Cross Academy basics
O llie
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I've ollied shortboards and I can tell you some of the differences, but I didn't start ollieing on a shortboard, I learned it on a longboard. People who come out of shortboarding and cross over are going to have a different learning experience. When I ollie shortboards I feel like there's no weight coming up at my feet, and my front foot hits the kink in the nose in an instant. So I figure, if you're crossing over from shortie ollies, what's different is you're going to feel intense weight and pressure coming up very fast at your front leg, and also there is going to be a large distance that your front foot has to cover to drag it to the nose.
The best way to prepare and train for this trick would be to practice kicking your knee way up to your chest and get a good stretch. While kicking your knee up, extend your back leg until you're on tip toe. You can do basketball layups off your back leg as a training exercise. Trouble is, the ollie isn't really a jump off your back leg, it only looks like it is. It's really a jump off your front leg, which is dominant, and then an extension with the back leg to pop the tail. After that the front foot, which you jumped off, is kicked to drag the board up. It's a rapid sequence of three or four motions. It's hard to get the sequence quickly and with the right timing. It'll take months to perfect the motion. Check out the exercises section as a way to break it down.
Rolling into the frame slowly, I start in the narrow tail stance, feet less than shoulder width apart. It will feel odd because there's a lot of nose in front of you. From the standpoint of the whole longboard style, it makes sense, because you always like to leave room to go to the nose. Also, you can use the same stance as you would on a shortboard ollie, there's just more nose out in front.
I crouch down to get some spring for the jump. I put my back foot right on the tip of the tail, even hanging the side of my foot off the edge a bit. You get maximum leverage for the snap this way. I like to have my back foot rolled slightly toward the nose, because I try to drag my back foot up the board on its inside edge. You'll see this better in a few frames. This is very important so it's good to prepare for it from the get go. You want to have your back foot flexed or wound up so that you can unload into the snap.
I start to rise up into the jump. My left leg is my dominant jumping leg, and that's my front leg. The power in the jump is off my front leg. The timing here is crucial. You can't pop the tail too early. You actually jump, or at least unweight strongly, before you snap the tail down. The timing is jump, snap, kick.
Notice how I'm already starting to roll my front foot onto its outside edge for drag friction. I throw my arms up for more lift. The jump is fully underway. At this point I shouldn't have much weight on the board.
The pressure of the heavy board coming up at you has the glide feel of all longboard moves that are done right. It's a rush to be in control of this plank flying at you. When I do this on a shortboard, it feels "flicky."
From the rising jump I extend my back leg while unloading the wound up back foot into the tail. The tail should strike the ground sharply and audibly. The timing is good here, as the front foot is so high up already, that when I snap the tail, it's out of the way. If your snap is early, the board will bounce off your front sole a couple of inches off the ground. The board won't get much vetical angle at all.
My back leg is extended all the way to the pointed toe. Front foot dragged rapidly to the nose. My front knee motion is like a kick. The knee is up close to my chest, but this can be done even more extremely, all the way into the chest for more lift. I like to try to get the board as vertical as possible between back and front legs. I find this makes for the best possibility of leveling it in the air.
Notice how both the front and back feet are rolled on their side all the way. The soles are perpendicular to the board. This makes maximum friction and both feet help pull the heavy board into the air. If you get a good bounce from your snap, all your feet are doing is guiding the bounce up. The shin pad looks necessary here, but it really isn't. On a regular ollie I usually drag my front foot up all the way before the board can hit my shin. It's a very rapid motion. It's the other basics where more board contact happens. While you're learning, and even when you get good, the shin pad is a good idea.
If you were able to get a good jump, a good snap, got the board vertical, and maintained contact with both feet, it should be pretty easy once in the air to level the board. At this point there is a glide feel from the heavy board. The motion of pushing the front foot down is pretty obvious and you should get that right away. The back foot motion can be tricky and hard to get. Flexing both feet, lifting your toes up, makes it more likely that you won't lose contact. This is harder for the back foot, since you had to unflex it strongly to pop it. Flex it again as the board comes up beneath you, and try to draw the board up.
On a regular ollie like this my goal would be to level it in the air and land on the front wheels or with both at the same time. In the other basics levelling it is less important than the footwork.
Notice how my stance has changed to a stance closer to the nose and wider than the start.
The last thing I do is compress a bit to absorb the landing. I gather my arms back down to regain balance and control.
