Skate with Schlaudie: How to Ollie

An Ollie is the most basic but fundamental trick in skateboarding. Knowing how to ollie is the basis of learning flip tricks, grinds, and simply helps move around town getting up and down curbs.

There are open, never ending debates on the best way to start learning and getting comfortable with ollies but first and foremost you need to be comfortable with your skateboard. get a good, quality deck. It does not have to be expensive and it does not need to have expensive parts. Buying an already built complete from your local skate shop is great. If you can not find a built complete, getting an inexpensive deck such as the Schlaudie Lil' Logo with quality trucks, wheels and bearings works perfect and will last a new rider an extremely long time. Steer clear of Wal-Mart and target "skateboards". They are not the same as quality decks from your local skateshop. The wood is cheap, has no pop, snaps easily and the bearings and wheels do not move as freely as they should. Because of their severely low quality, they can potentially cause an extremely long learning curve and slow down your progression before it even has a chance to start. Go with quality. It is more expensive but ALWAYS better.

Now that you have a quality board, there are multiple ways to help learn the basics of an ollie. But, getting comfortable with the board is primary. So, I recommend that you get on the board and skate. Roll around. Go to the skatepark and learn to balance on the deck. Learn to turn, feel out the trucks and set them for your level of comfort. Ride the board with no thought process of tricks until you are comfortable enough on your deck pushing, turning and riding that it is done with ease.

After the comfort and balance is built, now we can work on learning tricks. I want to emphasize that your ability and speed to learn how to ollie is all on YOU. DO NOT worry about your friends, the guy you spoke to on Instagram or anyone in any videos. Do not let anyone make you feel bad about learning and do not get upset with how long it may take to start landing your first ollie. Both in my time skating growing up and meeting kids through the brand, I have seen beginners vary in learning. Some pick up ollies and move to other tricks quickly others take several months. Again, do not worry about how long it takes you and do not let anyone make you feel bad for taking longer. Go out, and have fun in the learning experience. THAT is what skating is about.

Once you are comfortable with your board, you want to get comfortable with the movement and motion of doing an ollie. An ollie is the basic pop or "jump" with a skateboard. It is the action of being able to pop your skateboard's tail while dragging your front foot upward in order to get all four wheels off the ground to get up and over obstacles.