An ollie is a jump performed on a skateboard where the rider and the board leave the ground together, without the skater ever grabbing the board with their hands. It’s the most fundamental trick in skateboarding, and nearly every other trick builds on it. The board appears to stick to the skater’s feet mid-air, but what’s actually happening is a precise sequence of foot movements that launches the board upward using leverage, a snap off the ground, and friction.
How an Ollie Works
The ollie looks like magic, but it follows straightforward physics. The skater crouches down, then explosively straightens their legs and swings their arms upward to accelerate their body into the air. At the same time, the back foot stomps down hard on the tail of the board (the curved end at the back). This creates a seesaw effect: the tail slams into the ground while the nose shoots upward at a steep angle.
When the tail hits the pavement, the ground pushes back with a large upward force, bouncing the board into the air. Now the board is airborne and rotating, nose-up. This is where the front foot takes over. The skater slides their front foot forward and upward along the deck, using the grip tape’s friction to drag the board higher. As the front foot reaches the nose, it pushes down, leveling the board out so it becomes parallel to the ground at the peak of the jump. Meanwhile, the back foot lifts to let the tail rise. When the timing is right, the back foot and tail rise together in perfect sync, creating that illusion of the board being glued to the skater’s shoes.
Where to Put Your Feet
Foot placement is everything. Your back foot sits in the center of the tail, with the ball of your foot right on the curved lip so you can snap it down with force. Your front foot goes roughly in the middle of the board, just behind the front truck bolts. Too far forward and you won’t get the nose to rise; too far back and you lose control of the board during the slide.
At the peak of the ollie, both feet should end up over the truck bolts, front and back, with the board level beneath you. That’s the target position. Getting there consistently is where the practice comes in.
Who Invented the Ollie
In the summer of 1977, a 14-year-old named Alan Gelfand was skating a pool in Florida and working on a lipslide when something unexpected happened: all four wheels left the wall. His friends called it the “ollie pop,” after Gelfand’s nickname. About a year and a half later, Gelfand debuted a more refined version, the “ollie air,” in front of photographers in Southern California. But this was still a ramp and pool trick, performed on vertical surfaces where momentum helped lift the board.
The real revolution came in 1982, when Rodney Mullen figured out how to do an ollie on flat ground. By using the tail-snap and foot-slide mechanics on a level surface, Mullen made the board leap without any ramp, wall, or hand assistance. Other skaters thought it was a magic trick. That single adaptation gave birth to modern street skating. Without the flatground ollie, there would be no kickflips, no heelflips, no grinds off curbs or stair sets. It remains the foundation of virtually every street trick performed today.
How Long It Takes to Learn
Expect a learning curve. Most beginners can get the board a few inches off the ground within a few days of focused practice, but these early ollies tend to be “rockets,” where the nose points skyward and the board never levels out. Getting from that stage to a clean, level ollie typically takes one to two months of regular skating. Some people get there faster, some slower. Going from a decent ollie to one that’s genuinely comfortable and consistent, high enough to clear obstacles and land smoothly while rolling, can take closer to a year.
The wide variation in timelines is normal. Coordination, balance, and how often you practice all matter more than natural talent. The consensus among experienced skaters is that the ollie takes “some days to learn, multiple years to master.”
Why Your Ollie Looks Like a Rocket
The most common beginner mistake is the rocket ollie, where the nose stays pointed up and the board never flattens out. This happens when you pop the tail before your body has risen high enough. If your center of gravity is still low when the nose swings up, your front foot can’t slide forward to level the board. Instead, the rising nose pushes your foot backward, and the board stays at a steep angle.
The fix is counterintuitive: you need to jump before you pop. Extend your hips, knees, and ankles upward first, getting your body moving, and then snap the tail. This gives your front foot the height and freedom it needs to slide up the board and push the nose down. Another common cause is stomping the tail too hard or pulling it too far back, which sends the nose into your front foot at a bad angle instead of letting the board rise vertically. A lighter, more precise pop paired with an earlier jump solves most rocket ollie problems.
Ollie Variations by Stance
Once you have a standard ollie, the same mechanic opens up in different stances:
- Nollie (nose ollie): You pop off the nose of the board instead of the tail, with your front foot doing the snapping and your back foot doing the slide. You’re still facing your natural direction.
- Switch ollie: You ride with your feet reversed from your natural stance (a regular-footed skater rides goofy, or vice versa) and ollie from that position. It’s essentially learning the trick with the opposite feet, which feels like writing with your non-dominant hand.
- Fakie ollie: You’re in your natural stance but rolling backward. The pop still comes from the tail, but because you’re moving in reverse, the mechanics feel slightly different. Of the variations, fakie ollies are generally the easiest to pick up.
How High Can an Ollie Go
A typical beginner ollie clears an inch or two. An experienced street skater might ollie 10 to 14 inches consistently, enough to get up a curb or over a small obstacle. Competitive skaters can clear well over two feet. The world record for the highest flatground ollie is 45 inches (114.3 cm), set by Aldrin Garcia at the Maloof High Ollie Challenge in Las Vegas in February 2011. That’s nearly four feet off the ground, with nothing but foot technique and a standard skateboard.