How To Nollie

The nollie can also be called a “switch ollie,” because it is essentially the opposite of a nollie. A nollie is the same as an ollie, except instead of popping the board up with your back finger on the tail, you are popping the board up with your front finger on the nose. You should master the ollie before learning how to nollie, but the nollie is another fundamental trick that will need to be mastered to perform many advanced tricks. Keep reading to learn how to nollie a fingerboard.

Step 1: Finger placement

This trick is performed the opposite of an ollie. Put your front finger (index finger) on the front (nose) of the board and your back finger (middle finger) somewhere in the center of the board. Like the ollie, the finger that is in the middle of the board can be adjusted slightly to feel comfortable for you.

Step 2: Popping the board

Roll the board forward (in the direction of your index finger on the nose), and pop the nose of the board down with your front finger. This can feel very awkward at first, so practice your popping motion several times.

Step 3: Keeping your fingers on the board

Like the ollie, you want to keep your fingers on the board at all times to maintain control throughout the trick. There should be no spins or rotations during this trick, and the point is to keep a consistent control throughout the entire trick. The board will be almost 90 degrees or pointing upward at the start of the trick, but you should use your back finger to control this to get the board flat by the time you are ready to land the trick.

Step 4: Landing the trick

While keeping both fingers on the board, use your back finger on the middle of the board to get it back into a flat position. Land the trick on all four wheels.

Final thoughts

The nollie will feel weird in your first few attempts, because it is an opposite way of performing the nollie. After you established a muscle memory with the ollie, the nollie will seem strange to your fingers because you haven’t yet trained your muscles to perform the trick successfully. Pop your front finger down many times before trying the full nollie. Like the ollie, you can also attempt to roll the board forward, jump onto a raised or descended surface, perform the trick over an obstacle, and use a ramp to perform this trick on a curved surface.