Ok, well obiously kickflips and ollies must be the most asked about trick to learn. Hopefully this guide will answer most problems, and if you have a new one please PM me and I will add it to the guide.

Ok, so the basics of the ollie.... the ollie is a trick that when performed correctly, gets you, and your board off the ground together, to go over, down, up and even onto things. The ollie is also the basis of most other flip tricks, and if your dream is to become a Pro Street skater, flip tricks over gaps, down stairs, off ledges and maybe even onto rails, is the mainstream stuff you will see in skate videos today. So here is how to perform the ollie.

Place the ball of your back foot, on the very tip of the tail, and your front foot somewhere between half way and 3/4 between the back bolts and the front bolts. Slam down with your back foot until your tail hits the ground, this is called the pop, once it hits the ground, jump up off your back foot, and simutaneously turn your front foot onto it's side and start sliding up. The board will rise off the ground, and the tail will come up with your back foot. Land cleanly over the bolts, and bend your knees. This may be easier to learn stationary first, rather than moving which can be harder, and scarier.

Now to the troubleshooting:

I can ollie, but am having trouble getting good height.
Ok, well there are certain tips that may help you, but majority or developing a clean, high ollie is simply through practice. It doesn't matter what trick you do, the key to getting better is practice, but here are some other tips that may help you.
a) Pop as hard as you can. The harder you pop, the faster the board will come up, so more time in the air.
b) Suck up your legs to your chest. If you do your ollie well enough, the board will stick to your feet, so the higher your feet are, the higher your ollie will be.
c) Jump as high as you can. When I say this I don't mean ollie as high as you can, you yourself has to jump up in the air to get the board off the ground. The higher your jump, the higher the board will come.

I can land slow moving ollies like 2/10 times, sometimes more, but it's really hard for me. The board usually goes up in front of me, i think it's because i have a subconscious fear that keeps me from raising my back foot.
I know this gets annoying, and I certainly hate people saying this when you've written a 4 paragraph thread on your problem with a trick. But this one word says a lot. COMMIT. Yes, you probably are scared, so try the ollie and fall over on purpose a couple of times to get used to what it's like. Commiting simply means you stick with the trick the whole way through, don't just wuss out half way. This applies to just about any trick in skateboarding. Don't feel ashamed if you find you can't commit to some things. For some people dropping in on a 15 foot half pipe may seem easier than ollieing down 3 stairs, and others might find ollieing 10 stairs is easier than dropping in on a 6 foot mini. Apart from commiting, you need to try and stay over your board. Leaning back will, if your lucky result in a ollie to manual, but on most occasions, it will be an ollie to sore bum. Try ollieing onto grass a couple of times to get used to it.

Ive been skateboarding about 7 days, but I cant seem to ollie, I know you have to pop and jump but is there something im missing?
Ok, this is probably the most common problem. This is about timing. I've seen people pop, then wait 1 second then jump and slide. The trick to these things, is they have to be as close together as possible. Pop, jump, slide. Get this in your head, then take it to your board. To get used to the timing, try popping then jumping as fast as you can with out the slide.

I can't ollie over things, is there something i do wrong? do you have to have alot of speed? Can someone give me some advise?
When ollieing over things, these things come into place. Speed, height and length. These things all have to be balanced. You can go really really fast to get over your obstacle, but not ollie as high as you normally would, and not clear the obstacle. You might get a nice, high, lengthy ollie but be going to slow. I would recommend going at a medium, nice comfortable pace. When you pop your ollie, try not to go straight up in the air like you are doing your highest ollie. Try sliding up in a more diagonal motion. I have a friend who I skate with, who has a really high ollie. However when he attempts stair sets, he tries doing his highest ollie, but would just about always clip his tail on the last step. I taught him to try and slide his foot in a more diagonal direction, and now he clears the last step by about a foot every time.

