Ollie (skateboarding trick)

An ollie is an aerial skateboarding trick during which the skateboarder does not grab his board with his hands, toes or accessories attached to the skateboard.

Performing an ollie starts with the skateboarder standing on the board in his regular stance. The skateboarder jumps up and as he is about to take off he kicks the tail of the board down. The kick gives the front end of the board upwards momentum and as the tail hits the ground it rebounds bringing the board completely airborne. When the board takes off its nose is much higher off the ground than the tail. The skateboarder slides his front foot up and forward on the griptape. The friction between the shoe and the griptape levels the skateboard and takes it further off the ground.

The ollie was invented by Alan "Ollie" Gelfand in 1978 on vert and it remained as a vert only trick until 1981 when Rodney Mullen first performed the trick on flat ground.

The highest officially measured ollie from flat ground is 44.5 inches performed by Danny Wainwright, a British skateboarder, in 1999. That particular ollie was done in a competition sponsored by Element Skateboards and in front of a live crowd. Although Jose Marabotto from Peru is seen on a video from the early 90's clearing a stack of boards estimated at over 50 inches. Ollies much higher than this (e.g. over fences and suchlike) can be done by performing an ollie from a ramp or bump in the ground. The highest official switch ollie is 40.125 inches performed by Alex Bland in a similar switch ollie competition.

The basic ollie variations are nollie, switch ollie and fakie ollie. Nollie is an ollie where the skater, instead of kicking the tail, kicks the nose of his board with his front foot. Nollie can not be made in fakie or switch stance because then it becomes either a switch ollie or a fakie ollie. Switch ollie is an ollie performed in switch stance and fakie ollie is an ollie performed when rolling backwards.