Learn the nollie: prerequisites, five stages from the nose pop standing to a rolling nollie, typical mistakes and why the pop force comes from the front.
The nollie is an ollie where the front foot pops and the back foot follows: you press the nose down, jump, and the board follows you into the air. It looks like a mirrored ollie but needs its own feel, and you learn it in five stages.
If you can ollie, you already have half of it. In ollie, kickflip and 360-flip, seven experienced skaters shared a common "jumping" synergy in a muscle measurement, i.e. a fixed muscle pattern for the jump itself [1]. Your nervous system has the template. The only new thing is that your front foot is now the impulse giver.
For the classic ollie, the pop was measured: experienced skaters produced a peak of about 2.22 body weights because the tail is driven hard into the ground [2]. No such measurement exists for the nollie. The principle is the same, just on the nose.
How long it takes is experience: with a solid ollie, you often land the first small nollie within a few sessions. High and clean takes longer.
Put the ball of the front foot on the nose and the back foot centred over the bolts. Press the nose down until it snaps and let the tail come up. Milestone: the board stands cleanly on the nose 8 of 10 times and tips back.
Pop the nose and jump at the same time, without the board needing to leave the ground yet. It is about timing pressure and jump. Milestone: while jumping you recognise when the board follows, 6 of 10 times.
Slide the back foot slightly towards the tail while jumping to pull the board flat. This is the mirror image of the ollie, where the front foot slides forward. Milestone: the board comes down on all wheels at once 5 of 10 times.
Roll up at walking pace and do the nollie on flat ground. Stay on ground without cracks. Milestone: you land with both feet over the axles 6 of 10 times.
Lay a line of chalk or a piece of cardboard and nollie over it. Height does not count here yet. Milestone: you clear the line cleanly 8 of 10 times.
Film check: Put the phone on the ground at the side and film eight nollie attempts. Watch two things: does the nose audibly clack, and does the back foot follow the board? A clean nollie looks like a mirrored ollie in slow motion. If the board lands flat and both feet are over the axles, you have the pattern; if the nose falls to the ground first, the pop is still too soft.
The nollie lands like an ollie, and the landing is the load. In an ollie off a 45.7 centimetre platform, researchers measured 4.74 body weights in the first 30 to 80 milliseconds in seven top skaters [2]. Calculated, that is about 330 kilograms on your legs at 70 kilograms body weight. No such measurements are published for the nollie; a similar order of magnitude is to be expected.
In a survey of 197 skaters in Spain, ligament sprain was the most common injury at 39.6 percent, the ankle alone 39.3 percent, and it was the most likely to recur at 70.1 percent [3]. In a measurement, pros had a smaller inversion angle and better balance than amateurs [4]. Train the ankles before you chase height.
Wrist and forearm make up more than 50 percent of skate injuries [5], and helmet use across 17 studies was 0 to 41.7 percent [6]. No nollies over stairs or gaps until the foundation is solid. This guide does not replace supervised training.
Think "flick, don't press". Many keep the front foot on the nose too long. Imagine flicking a bottle cap away with your foot: short impulse, gone immediately. Film yourself from the side: if the nose audibly clacks and the back foot follows the board, you are on the right track.
A nollie is an ollie from the nose: the front foot pops the nose down, the back foot pulls the board along, and you jump. It is considered the mirror image of the ollie and is the basis for nollie flips and nollie ramp tricks.
In five stages: nose pop standing, pop plus jump, pull the back foot up, nollie at walking pace, nollie over a line. A secure ollie while rolling is the prerequisite. Start on smooth ground, not at an edge.
For most people yes, because the front foot has less pop feel than the back one. There are no scientific comparisons between ollie and nollie. Experience: the feel for the pop comes through repetitions, not strength.
Yes. The nollie kickflip requires a clean nollie. If the nollie still wobbles, the flip becomes chance. First a secure nollie, then a kickflip from the nose.
When the board lands flat, both feet are over the axles and you roll on. As a guide in this article: eight of ten attempts over the chalk line. Height counts only afterwards. If you land tail first or have to step off, you do not have a clean pattern yet.
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