Ollieboard and Ollieblocks Review

Ollieblocks are hard plastic rounded devices that attach to a skateboard deck and let you practice ollies, kickflips, and other tricks without rolling. The Ollieboard is a complete board with Ollieblocks already attached - this way, you don't need to buy a separate board for your Ollieblocks. Ollieblocks and the Ollieboard allow skaters to practice skateboarding all year round, rain or shine, indoors or out.

I love these things. Living in the Northwest USA, it rains a lot. It's great to have something that you can use to practice skate tricks with indoors and outdoors, any time. The Ollieboard with Ollieblocks can be used on carpet, tiles, outside on the driveway - pretty much anywhere. I wouldn't recommend it on hard wood floors though. I put some nasty dings in mine, all in the name of research! At least that's what I'm blaming it on.

And any level of skateboarder could get use out of the Ollieboard. New skaters can use it to practice basic ollie skills, and even kickflips and shuv-its. The advanced skater can use Ollieblocks to improve the height of his or her ollie, and to improve "muscle memory" (this is where your body has learned what to do and just does it, without your having to think about it).

In addition, the Ollieboard is perfect for teaching someone else how to ollie. If you run a skate club, or have a kid who wants to learn, this is the perfect way to teach some basic skills without the rider having to worry about rolling, or the board shooting out from under him or her.

Compared to using a regular skateboard to practice tricks, the Ollieboard is both better and worse. The fact that the board won't roll makes initial practice better, but some real skateboard practice should be sprinkled into the beginning skateboarder's experience to make sure that he or she can easily translate the skills from one to the other.

One primary bonus to practicing with Ollieblocks in a carpeted room, instead of a regular skateboard, is the danger factor. Sometimes when practicing with a skateboard with wheels, you can slip up and launch it. In a living room, there's an excellent chance that you'll smash something important that way! With an Ollieboard, your mom's Ming vase collection should be relatively safe.

Construction

The Ollieblocks themselves are made from a high strength plastic that should be able to take what you can dish out. The blocks attach using regular skate hardware, not included when buying only the Ollieblocks. The deck that comes with the Ollieboard complete is rather low-grade, which is why it comes at such a good price. The Ollieboard complete comes with everything set up, griptape, blocks and hardware. Ollieboard and Ollieblocks are made by Orion and Flowlab.

Between Softrucks and Ollieblocks, it's up to you. For many skaters and parents out there, the price alone will be enough incentive. Especialy when you are only wanting this for practice. But both are great practice systems.

Ollieboards and Ollieblocks will improve your ollie, help train your muscles, and keep your skills sharp when you can't skate outside, when you're just starting out and want some time to learn without rolling, or when you want to hard-core train to get a trick just right. The blocks might be loud when they land (especially on tile!), but they work well. The board that comes with the Ollieboard complete is fairly low quality - mine chipped and dented quickly, but I'm not planning to slap regular wheels and trucks on it and ride it at the park. For what it is designed for, the Ollieboard is a great deal and works extremely well. For skateboarders of all levels, I highly recommend the Ollieboard.