Tips by David Ngiam
Video : Guy Tanaka
Photo : Roger Koa
The Ollie Blind 180 or Ollie Backside 180 is a little more technical compared to the regular Ollie Frontside 180. This is because you are turning blind away from the direction of travel with the handle wrapped behind you, which is a little more unnatural and maybe a little scarier since you can’t really see where you are turning. However, with abit of practice, it shouldn’t be any harder to execute than a Ollie FS 180.
It helps to practice the surface blind 180s first as the rotation is the same. Get use to turning away from the boat and reaching around for the handle pass. Once you’re comfortable with that, cut out like you would on a regular ollie and pop an ollie with only your lead hand on the handle, but keep the handle low and close to your hip. Do to the BS 180, don’t rush it. Wait till your board has leveled out in the air before you start your rotation. I guess this is what makes the trick scary because people are afraid they won’t turn in time and catch a back edge. Well, you just have to trust yourself. If you spin it to early, you probably won’t get a good pop off the water hence the chances of you catching the back edge is even greater.
Next as you spin the 180, you want to turn the handle inwards. Ie, you want to point your thumbs downwards, like you are going to stuff the handle into your back pocket. This will help you turn the 180 a lot easier while keeping the handle close to you. There is no need to look around your shoulders too much. In fact you can land this trick ‘blind’ without looking forward over your shoulders. Once you have landed the one 180, keep the handle close to you in the small of your back. There is no need to rush for the handle pass. In fact you may even want to try riding for a while with the handle wrapped behind you. Once you are stable, just reach your front hand around for the handle pass.
The cool part of this trick is that you execute this trick without actually seeing where your turning or landing. Which also makes it more impressive compared to an Ollie FS 180.