How to Nollie

Last Updated: March 13, 2023

The nollie is similar to an ollie, but for this skateboard trick, you'll be using your front foot to pop off the nose of the board, instead of your back foot. It's a fun trick because you get to use your non-dominant foot to pop the board instead of focusing just on your dominant one. Once you're comfortable on the board and know how to skate and get some momentum going, you can get ready for mastering the nollie. If you want to get started, just hop over to Step 1.

1

Get some momentum going.

Doing a nollie straight up without moving is much harder than doing it after you've got some speed going. This will help you gather the momentum you need to pop up, and will give you height and control over your board. Take a running start before you get on your board to pick up the speed.

2

Place your front foot up on the nose of the board.

Slide your front foot up to the nose of your board and get a nice weight position on the ball of your foot. This may be a tricky position to get comfortable with, and it will take a bit of practice. You have to feel steady here before you can move on.

3

Slide your back foot to the middle of the board.

Put that back foot in the middle of your trucks. This will feel a little funny at first, but you'll get used to it. The closer you move your foot to the front bolts, the higher you'll be able to nollie. However, the closer your back foot is to the front of your board, the less stable you'll be, so if you're more of a beginner, you can move that back foot a little further back.
- Once you've positioned your front and back feet, you have to get comfortably balanced in this position before you try the nollie. If you feel off-kilter, then you won't be able to land the trick.

4

Bend your knees.

This will help you gather the momentum you need to pop your board. While in most skate tricks, you'll be told to lean forward a little, for the nollie, you can actually lean back on your back foot a bit. You'll need to lift and raise that back knee before you raise your front one. You should also bend down with your back and arms to help yourself get nice and low. Your hands should fall somewhere between your knees and your ankles before you pop up.

5

Pop the nose and push it forward.

Use your front foot to pop your nose as hard as you can. Pop the board at an angle, away from you, not straight down. Now slide your back foot to the tail, just like you would when doing an ollie. This will help with leveling the board out.

6

Get the board in midair.

After popping the nose of your board, you should be able to get it in midair. Use your arms to help you and move them up, away from your sides as you move up to help your balance and height. Work on not shifting over to the left or right too much and staying as centered as you can.
- At the highest point of your jump, your back foot will stop dragging and your board and your knees should be leveled out, both at the same position horizontally, and they should be parallel, too.

7

Ride away clean.

Keep your board level as you land to stay centered. Make sure to maintain your balance as you ride away from the nollie in a secure position.

8

Kick your game up a notch.

Once you've learned the basic nollie, you can also work on doing a nollie kick flip, nollie 360, and nollie-tre flips. And if you need to brush up on your ollie, then you can try that, too. Who knows what you'll do next! Take your board the streets, skate parks, or even stairs and you'll be able to master some tricky moves in no time.

Warnings

You may fall.

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Landing incorrectly may cause your board to snap.

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