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Having trouble relearning ollies

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king
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2018 12:42 am Reply with quote
Joined: 17 Oct 2018 Posts: 31
I used to skate regularly in the 80s and then took a big break from it and getting back into it now. I'm trying to relearn ollies and I'm having a lot of trouble with them. I used to be able to ollie reasonably well in the 80s but most of my attempts now are pretty terrible.

There are many problems with them but my main issue is the board turning frontside when I intend to ollie straight. Many people say that turning your head or shoulders will cause the board to turn. Ive had a family member watch me and have also recorded video footage and it's pretty clear that many times, my shoulders are not turning. I also notice there are times when playing back footage, I can see some very slight turning of my shoulders though even when my shoulders are stationary, my board still turns by a large degree.

I actually wonder if it could be my front leg that's steering the board around. Though there have been times when the front leg comes off the skateboard and lands on the ground in front of me and the board still turns frontside.

Could you take a look at this video and try and work out what is causing my board to turn frontside? During this particular practise session, I had a lot of trouble with my back foot coming off the board but it's not always like that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98hCV4LbWno
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plankskate
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2018 3:38 am Reply with quote
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Joined: 04 Dec 2006 Posts: 830 Location: Canada
Straighten your front foot out more. Looks like the slight turn in your foot is causing you to kick to the left rather than straight out/up.

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king
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2018 3:51 am Reply with quote
Joined: 17 Oct 2018 Posts: 31
Thanks for the tip! I'll try that right now. Though I find it tricky to do precise physical movements - I guess partly due to the fact that I'm only in the air very briefly. And combining that with other physical movements. There are so many things going on within just one ollie - I find it mentally challenging as well as physical.
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king
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2018 4:59 am Reply with quote
Joined: 17 Oct 2018 Posts: 31
Ive just come back from my latest practise session. I tried straightening my front leg but I don't think I was successful or perhaps not straightening it enough. The board kept turning frontside. There were one or two occasions when my front foot only landed partially on the board - on the toe side edge. So I guess that would indicate that for at least those attempts, I was sliding the foot forwards or toeside and yet the board was still turning frontside.


As I predicted, I found it just about impossible to fully straighten the front leg. My time in the air is so brief. And I assume you'd have to straighten that leg and then bend it again prior to landing? I just don't have enough time in the air to do that. As time went on, I got more sloppy with my technique as I was getting more tired. I did manage to do one straight ollie at the very end but there was hardly any pop with that one. I barely got off the ground.

Another thing I notice is that I'm very inconsistent with my ollies. There was another day where I managed to do two really good, straight ollies in a row with pretty good height. But Ive never been able to repeat that.
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king
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2018 5:02 am Reply with quote
Joined: 17 Oct 2018 Posts: 31
Woops! I just reread your post. I now note that you typed 'foot' rather than leg. So you reckon my foot is slanted and not parallel with the edge of the grip tape? I'll try and correct that next time.

As you probably noticed, I'm using a pretty old board from the 80s. It was actually my very first skateboard. I'll be getting a new (popsical) board soon. I wonder if that will help in any way.
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Buddur
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2018 6:44 am Reply with quote
Joined: 04 Aug 2012 Posts: 1095 Location: Western Pennsylvania
Welcome to the club. Taking time off can really set you back. I know firsthand (alot of us do), so I feel for you.

Set your goals small, try simple pops with just getting your nose (and not necessarily the tail) off the ground. And when you're at home work on your pops on some carpet.

By the end of your video you were staying on your board. Now do this while riding. And yes, a popsicle board will pop easier than an oldskool deck.

Good for you for getting back into skating. Just keep at it.

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king
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2018 8:46 am Reply with quote
Joined: 17 Oct 2018 Posts: 31
Thanks for the good words, Buddor. I found most of the basics okay after taking that super long break. Tacking was easy and pretty much automatic. Though as you see, my ollies have really suffered. Back in the 80s, I could ollie up over curbs and a low ledge. Though now that seems like a distant memory. Looks like Ive lost power slides too - got to relearn them.

I'm looking forward to receiving this new board. Should hopefully arrive in the mail this week.
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JDN
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2018 3:41 pm Reply with quote
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Joined: 23 Dec 2015 Posts: 654 Location: dirty south
Looks like progress to me. I would definitely need something with more concave and nose to get off the ground. Dont overthink it just have fun be glad u can still ride!

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king
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2018 10:30 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 17 Oct 2018 Posts: 31
JDN wrote:
Looks like progress to me.



Not much progress for me. My ollies are very inconsistent. On a previous day, I managed to do two perfect ollies in a row - dead straight, nicely leveled and surprisingly high. But all the ones after that were terrible. And sometimes there'll be some problem present in one ollie and the next ollie will have a different kind of problem.

Yea I try not to get too frustrated but it's hard. The ollie was one of the tricks I was most looking forward to when I got back into skating. Though of course there are other aspects of skating that I can enjoy. When I feel I'm ready enough, there's a local skate park I can try that's very close to where I live. It's got very low / shallow concrete transitions - ideal for someone who has been out of the game for a long time.
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king
Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2018 4:50 am Reply with quote
Joined: 17 Oct 2018 Posts: 31
For today's practise session, I started off trying ollies stationary as usual. And this time around, I tried keeping my front foot more parallel and less slanted but unfortunately, the board kept turning frontside.

So then I did what some people suggested - tried ollies while rolling on hard ground. I know many of you take this for granted but man, that was scary. At first, I didn't even have the confidence to pop the tail. When I tried to ollie, I'd simply jump. And sometimes I would pop but very slightly. As time went on, I actually did some proper ollies and also semi-ollies. There were a number of times where the board turned frontside but also a number of times where I ollied relatively straight. Also times where the board would turn frontside very slightly. I noticed that quite a few times when I ollied straight, my balance wasn't quite right when I landed on the board. Once I fell back and almost landed on my back. And there were a number of times when I landed too far forward and flipped the board with the nose though I was always able to land my feet on the ground those occasions. I think when I try and concentrate really hard on olieing straight, I end up putting my weight too far forward for the landing.

I think I'm going to continue practising ollies on the move and give stationary ollies a break. When I do them stationary, all I seem to be doing is reinforcing bad habits. Most attempts end up with the board turning frontside. Occasionally, there will be a straight ollie once in a while but that seems to be down to luck more than anything else. At least with moving ollies, I have a higher number of straight ones.


Last edited by king on Wed Oct 24, 2018 10:56 pm; edited 5 times in total
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