From the article: How to Ollie on a Skateboard
Learning how to ollie is strange. Some skaters learn in just a few hours of practicing, while others can take more than a year! I have the How to Ollie instructions, but how did YOU learn to ollie? What problems did you run into, and how did you get past them? Tell your learning to ollie story here, and if you have any advice, share it! Share your Story
Learnt it alone.
- I remember when i was 5 years old. I got my first tony hawk game: THPS 4. I liked it, and started practising stuff with my toy board. Then i got THPS 3. I remember it came with some videos showing the development team doing ollies. By that time, there was no Youtube, and i didn't have an internet conenction. So, i watched the video about 50 times, and tried to repeat that. It took me about 2 years (from 7 to 9) to get the ollie down. I know 2 years is a lot of time, but i feel proud, because nobody taught me. Nobody skateboards in my town. When i learnt how to ollie, I taught my friends how to do it. Now we all skate happily. ;)
- —Guest PycMot
A WHOLE YEAR! (if not, more)
- Ok, so, you want to learn to ollie, right? Every skater does, but it takes patience. I know it does, and you're bound to get pissed off, but everyone does. If you are learning to ollie, and you put you're front foot in the middle of the board, stop. Put it about an inch-inch and a half behind the front bolts. If you're foot is in the middle, that can throw you off balance when you pop the tail. Watch some instructional videos, too. They help a lot. Don't give up on ollying. Skating is rough. Thanks to YouTube and about.com, i can ollie about a foot in the air. Get to poppin'!
- —Guest skater boy97
Keep Practicing
- When i first started skating......I sucked.But then i started practicing like 3hrs a day and skating with my friends and i then finally learned how to ollie in like 3days.If your learning how to ollie hook up with some skaters at a skatepark and ask them for help or learn by yourself.Now that i learned how to ollie i can do kickflips 360 shuv-its and a lot more,just keep practicing and you will get a hang of it.
- —Guest Escaleto
Long Time
- When I first got my board, about 4 years ago, I thought it would be a piece of cake... Well I couldn't have been more wrong. I tried skating for about 3 months and couldn't do anything. So I did the one thing I shouldn't have; I quit. Then just about 2 weeks ago, 1/10/2009, I got the strangest vibe to get back into it. So then I started making this crazy amount of progress I didn't think was even possible. I had my ollie in only 4 hours of practice. What happened in that 4 year span? I was trying to force something on myself that wasn't natural to me. I wanted to skate because it was popular in my area back then. Now it isn't and I had the feeling that I should do it. So now I feel as if it is natural to me. When I first tried to ollie I was quite scared so did it in the grass. That didn't work; so I built up some courage and moved to concrete... It took me about 20 minutes to get the correct movements down. So the moral of this story is: don't force things upon yourself.
- —Guest Buskirkzz
Getting the feeling down
- For stationary ollies, remember the motion: pop, jump and slide at the same time. One of the most important things for you to land your ollie is your foot placement. I think more about the back foot which pops. You might think that putting it on the edge is better for a better pop but you might find that you cant land it.. some people do, others dont. if you have this problem dont try to change the way you jump, just put your backfoot closer to the centre of the board and ollie. Also, you have to remember and adjust to the length of your board, since sliding too much may flick it or kick it forwards. Place your feet around in different parts of the board until you can bend your knees freely and you feel good. Then say out loud: pop, jump slide (or) pop slide jump. think about it for a bit and then try the ollie - dont be scared to land it. if you land it with courage and strength, the pressure on the bolts will keep the board still and prevent injury. its all about motion and courage.
- —Guest Cross Davinsky
think to much
- When I first started I tried it on grass but i couldn't get enough pop so I dragged out a big bit of cardboard. This way i got pop but didn't roll away crazily all the time. I spent ages doing that thinking that i wouldn't be able to on concrete and one day i just did it. Don;t think about it oncer you;ve almost got it just keep practicing.
- —Guest guest boy
Months!!
- It took me a couple of months to learn how to ollie stationery and a couple more months to do it moving!! But what i say is PRACTICE! COMMITMENT! AND VIDEO YOURSELF!! it really helped me when i taped myself to see where i was going wrong; i wasnt bringing my knees up to my chest. So, don't give in to the stress, after getting the ollie down, soon after you'd be jumping down steps with 360 360 flips, etc.
- —Guest Hoochoomama
stop getting mad
- when i first started doing ollies i wasnt really scared about getting hurt but my problem was i kept trying but couldnt get it so then i got mad,dont get mad(i learned that the hard way)your just wasting time and actually making yourself even worst at olling it doesnt matter how long it takes as long as you practice and not get mad.
- —Guest practice99
took me a year
- it took me a year to learn to ollie. i used to push my front foot down before i even popped properly. Alot of people i noticed do that when they are starting out. after i got it i was really pleased and after that one i could do it pretty much all the time. so i practised it moving, than started ollieing over curbs and off them. than over skateboards on the side
- —Guest jig
thank you about.com
- i've been a casual skater for a bout 6 years never really trying to do tricks but i would skate down to the shops and down to the skate park with my friends to fit in. i watched the how to ollie video on this website and after trying for about 10 minutes i did my first ollie in my 6 years of skating!! if you just analyse what your doing right and wrong you get it in the end and it is so much fun and exilerating!
- —Guest sk8r newb
Shoulders over the board
- when i originaly learned to Ollie, i thought it would be safer to try it stationary on carpet or grass. after only a short time i had it down. The problems arose when i tried to take what i thought i knew to the streets; and found out just how hard and rough that smooth pavement is. I had developed a bad habit of twisting my body backside while Ollieing, and it hurt to go flying off my board after landing sideways in a rolling Ollie attempt. It was basically back to the drawing board. I had to learn all over again, outside, on the pavement rolling. The advice that helped me the most was "shoulders over the board". what that means is keeping your shoulders parallel to the board at all times - before (during setup, during, and after your Ollie. (from a birds-eye view, think of it as the board remaining always in line with you're shoulders, not peeking out from being directly underneath you). Do not fear the rolling Ollie, it's much more satisfying to land. so: shoulders over the board!
- —Guest Mitche Horn
how i learned to ollie
- first ill teach you how to ollie, you have to put your backfoot on the back of the board, called the tail, put some some pressure on it and you do it at the same time with your front foot in the middle of the board.then you put that in together with your front foot moving on the top of the board when youre in the air. well then you tie it altogether and practice, practice,practice, and you can do an ollie. the way i learned to do an ollie is i did everything i just said, and practiced alot. BELIEVE ME. just like they say practice makes perfect.
- —Guest sk8r coolness
1 year
- i saw everyone do it so i tried it on my side walk i broke my arm. so dont try what you see everyone doing start step by step.
- —Guest sk8ter
5 weeks
- It took me 5 WEEKS to get the ollie right. I EVEN QUIT SKATING i got so mad, but that was a big mistake, if you decide to stop skating for a while, you will practically forget how to stand on the board. Dont GIVE UP!!! it is so worth it, now i can ollie down a 4 set!!! IT IS AMAZING Wat an ollie can let you do while you are skating, but dont go to a skatepark unless you can do an ollie, or a kickflip, cuz all of the gerks will call u a poser, trust me, i would know
- —Guest Sk8r Kid
2 months
- don't practice inside or on the grass! because when you can do it on the grass for example you then go onto concrete and you fall and you hate it! lol yeah so just practice, moving, on the concrete/road/avenue. its working for me
- —Guest williambo
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