How to Nollie on a Skateboard (Video and Images)

The Nollie or nose ollie is a trick many people know about, but it's not usually the one you learn first. However, it is a great trick to learn even do it's not as fancy as an impossible or a tre-flip; I guarantee that you will make your friends get some letters in a game of skate if you learn to nollie.

You probably already know how to ollie, so it won't take that much time to learn the nollie, but it can still be challenging since you pop with a leg that you're not used to. It is the exact same motion as an ollie, but it probably will feel strange or unusual.

You can start learning other cool tricks like nollie kickflip once you know how to nollie, so let's look at how to nollie.

What is a Nollie?

A nollie is a jumping motion with your board like the ollie, except that you pop with your front foot instead of the back. They are basically the same trick, but most people will say that the nollie is harder to perform.

How to Nollie

The simplest way to explain a nollie is that you jump with the skateboard from your front foot. You need the pop and then slide your back foot to level the board again. Let's break it into steps to make it easy.

Nollie Stance

Keep your front foot on the nose of the board; your little toe should be by the edge, while your big toe should be a little further than the center of the nose. It will have a slight angle with the curve of the nose.

Your back foot placement should be just under the hardware on the back trucks. Some people like to have the back foot a little further down, so try it to be sure you do what is best for you.

Bend Your Knees

Bending your knees will help you to gather the momentum you need to nollie. Keep more weight on your back foot to make it easier to balance and get ready for the pop.

Bend down with your back and arms as well; this will make it much easier to get the board off the ground when you pop up.

Pop The Board And Level it

Start to stand up fast as if you were jumping, and when you are almost at the top, you need to use your front foot to pop the nose down; push the board down at a forward angle instead of straight down. Slide your back foot towards the tail right after the pop to level the board in the air.

Prepare For the Landing

You should aim to land as straightforwardly as possible. The biggest reason for turning in the air is that you twist your shoulders as you jump; you can fix this by recording yourself and actively seeing what you need to change and how you twist.

Don't slam the board down straight away. Try to keep your legs up for longer to get a better air time; this will make your nollies look cleaner, and you use less energy.

How to Practice Nollies

It is easier to nollie when you have a little bit of speed, so you should mainly practice them while rolling, but you should try to figure out the motion while standing still to avoid injuring yourself.

Try to find smooth flat ground that you can practice on; this makes it easier to balance and pop at a lower speed.

Nollie Over Obstacles

You should move on to jumping over small obstacles the second you can nollie without them; this makes it much easier to measure how high you can nollie, and it will feel much better to clear an obstacle.

Use Safety Gear

It is easy to hurt yourself while practicing new tricks, so make sure you at least wear a helmet. I also recommend using wrist guards since they are easily hurt when you fall.

Advanced Nollie Tricks

Try to learn more advanced nollie tricks like nollie kickflip or tre-flip to add more nollie tricks to your skillset. You will destroy your friends in a skate game if you take the time to master the different types of nollies.

Conclusion

You can learn a nollie faster if you already know how to ollie. The motion is basically the same, but it will feel unusual if you haven't tried nollie tricks before.

A nollie and switch ollie is the same trick if you say that you switch from regular to goofy or the opposite.

Practice on flat ground, and remember to use safety gear to avoid hurting yourself. Practice jumping over obstacles if you want more challenge and feel more accomplished.