Skateboard Trick Tips: Two Ways to Ollie North (Ollie One foot)

You have to be quick to see my Ollie Norths!

Ollie One Foots, otherwise known as the Ollie North, is one of those skateboard tricks you learn and then tend not to do very much as more interesting trick challenges grab your attention. However it does look really cool if you learn how to kick your front foot well past the nose of your skateboard.

Still shot from Braille Skateboarding's
Ollie North tutorial.

I was inspired to make my video below, showing two different techniques to achieve a successful Ollie One Foot, when I not only saw that Braille Skateboarding's Tutorial used a different method to the one I had learned but also, when I looked at various other video tutorials, I discovered yet another technique, with no one using the method I had originally learned.

Braille's method is to simply Ollie and drag your front foot past the front of your board.

The second method I came across in several video tutorials is to Ollie, drag your front foot and tap your front toe downward, mid drag, causing the front of the board to drop away from your foot. I demonstrate this method in my video.

Finally, the method I originally learned is to Ollie and drag your back foot forward as you raise your back leg, which also causes the front of the board to drop away from your front leg. Again I demonstrate this in my video below.



Upon reflection, the best method is probably the way Braille teaches it because it gets you kicking out the most with your front leg right from the get go.

The other two methods are easier in terms of getting the front of your board to drop away from your front foot, but I find both hard when it comes to getting that nice front leg kick out that makes an Ollie One Foot look cool.

However, if you are struggling to get your front leg kicking out, the other two methods are an alternative to try to get a feel for getting the front of the board to drop away from your front foot.

Tapping down with your front foot is also a good start for learning late flips and other tricks where you Ollie first, level out the Ollie, and then tap the board into whatever it is you're trying to do.