etc.. It seems to help get the mechanics into your head, understanding how the board moves in different ways and such.

Don't get into a "practicing" mindset, just get out on a flat, smooth, piece of concrete and start going for it.

[Andrefosho]

Some progress reportage;
I have come to a process that I can pop a nice and stable ollie with board sticking to feet while stationary, but as soon as I'm rolling I still get the back foot flopper.    I guess I'm wishing too much from skating 2-3 hours per week, but still.

[perverted super otaku!]

Try to find some 3 or so foot super low risk obstacle, even street lines whatever, and see how slow you can go while still clearing it, I think that stretching forwards/boning motion make it impossible to flap, plus it's really fun too!

[ChuckRamone]

One thing I recently re-discovered is having the right amount of relaxation in your legs when you ollie. Try really relaxing your legs before you snap the tail and start the jump, and then put some flex into it as you near the top of the arc.