Stuart McMillan
ALTIS CEO
Why Su Bingtian has the best acceleration in history, and how it was done.
In last week's post, I left you with a question about how you might use a Whole Body Motor Strategy System to inform your coaching or therapy. Did you give this some thought? Any ideas? Here are mine, if you're interested: Inform sprinting mechanics Aid in training prescription Help predict injuries Monitor return to performance programs Establish cohort-specific norms Let's...
A Whole-Body Approach in Pro Sports [New insights into sprint biomechanics]
In last week's article, we talked about a holistic way of looking at sprint biomechanics - what's been called a whole-body approach, and I shared Dr. James Wild's initial forays into this from over a decade ago. In this work, he developed a dual-axis framework which determined the motor strategy of athletes based upon their relative step rate - step...
what the heck’s a whole-body strategy? [a big-picture look into sprint biomechanics]
In sprint biomechanics, we can quite easily get caught up in the minutia. Ground contact time, flight time, step length, step frequency, stiffness, momentum, acceleration, peak velocity, average velocity, thigh angular velocity, toe-off angle, touchdown distance … the list goes on. It can quickly become overwhelming - so I totally understand the nature of many of your questions as they...
Why Sprinting Biomechanics Matter – with the exception of technique
In this article, I'm going to talk about all the reasons why sprinting biomechanics matter - with the exception of technique! Coaches often view sprint technique in team sports through the same lens as in track and field, but they are very different. In track and field, biomechanical analyses of sprinting have a long history. In team sports, the role...
The Motion-IQ Braking-COD Report
The Motion-IQ COD-Braking Report is finally here! Today, we're introducing our new COD-Braking Report - developed with agility expert Rich Clarke. We've had a ton of requests for this over the last 6 months, and so it's with great excitement that we can finally share it with you. Page 1 of The Report is an overview of the most-important COD...
Fascia: A historical Perspective
INTRODUCTION In our centuries-long quest to comprehend the complexities of the human body, we have often adopted a reductionist approach - dissecting systems into their constituent parts to study and understand each element in isolation. While this has led to significant advancements in medical science, it has also imposed limitations, as such a method rarely tells us how those...
The ALTIS Assessment Protocol
Assessing speed and movement We are often called in to work with professional teams who bring us in to consult on specific movement or speed-related issues. In the next 2-minutes we share our Assessment Protocol, which is our first port of call for triaging what matters, and what actions to take. Example assessment - Baseball Our assessment process follows four...
Beyond the Track: A 24-7 Approach to Sporting Excellence
Every pre-season, I have individual sit-downs with the athletes I work with, diving into the essence of commitment to their sport. I make it clear that being an athlete isn't just about those 15-20 hours a week spent training; it's a 24-7 pursuit. It's an all-encompassing, interconnected way of living. "We're aiming for an 8/10 across the board," I tell...
The Shuffle Start & Goodhart’s Law: when good enough is good enough
The so-called shuffle start has been making waves in the last few years, especially among elite circles [and most-especially in the United States]. It is characterized by a low projection angle from the blocks, an ultra-low heel recovery [often seen as a toe-drag], and a high step frequency. This may be a controversial take, but I’ve long believed that this...
The Paradox of Performance: Power Meets Grace
The performance of an athlete, in its most exquisite form, is a dynamic interplay of power and grace. A spectacle that mesmerizes us as it seamlessly blends fluidity with ferocity, combines violence with peace, and merges aggression with elegance. It's an art form where strength and subtlety coexist, creating a harmonious symphony of human potential. There's a reason Ali's motto...