Basic Scooter Tricks

Ollie

• The ollie gets its name from the skateboard trick of the same name invented by Alan "Ollie" Gelfand in 1978. This is the most basic trick, and it serves as the foundation for most of the advanced tricks you may learn later. The trick will enable you to jump with the scooter. It can be used to hop small curbs or bumps in the sidewalk.

  To begin the trick, build up speed and put both feet on the deck of your scooter. Crouch down as if you were going to jump. Start pulling the handlebars up, almost as if you were going to do a wheeling. At the exact same time, jump and pull the handlebars with you. The scooter should hop off the ground a little. Keep practicing and see how high you can get your scooter to ollie. Once you get this trick down, you can move on to more basic tricks.

Bunny Hops on One Wheel

• A bunny hop is a little hop, similar to the ollie, except that you won't be moving, you will be jumping up and down slightly. The trick is good to improve your overall balance.

  To begin the trick, put your foot on the back brake of the scooter. Keep your other foot slightly in front of the foot on the back brake and remain balanced. Pull up on the handle bars and jump up and down, pulling the handle bars with you to make the scooter jump as well. You will be able to hop around a little, almost as if you were riding a pogo stick.

Bar Spins

• Bar spins add flair to your ollies. Essentially, the trick is an ollie, but at the top of the ollie, you spin your handle bars and try and land the trick. It adds dimension to the basic ollie.

  For this trick, perform an ollie according to the steps provided above. While you are in mid-air, quickly spin your handle bars to the left or the right. A half-spin of the bars is called a 180-bar spin (since you spun the bars half of a circle). A full spin of the handle bars (where the bars go all the way around in a circle) is called a 360-bar spin. The 180-bar spin is easier than the 360-bar spin.