Why Your Ollie Still Looks Like a Stiff Windmill (And How to Fix It)

The Beginner Plateau Is Real

You've been skating for three months. You can push (sort of), you can roll (nervously), and your ollie exists — technically. But it's small, it's crooked, and it looks more like a startled hop than a proper trick. Sound familiar?

Here's the good news: you're not cursed, your deck isn't rubbish, and you don't need to spend £200 on new gear. You've just picked up some habits that are quietly sabotaging you. Let's fix them.

Habit 1: You're Riding Like a Robot

The problem: Shoulders up by your ears, arms windmilling, knees locked. Every beginner does it because standing on a rolling plank is objectively terrifying.

The fix: Before you even attempt a trick, spend ten minutes just cruising. Bend your knees. Drop your shoulders. Let your arms hang loose like you're chilling at a bus stop. The more relaxed you are on the board, the more pop you'll actually get — tension kills height.

Rainy day drill: Stand on your board indoors on carpet (it won't roll, promise). Practise bending your knees and shifting your weight without tensing up. Do it while watching telly. Yes, really.

Habit 2: You're Stomping Instead of Popping

The problem: You're slamming your back foot down like you're killing a spider, instead of snapping the tail with intent.

The fix: Think of it less like a stomp and more like a flick. You want to pop the tail down and immediately drag your front foot up towards the nose. The pop and the drag happen almost together — not one, then the other.

Rainy day drill: Pop your tail on carpet or grass over and over. Just the pop, no jumping. Get the feel of that snap. When it becomes automatic, half your battle is won.

Habit 3: Your Front Foot Is a Passenger

The problem: Your back foot does all the work while your front foot just sort of... hovers. This is why your ollie looks like a kangaroo having second thoughts.

The fix: The front foot drag is the entire trick. Slide that foot up the griptape towards the nose as you pop. It levels the board out and gives you height. Without it, your board just nose-dives back to earth with you barely attached.

Rainy day drill: Hold onto a doorframe or wall. Pop the tail and practise the front foot slide motion slowly, over and over. Muscle memory is built in the boring reps.

Habit 4: You Bail Before You Commit

The problem: You pop, you start to rise, and then your brain screams NOPE and you step off. Every time. Forever.

The fix: Commitment is a skill, and like any skill it needs practising in small doses. Start with tiny ollies over a crack in the pavement. Then a small stick. Then a slightly bigger stick. Your brain needs evidence that landing is safe before it'll let you fully commit.

"I bailed every ollie for a month straight. What cracked it was ollieing over my little sister's scooter about 400 times until my body just went 'fine, we're doing this.' Landed it first proper ollie that same evening." — Dev, 19, Croydon

Habit 5: You Only Skate When It's Perfect Out

The problem: Dry day, empty car park, ideal conditions — and you're still not progressing because you only skate in perfect conditions twice a month.

The fix: Consistency beats perfection. Twenty minutes a day beats four hours once a fortnight. Wet day? Work on balance and foot positioning indoors. Cold day? Layer up and do drills. The skaters who improve fastest aren't the most talented — they're the ones who show up constantly.

"I learned to ollie in my nan's garage over a whole wet February. Carpet drills, wall holds, popping on the spot. When the sun came out I just... did it. Outside." — Priya, 22, Birmingham

Your New Weekly Routine

• Monday: 15 mins cruising, focus on staying loose
• Tuesday: Pop drills on carpet or grass
• Wednesday: Front foot drag reps against a wall
• Thursday: Tiny committed ollies over a crack or stick
• Friday: Skate with mates — pressure-free fun session
• Weekend: Whatever you want. That's the point.

The Bit Where We Tell You It Gets Better

Every skater you look up to ate pavement on the regular before it clicked. The plateau isn't a wall — it's just the boring middle bit before things click. Keep showing up, keep bending those knees, and one day you'll pop something without thinking and wonder when you got good.

Now go forth and flatten that windmill.