Cross Academy basics
C rollie
Ollie to Front Cross Step
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Many longboarders have attempted to do shortboard tricks on their gear, and usually what it looks like is, well, somebody doing a shortboard trick on a longboard. If you've ever wondered what sort of street tricks can only be done with a longboard, you've come to the right place.
In order to start mixing cross step tricks with ollie tricks, I had to build a few basics. The most central Cross Academy basic is the ollie to front cross step, or cross ollie or crollie for short. Now the standard ollie on a longboard is fun, and certainly a challenge, but it doesn't make much sense, equipmentwise. You could use the same effort and technique and blast a shortboard twice as high. The crollie basic makes sense within the Surface Motion longboard style. You start with an ollie and while the board is going up you start walking up it. It feels like you're walking in mid air.
Convention for describing cross steps
Because the front and back feet switch in cross stepping, it can be confusing to describe parts of the trick where my legs are crossing or uncrossing. I'm going to refer to my front foot as my "old front foot" when that foot is about to be passed by the walking foot. I will call the leg that is currently crossing in front my "new front foot." I may refer to my "original front foot" meaning the one that was forward at the beginning of the sequence. Or I may point out specifically which leg it is, right or left, that is noteworthy. However I do it, it's bound to be confusing. Try to get the cross step flow from the pictures. If you practice the walk on the carpet or sidewalk before you try it on the board, it may help.
I start in the narrow tail stance. It's the same stance that I would start a walking trick from, and similar to the stance that I would use for a regular ollie. In this frame I'm well into the crouch and I have my back foot flexed so that it's wound up to deliver a snap to the tail.
As I snap the tail with the back foot, I don't roll the front foot as much as a regular ollie. This is going to sacrifice most of the leveling of the board, but it makes the walk feel more like normal cross stepping.
I extend my back leg and unwind my foot and snap the tail. If you can just release the wheels and tail off the ground it's enough to do a crollie 180, crollie pop shuvit, and other tricks.
This frame shows why I cautioned you in the intro. I'm not kidding when I say that street trick longboarding is a punishing style. It can be done safely, just be aware, and use protective gear. Notice the nose of the board coming up toward my shin. Because I'm holding my foot back to leave room at the nose to step on, it makes my shin more exposed. It may be hard to tell in the frame, but after the snap the board is coming up with a lot of speed. It's like stepping on a rake. This isn't a problem if the trick is familiar and the attempt is good, but mistakes mean banged shins. Use a shin guard, a knee pad, or sturdy baggy pants when practicing.
Instead of dragging my front foot up I leave it at the middle of the board. I pick up my back foot and start to bring it up to the toe side of my front foot.
I keep control of the board with my front foot as I do a cross step in mid air, completing it in the landing.
The landing on the crollie, and most of the Academy tricks, is very one footed. I control the board with the old front foot as the new front foot comes in to finish the cross step. It's no big deal to stand one footed while rolling if you've been doing a lot of walking tricks from this site. It's another thing when you start jumping up and landing hard, one footed. Generally, if you land with your foot diagonal across the board or straight up it, you should be able to balance it. You get into trouble when your foot lands straight across the board.
The new front foot crosses over the toe side of my old front foot and settles in for the landing. Now the stance is secure. "Secure" is all relative, and it depends on if you call a cross stance secure. Most skateboarders, and surfers too, want more than anything to get out of a crossed position. I'm asking you to attack your cross stance. You can see that you have to have complete control of riding in cross stance to land jumps this way.
From the landing I transfer my weight forward, to start an uncrossing step to the nose.
I pick up the heel of my back foot, (my original front foot), leading with the knee. The knee lead is described in the footwork sections, and it's a way to stretch out a step and maintain control with your toe. You don't just pick up your foot, you try to maintain contact with the board.
I release the toe off the board and brush my foot past my front foot. The new stance will be quite narrow, feet together on the nose.
The uncross step is complete and now I'm parked on the nose, rolling in a relaxed nose stance.
