Jumping is an interesting part of snowboarding. Taking off and landing well back on the ground is an awesome thing to behold. However, you can learn some of the popular jumping skills. That is why we will tutor you on how you can do an Ollie on your snowboard below.
Enjoy the Sound It Makes
If you are a type that listens to music while riding, then you may need to turn off the music, or any other sound when you are about to do the Ollie.
You may begin to think about the reason behind this. Some might even think that it may be that the rider can concentrate on learning this skill. However, I can tell you that the major reason behind this is because the sound it makes is simply cool.
That’s weird, right? Yeah, but the sounds it makes are still one of the things I muse over while learning the Ollie. Imagine riding along a fall, paying attention to the sound that your snowboard makes against the snow, then you do an Ollie and the sound stops for a moment, then you land and the sound resumes. It is such a cool sound to the hearing.
However, let’s get down to business, read on for the procedures involved in doing an Ollie.
How to Do an Ollie on the Snowboard
The first thing to do is to look for a smooth part of a slope. A slope that isn’t too long, so you don’t take much time riding down the slope while learning. A short slope will enable you to be able to rehearse the procedures as fast as possible, and then you can easily learn to do the Ollie.
You also need to ensure that there is no much crowd on your chosen slope. While learning, there may be mistakes, so for the sake of your confidence, and to eliminate the fear of injuring others, it is advisable that you learn on a less-crowded slope. So, read further as the procedures involved in performing an Ollie are discussed below;
Procedure 1:
Start up with a moderate speed; you have to ensure that your speed isn’t too much. You can then squat, bending your knees forward so that you apply all your weight on your hindfoot. Bending in that manner will allow you to accumulate some energy and give you a boost for the Ollie.
While you do this, you would always want to focus on your snowboard. But try your possible best to look ahead of you. Don’t look at your snowboard.
Procedure 2:
While you lean towards your hindfoot, keeping your weight on your hindfoot, you can then raise the nose of your snowboard off the ground and make a lift off the tail.
Procedure 3:
While in the air, you can then balance your weight on the snowboard so that the snowboard is level. You only need to move your laps towards your chest to achieve this. Raising your laps towards your chest will give you more time to balance on the snowboard, also allow you to be flexible on the snowboard.
Procedure 4:
Then, you can slightly straighten your knees while you are about to land. The knees shouldn’t be completely straightened, it should be slightly bent. Once you attain this pose, then you can hit the ground on both feet.
You can also try landing with the nose of the snowboard first before filling in with your hindfoot. However, you should be perfect with both feet landing before you move on to landing with the nose first. You should also note that you need to keep your knees slightly bent so that you won’t feel the impact of the landing so much; you can then balance into your regular snowboarding pose while you continue your ride.
Procedure 5:
After you have successfully landed, all you need to do is Practice over and over again until you are confident of performing the Ollie. By performing an Ollie, you will also learn to be confident while in the air and also while landing coupled with some other things which include;
- Performing other tricks off the ground. An example is the 180o
- easily jumping obstacles and so on
Final Wrap
With these few tips as listed above, you can now get on the snow and practice to perfection. Please note that once you have perfected your basic Ollie skill, you can easily switch to other complex skills later on.
