How to have deep edges/overall good skating skills?

I recently started skating and even more recently started working on three turns . I really want to do the sport correctly, at least from a technical standpoint, so it's important to me that I have good skating skills. I've been researching skating skills and I have some questions:

1. What are good skating skills (lol)? Balance, rhythmic, bent knees, weight transfer - stuff like that?
2. Why do so few singles skaters have good skating skills nowadays (or so I've heard)?
3. I've noticed that skaters with deep edges and good ss look like they flick their ankles. I've been told to rotate my hips, but it looks like skaters are rotating their ankles? Often times it looks like skaters have to forcibly move their skates, but with good ss it looks like it's effortless. How do I achieve this?
4. How do I transfer my weight without falling?
5. Where do I place my hip and knee when I'm on an edge? What about when I'm transferring my weight? Is my knee over my ankle and my hip over my knee? That would cause me to lean a lot. Am I supposed to lean to one side with my whole body?
5. Any tips for three turns? I can do a three turn if I've come to nearly a complete stop, but when I have momentum as I turn I end up falling.
6. Also any tips for stroking? I've read about stroking as a push...but what exactly am I pushing? What does good stroking look like?
7. Any general exercises I can do to get good skating skills?

Thank you

Welcome to Golden Skate!!

First things first! Are you currently taking lessons or working with a coach and do you do any other activities that require speed and agility that you can use to help apply to the use of balance related to skating? Can you go from a fast speed to a quick stop? Forward and backward swizzles?

Separate from technical advice and a more general application of theory. SS are the use of balance to create a flow and move smoothly across the ice with efficiency. Having deep edges is good but requires great strength and technique cultivated over years and years of practice.

Since you've said you can do a three turn I would suggest simply practicing that until you can do it easily and maintain a glide with speed out of the turn. This is when body aweness comes into play and you'll start to forget the mechanics of the three turn itself and begin to focus on how to place your body into position to keep your speed up. Practice this for both forward and back 3's and on both feet. After you learn to maintain that flow you can then do another three turn and in essence you'll be doing a full 360.

The simplest answer is usually "Bend your knees."

Too bad my knees don't want to obey any more.

Thank you! I do have a coach, but my lessons only last a half an hour so I usually don't have time to get all my questions in, hence why I'm posting here haha! No I don't do any other sports, so this is all very new for me. I guess that's why I was wondering about exercises I could do since I don't have any outside of the rink. I did, however, used to play the piano. I don't know if that helps any .

I can do swizzles, stopping, stroking but that's about it.

So when I watch someone like Patrick Chan or anyone who has good edges, that's coming mostly from really bent knees? What about weight transfer or balance? Do those come with well bent knees?

Yes, bend your knees. But not like you're sitting in a chair, where your knees are bent but your ankles aren't (that puts your weight too far back). You need to focus on ANKLE BEND, so that your knees are over your toes and your chest is over your knees and toes, with your back arched. That aligns your weight over the ball of your foot, where it should be. When you have good ankle bend, you will feel the front of your ankle/lower shin pressing into the laces of your skates. In fact, you should feel this all the time when you are stroking and also when going into a 3-turn, which is why you should invest in some gel ankle sleeves now, before you get lacebite.

You should also feel like you are really pressing the blade into the ice. The more you do this going into your 3-turn, the better edge and 3-turn you will have. When you stroke or do crossovers, keep your butt low, stance wide, and ankles and knees deeply bent. Try not to rise up as you finish each stroke; keep your hips low and think of it more as a side-to-side push with each edge, pushing off the one foot and extending it out as you push off onto the other foot and shift your weight to the other hip. Press the blade into the ice constantly.

As for balancing over one leg or the other, think of *shifting* your axis from the middle of your body to the skating side. Do NOT think of "leaning" because you don't want to be tilted. Let's say you need to balance over your left foot. You want to lift your right hip and pull your left ear and left shoulder to the left a little. You may also need to rotate your shoulders a little (usually to the left, but it depends on what edge you're on and what direction you're traveling). Now you are balanced over the axis that runs from your left outside ankle to your left hip to your left ear.

Bent knees help almost everything when it comes to basic skating. (Special moves like spins, spirals, etc., might be exceptions.)

The part of the blade you're balancing over will change somewhat depending what skill you're executing. In general, when you're skating forward your weight will be slightly behind the ball of the foot and when you're skating backward it will be slightly in front of the ball but not so far forward that your toepicks scratch on the ice.

Threes and other turns get a bit more complicated.

A coach should give you pointers as you learn new skills.

A lot of it just comes from practice and getting used to what works, what it feels like.

I've looked at a lot of videos online and it seems everyone does three turns in a circle like pattern. The coach I'm working with has me do them in a "S" pattern the length of the rink. I can and have done them and Mohawks in the circle pattern but usually we do things the length of the rink in an "s" pattern.

Welcome @Ahhhfancccyyy!

This video is about training camps this summer in Japan. Stephan came to some of the camps and instructed Japanese skaters. He did Choctaw as an example (around 7:20-, the film about his instruction ends around 11:00). The way he controls his body and uses blades is remarkable. I don’t know if it is useful for you, but there’s little chance to see top skaters instructing, so I put the video.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x30xv6u_0809-強化合宿-公開練習-1-2_sport

I’ve never done skating, but it must be fun. Keep it up! arty:

The others have left great advice but I have two suggestions that may help you.

For your concern with balance & shifting weight, you could do this just standing around. For example, you can really feel your weight shift when you do a one foot glide. So, replicate this off the ice and get comfortable with the feeling. You could even try doing a 3 turn on the floor - I've heard standing on a paper plate works for some people.

In terms of knee bend, power, etc, I found that exercise really helped me. I love pure barre (but other barre workout classes will work too!) but when I first started skating I just did squats at home and got small ankle weights and did leg lifts and that sort of thing. I even attempted a squat challenge (popsugar's 30 day squat challenge is not too scary)

Hi! I am new to skating too. I've only started taking lessons two months ago. I find that yoga really helps improving my balance and core strength. I try to attend yoga class once weekly or just follow a lot of yoga clips on youtube.A lot of the tricks are very closely resemble yoga poses.
I was told by one of my classmates to improve my posture, so I try to align my shoulder and hips whenever I walk or sit or stand. I also try to avoid bending my back when I do house chores or at work. That forces me to squat to reach anything below my waist (try vacuuming with one leg standing...) The exercise trains my thigh muscles so it makes skating a lot easier.

yea... ice rinks are not very accessible where I live.... so erm... my best substitute when practicing turns... is er... glide on the kitchen tiles with a pair of socks...
it does not train your edges on ice but it kinda helps when you just try to memorize which part of body to turn first

I hope these help!