Ollie Air

also known as: No-Hands Air

air parkvert difficulty 3/10
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roll 0° yaw 0° pitch 0° body 0°

Shown for a regular-footed rider. Teal ring + arrow = the rider's facing direction; teal band = the tail; a dot is where a hand holds the board - bright yellow for the front hand, amber for the back one, which is the whole difference between a mute and an indy. Board and rider rotate independently - each follows its own component. Drag to orbit.

How it works

The original ollie: an air straight up off the coping with no hands and no rotation, the board held to the feet by pop and pressure alone. Alan Gelfand's discovery was that a precisely timed tail-snap at the lip, combined with the transition's upward throw, lifts board and rider together with nothing holding them - which is the mechanic every ollie since has been built on. Straight up, straight back in, facing the way you left: adding a turn to it makes it one of the 180s instead.

Step by step

  1. Pump up to a speed that carries you just past the coping.
  2. Ride straight at the lip with the back foot on the tail and the front foot behind the bolts.
  3. Snap the tail as the wheels reach the coping, letting the transition's throw do half the work.
  4. Slide the front foot forward to level the board and suck the knees up.
  5. Keep the shoulders square - nothing is turning.
  6. Point the wheels back into the transition and re-enter the way you left.

Body mechanics

Front footSlides subtly toward the nose after the pop, guiding the board's levitation exactly as in a flat ollie.
Back footSnaps the tail at the coping and then lifts with the board, maintaining contact through pressure.
ShouldersRotate the gentle 180 that brings the re-entry around, staying stacked over the board.
ArmsFree and low - their stillness is the proof the trick needs no hands.
GazeAt the coping through the pop, then down the wall to the landing.