Prime Times
What is the purpose of drills? Every coach would like to think drills are exercises to build a better pattern. And with some hope and a little hard work, we may see a change. The problem is, as coaches, we start to use the drills as a warm-up or a tradition. All through my playing career, each coach I had used a set of drills that we did religiously without fail. And through my time, the drills never changed. In college, it was “mirror dodge, stalk block, push crack” and then we finally started catching passes by period 4. In high school, we stood in line and the coach threw the ball as high as he could in the air and we had to catch it. Then we went to the end of the line. In my early years as a track coach, A-Skip, B-Skip and high knees were drilled without fail. I don’t know if any of this created the changes that we were looking for but it sure killed 20 minutes of practice and it made everyone look busy.
In this blog, I want to take my favorite running drill and show progressions of when and why to use it. The drill of choice is the fame and fabled “stiff-legged run” or “straight-legged bound”, aka “Prime Times” (Deion Sanders, Walter Payton). I first started incorporating the drill as a mainstay back in my DB Hammer days. They seemed to be in every workout with the idea to get the foot more underneath the body and get the hamstrings to become more active.
I have found that they can be so much more in different stages of an athlete’s development.
BEGINNER
I use this drill if someone who strikes with their heel first, has a curved spine that leads with their chin and has an excessive push (knee is behind the glute at toe off) with an inactive foot (heel drifts upward rather than a drive forward). Unfortunately, this is about 80% or more the of athletes currently out there playing sports, especially if they are between grades 7-10. The problem with this form is that there is a huge amount of breaking force when that heel hits the ground. Neurologically, when that heel hits the ground, the body thinks it is walking. That’s right, the brain thinks it is in a speed walking contest. Our job is to get them to sprint. Bring on the Prime Time Run.
The drill is self-explanatory but difficult for beginners. Try to run with your legs straight. Let them jog in and get some velocity. I start with 30m and try to build up to 50m.
Here is a list of coaching points for the beginner
–> Don’t lean back
–> Lead with your heart
–> Work for a bigger split in between the legs
–> Try to develop a glide
Once you see a glide or rhythm, start to transition.
TRANSITION
Banded Prime Time for 30 yds to emphasize a slight lean over the band.
Prime time to sprint and back for 100 yds… just a transition from one to the other with the goal of bleeding the drill into the sprint. My coaching point is that if I cover up the lower half of your body, I shouldn’t notice a transition between the two movements. Once it is smooth, they can move on to the next level.
INTERMEDIATE
Once the body is in a neurological sprint, it is time to start to apply scientific principles. From Ken Clark, that would mean a good split in the thighs mid-flight, a powerful reversal at end range and a thigh that accelerates into the ground creating tangential velocity. We are still staying with the drill because the longer lever of the leg (shank not retracted) requires more power. It is almost like running with wearable resistance.
And, we need to start to bend the knee to start to look more like a sprint and allow the knee to do its job, hence the Bent Knee Prime Time. This variation will allow the knee and ankle to do more of its job.
Here is a list of coaching points for an intermediate
–> Increased thigh split… should be going for a 110 degree split between both thighs mid-flight with a slight forward lean.
–> Increased thigh switching velocity.
–> Allow hips to start to oscillate to get a bigger thigh switch
EXERCISES
–> Timed 30 m Prime Times (can do run is or accelerations).
–> Hands over head Prime Times (or hands in a variety of positions). Our advanced runners would carry a water bag by their side and hoist it over their head mid way through the run
Accelerating Prime Times (resisted or not resisted). The athlete needs to stay vertical.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypKNuH_wHJ8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3uHjCFQ9D4
Bent Knee Prime Times:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKlopFx1YLY
Transition
Frequency runs… start with a longer distance, greater than 50 yds and vary frequency 10 yards with high frequency transitioning to 10 yds of longer bounds and back.
Another variation would be straight knee to bent knee.
Advanced
At this point, the focus will revolve around the foot with the incorporation of the Spring Ankle Flick and the springy feeling of developed tendons from other exercises that should have been developed along the way. So, this will be the back half of the contact.
Coaching Points
Bounce and Strike:
The idea is that we are creating vertical space to allow the foot to come through to create tangential force.
Exercises
Heel Flick Prime Times or “Bolts”:
Resisted Bent Knee Prime Times with focus on toe off:
Single Leg Prime Times:
Transition to no more Prime Times… at least that is the goal!
I think there are more than enough variations to last a season, with a reason for doing the drill rather than killing time or adhering to tradition. Regardless of where we are at, I usually cut out most if not all drills the last 3 weeks of the season. If we haven’t made the change by then, I need to go back to the drawing board in the off-season.
