Sports & Gaming
The Ollie
Lesson time 2:36 min
The ollie is an essential trick in skateboarding. Tony goes deep into the nuances of the ollie to help you perfect it.
Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars
Topics include: The Ollie
Teaches Skateboarding
Legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk teaches you how to take your skateboarding to the next level, whether you’re a beginner or a pro.
Claim OfferPreview
- The ollie is the foundation to almost every trick on the street and most tricks on ramps. But for the street, that is the way that you bring your board up in the air using only your feet. Through this course, I'm going to teach you different types of ollies, and that includes ollying on the flat ground, ollying over objects, ollying on ramps, and ollying vert. And they all stem from the same trick, but they're all very different techniques. The very basics of an ollie are snapping down your tail so that your board starts to go vertical. And you've snapped it hard enough that even your back wheels are coming off the ground. And as that's happening, you take your front foot and slide it forward in order to level out your board and bring it up to your back foot. Your legs will be bent, and then you gradually straighten your legs to keep that friction on your board and your feet until you land on the ground. You can continue to improve your ollies throughout your whole skate career. And that's way you learn how to do kick flips. That's the way you learn how to go over stuff. That's the way you learn how to get onto ledges, onto handrails, over gaps. I mean, the ollie is crucial to modern skateboarding. In order to figure out timing of an ollie, my best advice is to put your foot all the way on the edge of the tail to the point where you're actually rocking on where it lifts up. So your foot is not flat to the tail as you would normally skate. It's actually way up on top. And then that will give you a much quicker snap. It takes a lot of pressure, but it doesn't take a lot of pushing. Give it just enough pressure so that the board taps the ground. And that sends your board straight up. And as long as you're bending your back leg at the same time, the board will come up with your feet at the same time. The number one mistake people make when learning the ollie is timing, not hitting the tail properly, putting too much pressure on the back so that the tail just kind of thuds on the ground instead of snaps off the ground. And that's just a matter of figuring out what type of pressure to put on it. But it just takes practice. I mean, it's one of those things that's just repetition. And eventually, you just realize that you're doing it. Eventually you realize you're off the ground, and eventually you realize that your feet are sticking to the board. And when it clicks, it's awesome.
About the Instructor
A pro at 14 and the first to land a 900 at the X Games, Tony Hawk is one of the most influential skateboarders of all time. Now he’s helping you take your skateboarding to the next level. Joined by pros Lizzie Armanto and Riley Hawk, Tony teaches you beginner, intermediate, and advanced tricks in street, park, and vert. Learn how to push yourself, get up when you fall, and find your own style. Start reaching new heights.
Featured MasterClass Instructor
Tony Hawk
Legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk teaches you how to take your skateboarding to the next level, whether you’re a beginner or a pro.
Explore the Class