Silent Treatment High Knees | Friends

Quick Intro

Silent Treatment High Knees tests whether you can keep a rhythm once the cue disappears. Both partners do high knees, facing the same way, with the leader a step or two behind the follower. The leader calls a steady cadence out loud, “one, two, one, two”, in time with the knee drives. At a moment of their choosing, the leader goes completely silent and keeps driving the knees at the same pace. The follower has to hold the last cadence they heard. When the calls come back, the follower can tell straight away whether they stayed in time.

There is no winner. The game builds an inner sense of rhythm, the kind you need when a class instructor stops counting or a music track fades out.

How to do high knees well, driving each knee up to hip height with a quick, light step, is taught at High Knees. This guide covers the game: the setup, the silent spells and how to check the timing.

What You’ll Need

Two people.
A cleared, stable floor with room for two people one behind the other.

How It Works

Agree the number of silent spells in a set, for example four, and roughly how long each lasts.
The follower stands in front, facing forward. The leader stands a step or two behind, facing the same way.
Both start high knees. The leader calls the cadence out loud.
After several calls, the leader goes silent without warning and keeps their own knees going at the same pace.
The follower holds the last cadence they heard.
After a few seconds, the leader starts calling again, in time with their own knees.
The follower checks whether their knees land on the calls, then settles back in.
After the agreed number of silent spells, rest and swap.

Why the Leader Stands Behind

The setup matters. If the follower could see the leader, they would simply copy the leader’s knees during the silence, and the game would test nothing. With the leader behind, the follower hears the calls but cannot see the knees. High knees are noisy, though, and the follower could keep time from the sound of the leader’s feet. So during the silence the leader keeps the same rhythm with light, quiet steps, landing softly on the balls of the feet, and a mat or grass helps. When the calls stop, the follower then has only their own sense of rhythm to rely on.

The leader keeps their knees going through the silence so their own pace stays honest. When they resume calling, the calls match where the rhythm should be, which gives the follower a fair check.

How Long to Stay Silent

Silent spells of five to fifteen seconds suit most pairs. Shorter spells are easier, since the rhythm has little time to drift. Longer ones are much harder. Start short and build up. Vary the length from spell to spell, so the follower cannot predict when the calls will come back.

Checking the Timing

When the calls return, the follower listens for one or two beats. If their knees land on the calls, they held the rhythm. If they are clearly ahead or behind, they drifted. Most people speed up a little during silence, especially when tired. Saying “on”, “fast” or “slow” after each spell gives a simple tally of how it went, which the pair can talk through at the swap.

Making It Fair

For a follower new to the game, keep the silent spells short and the cadence moderate. For one who is good at holding rhythm, lengthen the spells or quicken the beat. Training With a Friend covers more on fitting a drill to two partners.

Staying Safe

A cleared, stable floor. High knees need a good surface for quick feet.
Space between partners. A step or two keeps the leader’s knees well away from the follower’s back.
Land lightly. Stay on the balls of the feet, with soft knees.
Stop when the knees drop. Once the knee drive sinks well below hip height, the set has gone on long enough.

Common Mistakes

Facing each other. The follower ends up copying, which defeats the point.
The leader slowing down during silence. The leader has to keep their own rhythm honest.
Speeding up when the calls stop. It is the most common drift. Stay calm and steady.
Silent spells that are too long. Start short.

Fitting It Into a Session

Silent Treatment High Knees makes a good warm-up or a short conditioning block. Two or three sets each, of about 30 to 45 seconds, is plenty. It also suits sport training, where keeping your own rhythm matters. To see where a rhythm drill like this fits among the other parts of a session, read Building a Partner Session.

Getting Better Over Time

Note how often the follower stays on the beat through a silent spell. Over a few sessions, lengthen the spells or quicken the cadence. A follower who can hold a quick rhythm through fifteen seconds of silence has a reliable inner beat.

Mirror Break Jumping Jacks reacts to a visual change in rhythm.
Opposite Direction High Knees does the opposite of a called direction.
High Knees Knee Tag turns high knees into a tag game.
Tempo Count Games collects other games built on a called tempo.

FAQ

Does the leader keep doing high knees during the silence?

Yes. It keeps the leader’s own rhythm honest, so the calls that follow line up with the right beat.

Can we use a metronome app?

Yes. Mute it partway through and unmute it a few seconds later. A partner is more fun, though.

What if we both drift?

It happens. The leader’s calls are the reference when they return, so the follower simply settles back in.