Articles
The making of Altis
With the new Altis brand launched this week, we caught up with Peter Simmons (PS) and Ryan McNamara (RM) from our branding team, 5or6, to get an insight into our journey developing the new name and logo. Why the change? PS - The business has grown so much since its inception. The brand needed to reflect the growth of the company....
All Jelly and No Toast
Having been an All-American in Track and USA national team member in Bobsled, Nic Taylor is no stranger to high performance. Following his competitive career, Nic held coaching stints with UCLA and the United States Olympic Committee. Now Taylor - a Sports Psychology Graduate, and husband to two-time Olympic medalist Elana - is settled in Phoenix where he leads Altis'...
Creating a performance environment
A graduate of Grand Valley State University, Jason Hettler is now Strength & Power Coach at Altis. With experience coaching across a variety of sports - including soccer, baseball and softball, Jason first arrived in Phoenix the spring of 2014 to complete a Altis Internship - where he has since remained; fast becoming an integral part of our performance coaching...
10 Reasons why you should form a coaching partnership or team
Written by Altis Performance Director and Sprint Coach - Stuart McMillan, this week's blog-post features an eye-opening examination into the pre-requisites involved in operating within a team coaching environment, and the consequent merits of forging such a bond. Introduction "I’ve never done anything solo — except take tests.” - Bill Gates Chapter 1 of Michael Eisner’s book Working Together is...
Practice Rhythm & Flow
This week's blog-post features an intriguing musical journey with Coach Andreas Behm - as he conducts an eclectic exploration into the effect of rhythm and flow, and the impact this has on coaching. I am fascinated by rhythm. Rhythm surrounds us, is ingrained in us. Tides, seasons, magnetic-fields, heartbeats, breathing patterns, walking, dancing, stoplights, ceiling-fans. If you know this about...
Branding athletes in elite sport
Our branding and design partners, 5or6 Ltd have been working with Altis since its inception. They have vast experience working with NGBs, institutions, commercial businesses and individual athletes - in all areas concerning brand and website design. In this blog-post 5or6 give us an insight into experiences gained from working with elite athletes in the process of building personal brands....
Coaching and Fishing
A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Mike Boykin is Events Director and Assistant Coach at Altis. Prior to joining Altis, Mike interned with various teams at UW-Madison, Quinnipiac University, and Northeastern University. He has also interned at Cressey Performance, a private training facility outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Mike is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the NSCA. In...
Coaching the Individual in the Athlete
In this week's blog-post, Altis Coaches Program Coordinator & Throws Coach - Nick Sheuerman shares some philosophical insights into pedagogy and the art of coaching the individual. The following is a collection of thoughts on coaching amassed during the short span of my career so far, and from working with some of the most talented, yet humble mentors I could...
Digging Deeper: Post-Competition & Post-Season debriefs
In Kyle Hierholzer's previous blog-post, Altis Combined Events & Jumps Coach discussed daily debrief strategies and methods for creating an environment conducive to stimulating open communication. In this follow up post, Kyle takes a deeper look into the art of the debrief, and discusses methods used at Altis pertaining to Post-Competition and Post-Season debriefs. The Post-Competition debrief Historically, debriefs originated...
Upright Sprinting
Following on from Coach Chidi Enyia's blog-post on Acceleration, WAC Sprints & Jumps Coach - Dustin Imdieke examines the next piece in the speed puzzle - upright sprinting and the mechanics of maximum velocity. Dating back to the ancient Olympic games, people have been fascinated with exploring and pushing the limits of how fast humans sprint. During the previous century...