Altis BASEBALL— Building Clarity in a Game Full of Noise
Baseball has never lacked passion. What it often lacks is clarity. Players today are caught between recycled slogans handed down from past generations and a tidal wave of modern data: exit velocities, biomechanics reports, radar feedback, swing breakdowns. Both extremes — tradition without context and data without translation — leave athletes confused and frustrated. At Altis, we believe the role of a development program is not to chase every number or cling to every cliché. Our job is to cut through the noise and create clarity for athletes who want to take ownership of their growth.
Athletes don’t fall short because they lack effort. They fall short because they lack direction. Inherited cues like “stay inside” or “swing level” mean different things to different players and often produce mixed results. On the other end, endless numbers without explanation overwhelm athletes and strip away feel. Neither alone builds confidence or consistency. That’s where Altis steps in — filtering the noise, translating the important pieces, and connecting information to movements athletes can trust and repeat in competition.
Every great player starts with movement. That’s why Altis builds from the athlete first, not the technology. Tools like high-speed video and biomechanics labs are invaluable, but only when they help an athlete feel and repeat success. Our philosophy is simple: movement creates performance, data clarifies it and feel makes it repeatable.
Long before bat sensors and ball-tracking systems, great hitters like Ted Williams and Charlie Lau were already saying what we now measure. Williams spoke of a slight upswing to match the pitch plane. Lau emphasized a slight uppercut to drive balls with consistency. Today we call these ideas attack angle and launch angle. Technology didn’t invent them; it only gave new words to what hitters already knew. At Altis, we see this as proof that timeless movements endure. Our job is to help players connect those timeless principles to modern tools in ways they can own.
See for yourself
The same pattern holds true on the pitching side. Leo Mazzone, the legendary Braves pitching coach of the 1990s, preached throwing more often — especially off the mound — at a time when the baseball world was beginning to push restrictions and rest. His staffs not only dominated but also stayed remarkably healthy. Years later, Alan Jaeger’s Thrive on Throwing program emphasized structured long toss and arm care, reinforcing the value of consistent, mindful throwing. What some saw as radical at the time is now recognized as foundational to building resilient arms. At Altis, we embrace both Mazzone’s philosophy of frequency and Jaeger’s emphasis on intent and recovery. Together, they align with our belief that durable arms aren’t built by doing less — they’re built by throwing often, with clarity of purpose, and with systems in place to protect the athlete.
This commitment to clarity is captured in the Altis Assessment Protocol — a system designed to merge information with application. Every athlete is evaluated as a unique mover, challenged through problem-solving tasks that build adaptability, and supported with biomechanical insights that connect directly to feel. The result is a roadmap where athletes not only improve but also understand why they’re improving and can repeat it long-term.
No two players are built the same. That’s why no two paths at Altis look the same. Our role is to identify the constraints standing in the way of progress, create environments that encourage exploration, and equip athletes to make their own adjustments — in practice, in games, and at the next level. We don’t chase fads. We build durable, adaptable players who own their development.
The future of player development isn’t about rejecting the past or blindly chasing the latest metric. It’s about clarity. At Altis, we honor what works, leverage what matters, and relentlessly push the game forward by empowering athletes to understand and own their movements. Because in the end, the magic has always been in the movement.
References
Altis. (2024, February 12). The ALTIS assessment protocol. ALTIS. https://altis.world/articles/altis-assessment-protocol/
Bernstein, N. A. (1967). The coordination and regulation of movements. Pergamon Press.
Bongaardt, R., & Meijer, O. G. (2000). Bernstein’s theory of movement behavior: Historical development and contemporary relevance. Journal of Motor Behavior, 32(1), 57–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222890009601361
Ho, J., Shinya, M., & Kudo, K. (2023). Psychomotor and visual skills underlying position specialization in junior elite baseball players. PLOS ONE, 18(1), e0278689. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278689
McCue, M., Brody, S., & Saperstein, A. (2019). Getting to first base: Developmental trajectories of Major League Baseball. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PMC). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6868092/
Tsutsui, T., Yamada, Y., & Tanaka, S. (2024). Developmental patterns of athletic performance during youth and association with physical fitness changes. Journal of Sports Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2024.2416777
Williams, T. (1971). The Science of Hitting. Simon & Schuster.
Lau, C. (1980). The Art of Hitting .300. Charley Lau Baseball.
Mazzone, L. (2009). Tales from the Atlanta Braves Dugout. Sports Publishing.
Jaeger, A. (2009). Thrive on Throwing. Jaeger Sports.
