Ollie, skateboarding trick

Most tricks on skateboard are based on the Ollie (once called the Ollie Pop), which was invented by Alan "Ollie" Gelfand of Florida in the late 1970s.
Skateboarding tricks can involve varials, jumps, flips, grabs, slides, grinds and stalls, and may even be combined with twists of various multiples of 180 degrees. Tricks which require some kind of ramp, sometimes a halfpipe, are known as transition tricks; the rest can be performed on flat ground or off of curbs and on rails and are known as street tricks.

An ollie is an aerial skateboarding trick during which the skateboarder does not grab his board with his hands, toes or accessories attached to the skateboard.

Performing an ollie starts with the skateboarder standing on the board in his regular stance. The skateboarder jumps up, and as he is about to take off he kicks the tail of the board down. The kick gives the front end of the board upwards momentum and as the tail hits the ground it rebounds bringing the board completely airborne. When the board takes off, its nose is much higher off the ground than the tail. The skateboarder slides his front foot up and forward on the griptape. The friction between the shoe and the griptape levels the skateboard and takes it further off the ground.

The ollie was invented by Alan "Ollie" Gelfand in 1978 on vert and it remained as a vert only trick until 1981 when Rodney Mullen first performed the trick on flat ground.

The highest officially measured ollie from flat ground is 44.5 inches performed by Danny Wainwright, at the Reese Forbes ollie challenge by Quiksilver, although Jose Marabotto from Peru is seen on a video from the early 90's clearing a stack of boards estimated at over 50 inches. The highest official switch ollie is 40.125 inches performed by Alex Bland in a similar switch ollie competition.

A nollie (short for "nose ollie" or "Natas ollie") is an ollie performed off the nose of the board while in the skateboarder's regular stance. A fakie ollie is a normal ollie performed while riding backwards. It would appear to be a "switch nollie", but such term is a misnomer and is not used. This can be a difficult concept for some people to grasp. Think of it this way: the nose of the board is always the nose, and the tail is always the tail, regardless of the direction of travel. A normal ollie is popped off the tail while traveling forward. A nollie is popped off the nose while traveling forward. A switch ollie is popped off the nose while traveling backwards (so that the nose is now in the back). A fakie ollie is popped off the tail while traveling backwards (so that the tail is now in the front). Because of this, there are essentially four variations to every trick, i.e. 360 flip, fakie 360 flip, switch 360 flip, and nollie 360 flip. Each is a distinct trick. Article derived from wikipedia.org