Hello.   

I am new to fingerboarding and I have been watching videos on YouTube. I am in awe of what I have been watching. So I decided to buy a complete board. I bought a Broken Knuckle People's Republic complete on Amazon.

I am 31 years old and I use to mess around with Tech Decks in high school. I have noticed that the complete I bought is a much better than the Tech Decks.

So I got my complete and put it together easy enough. I setup an old Tech Deck board on it's side and was able to ollie over it. But my ollie was very small and I was just making it over the Tech Deck. I am wondering how people are able to ollie so high? I put my middle finger on the tail of the board and my index just behind the front four bolts. I am only able to do small ollies.

I have noticed that I am having trouble sliding my index finger forward when I ollie.

What is the correct way to slap the tail to ollie with my middle finger? Is it a scooping motion or a quick slap motion. Am I suppose to raise my finger and slap the tail? If someone could provide any info. It would greatly appreciated.

I have watched a lot of videos but I feel like I am missing something to make the board pop high. An my fingers keep slipping off or the board flies away. I don't know if I need different tape then what Broken Knuckle gave me in the package?

If someone could provide info I would be really happy thank you. I really want to learn and progress.

Thank you.   

try to flick and pop around the same time , and try it on a couch coushing or ur arm to get a feel for an ollie. maybe riptape or fbs extra smooth would help you also you can get it at flatface fingerboards http://www.flatfacefingerboards.com/tape/

I feel like this could help.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Feiip4-q2RE

i think if you already have a basic ollie down then all it takes is hours of practice an eventually you will be able to ollie much heigher an control the board more easily!

also if you thought your broken knuckle was a great improvement from a tech deck wait till you try a decent deck! i recomend you try a blosom or primitive or any of the companys from the scrolling banner above!

dont wory too much about how high you can ollie an just have fun  

Thanks for the info.

Also could some explain what higher and lower kicks will do? What is the difference? 

preference mostly

I was super overwhelmed with all the different types of kicks and board sizes at first too man. It doesn't take long to really figure it out, and it really is just preference. The tail and nose wont incline as much or be as steep on a board with "low" kicks. High kicks obviously are steeper. Really comes down to opinion. I though I liked high kicks because I felt like I could pop the board more, but then I tried a really mellow board with low kicks and after getting used to it, I liked it just the same. So really just depends on what you prefer.

high kicks are great for beginners because it is easier to pop higher.  after you get your basic tricks down, I would recommend going with a medium kick medium concave board. also try watching gary chin's tutorials on youtube.  that is how I learned most of my tricks.

https://www.youtube.com/user/weakfingers





this video is great for learning more about upgrading your setup

^ Same. They're great.

So I have I think I am starting to get to motion of ollie while on flat ground. But the board still either flies out in front of me or just flips under my fingers. When I really concentrate on moving my index finger forward. I can land the ollie. But it is still small.

I was able to ollie on and pop shove it off. I was able to 50/50 grind and nose grind on the metal box.

I can ollie on top of this metal box.

I am wondering if a better deck and trucks and tape would be help? I was thinking of buying a

Homewood deck

Riptape

Bollie trucks

No Comply Lab Wheels

Would this be a good setup ?   

Thanks.

get a bunch of dvd cases, start with one and ollie on, then stack two and ollie on, keep adding untill you cant make it cleanly, kepp practising at this level and once you get it slowly keep practising and stacking

this method really helped me, got it from low to high in like 3 days, it does take practice though

Yeah dude, Homewood was my first fingerboard too. It's such a great deck.

As for the Riptape, I recommend FBS or slim and catchy because they're easier to wear into, and in my opinion, good for a first setup.

Oh, and Bollie trucks are just china.

Yeah what amanda said ^
if you are buying rip, get the slim n catchy version, it's much grippier in a smaller amount of time.

Ckg2011 wrote:

Homewood deck

Riptape

Bollie trucks

No Comply Lab Wheels

Would this be a good setup ?   

Thanks.

Sounds like a really good starting package. You could switch the bollies to Homewoods basic trucks as they are the exact same trucks but cheaper. And you could get some Foamy Greatness along with it, then you would only have to order from one place.

Mikkel S wrote:

Ckg2011 wrote:

Homewood deck

Riptape

Bollie trucks

No Comply Lab Wheels

Would this be a good setup ?   

Thanks.

Sounds like a really good starting package. You could switch the bollies to Homewoods basic trucks as they are the exact same trucks but cheaper. And you could get some Foamy Greatness along with it, then you would only have to order from one place.

I agree with Mikkel. No point in buying bollie trucks, as theyre expensive and china. Get some Homewood basic trucks, and I would also recommend flatface, or any other non-china bushing. It will feel alot better.

JakeC wrote:

Mikkel S wrote:

Ckg2011 wrote:

Homewood deck

Riptape

Bollie trucks

No Comply Lab Wheels

Would this be a good setup ?   

Thanks.

Sounds like a really good starting package. You could switch the bollies to Homewoods basic trucks as they are the exact same trucks but cheaper. And you could get some Foamy Greatness along with it, then you would only have to order from one place.

I agree with Mikkel. No point in buying bollie trucks, as theyre expensive and china. Get some Homewood basic trucks, and I would also recommend flatface, or any other non-china bushing. It will feel alot better.

Okay thanks for the info. I really appreciate it.   

I have been practicing my ollies and I have done a couple of good decent height ollies. Most of the time the board flies forward when I try to slide my index finger forward. Or the board flips in place.

Also I have noticed that my fingers do not stay on the board. When I pop the board my fingers will not stay connected to the board.

On a positive side I have been doing some nose grinds, 50/50 grinds, manual to pop shove it, nose manual to pop shove it, 5.0 grinds.

I will tell you anyone who thinks fingerboarding is just people playing with toys and isn't hard. They are completely wrong. This is ever bit as hard as skateboarding. It's just fingerboarding there isn't the risk of injury.

I have been watching a ton of videos and like I said before. I am in awe of what I watch.

the reason that your fingers dont stay connected is because your hand is moving higher than the board will go , to prevent this you need to add a more forceful pop, thus making the board go higher and then your fingers will stay on it. Also if you are just seeing how high you can ollie, this usually ends up with your fingers coming off of the board because you will just keep raising your hand untill you notice your fingers come off and then slam down. Try not to do this, try and aim for something to ollie onto and pop harder than you usually would and it will stick to your fingers like glue baby.

hope this explained it a bit better, its all about the mindset

I just started a few months ago, I have ollies down now after weeks of practice!

The way I do them is much the same way as explained in the video guides on YouTube, though when folk say their middle finger is what moves itself to level out the board, I find my whole hand moves to get it level.

When I goto pop, my front finger is just behind the nuts, and my rear is flat down on the tip of the tail, I then flick my fingers from being flat to a 90 degree position, and that causes the deck to pop, from there my whole hand then slides up the deck to level it out, and I land.

I'm really having a hard time with kickflips though, sometimes I do them, and you get this feeling where the entire motion feels completely fluid and the flip goes smoothly, but I just can't figure out what it is that I'm doing to get that 'perfect' feeling with them.

Though it was the same with ollies, so I guess with more practice they will come.

Pointing finger, not middle!