Evan and Bowen's How-to

Bowen Leonard

Jacques ¾

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Introduction:

The ollie is the building block of skateboarding, as in you have to learn to do an ollie before you can do any other airborne tricks. The ollie could be considered as a “go-to” trick once you get good at it. The first time you skate a spot, you think of trying to ollie it first, it’s basic and easy. An ollie is a basic flat ground maneuver where the skateboarder and board leap into the air, remaining in contact throughout the jump. An ollie is a simple trick that realistically anyone can learn, all you really need is patience and a lot of practice to get it down. Alan “Ollie” Gelfand was the inventor of the ollie on vert, bowls and pipes. Rodney Mullen is the one that officially started doing it on the streets as in he was the first to do it on flat. We will try to explain the steps in learning this very essential trick.

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Materials:

• Complete skateboard (deck, grip tape, hardware, trucks, wheels, bearings) I personally ride a Girl deck, Grizzly Grip, Diamond Hardware, Venture Trucks, Bones Wheels, Bones Red bearings.
• Open, smooth surface. Concrete is the best when learning.
• Safety gear if preferred: helmets, knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards, and closed toe tennis shoes.
• Skateboarding shoes (might help if learning) Some good brands of shoes you could get are Lakai, Etnies, éS, DC, and Vans.

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Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Apply all safety gear(if needed) and put together complete skateboard. Apply helmet to head, elbow pads on elbows, knee pads on knees, and wrist guards on wrists.
2. Find a nice spot with a smooth surface and make sure that it is okay(legal) to ride there. Watch out for warning signs prohibiting no skateboarding. (no skateboarding signs)
3. Once you are there, warm up by riding around and getting a good feel for the board. Do this by standing on your board, whichever stance is comfortable, and pushing yourself around with your back foot. Avoid obstacles by leaning left and right and used to the board your riding. Once you are warmed up, you are ready to start!
4. Depending on whether you’re right foot (goofy footed) or left foot (regular footed) is in the front, whichever is comfortable, place your front foot right behind the upper bolts with your toes slightly hanging off the side of the board and have it at a slight angle pointing forward. Place your back foot on the tip of the tail right in the middle of the board straight across it.
5. Make sure that all of the pressure you put is on your back foot. This will be the prime resource of the “pop” for the trick. Pop is what enables the board to be lifted into the air. The more pop you have, the higher your trick will go.
6. Distribute your weight with eighty percent of your weight in your back foot and twenty percent of it on your back foot.
7. Bend your knees at a 45 degree angle and lean your upper body forward so you can easily distribute your weight.
8. Push down as hard as you can with your back foot and start a jumping motion as high as you can.
9. Once the back wheels start to lift off the ground and your back leg is straight, start to push your front foot up toward the nose of the board and begin to jump. When you push your front foot, it should start to lift up and the board should start to lift up with you.
10. Make sure that your shoulders are even with your nose and tail, because you don’t want to lean too far forward or too far back, then you might slip out. The nose is the front of the board where the board starts to concave and form a curved, upward shape, and the tail is the same thing only on the back of the board.
11. The front foot should level out the Ollie, and your front foot should start to come back toward your front bolts once the Ollie is at its peak.
12. Make sure that you keep your feet right over the board and push down, so the board comes in contact with the ground again.
13. Once you land, bend your knees to take the impact and hopefully, you will ride away.
14. As soon as you feel comfortable with the ollie flat and standing still, you can start learning it while riding. Once you get comfortable with that, you can start going up curbs and even take it off of ledges and stairs.
15. Once you’ve got it down, you can start to learn to do kick flips and other basic tricks you should learn as a skateboarder.

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Hazards and Safety Precautions:

1. Make sure that if you are around other people, they are a safe distance away so that there is a less risk of running into them or slipping out and hitting them in the shins. This way, everyone is more safe.
2. Warning: The board can and will hit you in many places including: shins, face, hands, and other body parts.(private area)
3. Always wear the right safety equipment: helmets, pads, shoes, etc. This will lessen the risk of getting hurt from falls. They may not prevent major injuries, but they will help prevent them from occurring.
4. Always watch out for other skaters, or curbs, ledges, cars, etc. (any objects) Don’t hurt yourself.
5. PEBBLES! A skater’s worst nightmare is pebbles. You could just be riding along minding your own business and then out of nowhere... boom! You hit a pebble and go flying off the board. Injury can and will occur from pebbles. So beware and watch out.
6. If you’re going too fast, never just jump off, make sure that you always slow down first, then jump off.

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Conclusion:
Rodney Mullen opened a huge door for skaters around the world by doing the first ollie on flat ground which opened up a whole new perspective on the skateboarding world. Once you learn the ollie, every other trick starts opening up for you and will be a lot easier to learn. With the ollie being the base, starting trick you should learn, it is really important to take your time on it and perfect it before you start trying any other tricks. Once you learn this flat ground, airborne maneuver, skating will become a lot easier for you and it will become more exciting. Take your time, practice, be safe, and have fun with it.