The Mechanics of the Ollie

First find a suitable obstacle. Obstacles must be overcome in life. One can find a heightened object like a picnic table or garbage can, a flat object with a considerable length or as in this picture, a ledge with a drop. The skateboarder must ensure they have sufficient velocity as they approach their obstacle. This is done by picking a sufficient distance between the starting point and the point at which the ollie is attempted. The skateboarder pushes themselves on their board and when near the obstacle they center their feet over the trucks and wheels (this is an important step to which I will refer to later in this dialogue). At the obstacle the skateboarder slams the tail of their skateboard down onto the pavement. This will create a pop in which the board moves upward. Additionally, the skateboarder needs to jump in sequence with the pop and pull the lead leg upwards while gripping the sandpaper on the top of the board known as grip tape. The resultant upward movement and velocity needs to be timed just right to move over the obstacle. In the instance of the ollie in this picture, a move caught on an old camera (possibly by either chuck casualt, peirre brasaur or liam briggs), the ones that had film in them that needed to be developed in an ancient structure called a darkroom, the author is attempting to clear the ledge and rubble. He landed safely by ensuring his feet were placed over the trucks (metal parts that connect the wheels to the board) and bending his knees upon impact. It is important to have your feet over the trucks because the weight of the skateboarder might cause the board to snap into two pieces and cause the skateboarder to land on his face and possibly have a permanent imprint of the uneven pavement that follows him for the rest of his life (and deal with the financial stress of needing to buy a new board). As the writer recalls this moment back in 1990, he fondly remembers his Grade Nine Physics teacher getting quite frustrated with the writer and his friend Morris Brown (a talented skateboarder himself) for not paying in attention in class. Mr. Pippenmeir would often take one large swoop with his arm across our table and push all our books, pencils and papers onto the floor and then proceed to look at us like we deserved it. Mr. Pippenmeir also experimented with other forms of classroom management such as using skateboarders in his physics lessons – this a more captivating effect for us.

Thanks for reading.

Kevin

PS. I think my sister Jenny will probably comment with something witty like “skate or die”. To that – yes sometimes one did need to skate well to not die.