Im really pissed now cause ive been skating for a year, can ollie 2 decks, have ollied a four step and can pretty much kickflip, pop shuv it, and half cab. All of a sudden my ollies are going sideways to the point were i cant do a good straight ollie or a little crack in a curb, its screwing me up. Please help
This my friend, is all in the shoulders. When you do an ollie, you might want to look forward. This is quite natural, I know how it feels, trying to ride as parralel as you can, looking sideways and not knowing where you are headed. This is also a balanced thing. You can look ahead with your head, but try and keep your shoulders parralel with the board. I have come across this problem before, and it's not a nice one, but just try some flat ground ollies with your shoulders as parralel to the board as you can, and you'll sort it right out.

I'm pretty sure i'm doing it correctly stationary but when I have to do it moving at some point of the Ollie the board gets kicked down when I Flick. I don't have a video if me with a moving Ollie but I can get one but Basically what happens is when I pop the board and Slide to the Nose of the board my front foot sort of flicks down resulting in the board hitting the ground while i'm still in the air, at that point up to a foot off the board and then landing on the board. I can't figure out why I flick down, could it be because i'm sliding to fast or something?
Ok, well you shouldn't be flicking down, you know that, good. To fix this, you may be sliding to far up, right to the edge of the nose, and when your turn your foot back from the side position it was in when sliding, you are giving it a kickflip-like sort of flick. Just try sliding to the start of the nose before straightening out.

I'm practising with making Ollies and I can do it now a little bit.. But I tried it on grass ..
But now I'm trying it while I'm riding.. and I make an Ollie now.. but I can't land on my skateboard ..
My skateboard flys away in the air .. it go's to fast.. so if I land.. My skateboard is next to me.. and not under me.. Simple, as I said before you have to commit, you may also be leaning too far back, stay directly over your board.

I put my right foot on the end of the board and left foot in the middle. I slam tail down, and TRY to slide my foot up but my sliding foot just pushes the board down while im sliding my foot up and my rear wheels never even come off the ground. Please help me!
Ok, well when you are first learning the ollie, you want to slide your front foot up directly upwards, as if going towards your chest. Your might be sliding outwards in the direction you are going. Also you have to remember to position the front foot on its side to it can slide properly

i can ollie pretty good now but every now and then i land like in a nollie position
got any advice on how to fix this problem?
You might be sliding up to much, or leaning to far forward when you ollie. Try keeping as centered as you can, and only slide up to the bolts, or the very lastest at the start of the nose.

after i pop, during the sliding should i lean forward?
If you are just learning to ollie, try leaning foward slightly, not too much, but not too little that you will fall off the back of your board. If you have mastered your ollie, and your just wondering how to improve it, jump in a more vertical direction for more height, but more diagonally for more distance when jumping stairs and gaps.

Hey, I'm having a problem with ollies.
Every time I try it, my board goes straight like it's supposed to, and I do the drag and jump, but my back foot never lands on the board, and my front only lands 1/4 of the time.

Well, your if your not landing on it, you may be leaning too far back, and falling behind your board, and sometimes landing your front foot because your trying to keep it with you. Try leaning over the board more, and keeping your weight directly over your board



Alright, so heres the deal. Ive been skating for about a week. I can ollie. However, recently, I have been having trouble. I can do a little 2 inch crap ollie easily, and I land perfectly. I try a 5 inch ollie, and I can still land it, but I land with my toes off the board and my heels not off at all (Off center of the board, but still on the bolts). When I try my highest ollie (Usually about 8 inches) I either land almost half way off my toeside of the board, or more, to the point where I fall off. What could I be doing wrong?
Ok, well I've never heard of this problem before, but when you're trying really hard to get as high as you can, you might be pulling your feet off the board, or tilting your feet when you're at your peak as a natural movement to get higher, which is sliding your feet down. Get a video for me and slow mo it so I can see what's happening.


Ok, that's it so far. If any one has any other problems please just PM me or post it in this thread. Remember guys, apart from some other problems, like the ones above, the key to your ollie is just practice. Good luck!