In Florida, there’s no shortage of golf schools and private instructors.
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So how do parents decide on the right fit golf academy program for their aspiring young golfer?
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The Hurricane Junior Golf Tour recently caught up with Guillaume Biaugeaud, Director of Instruction at Altus Performance Florida, to learn more about his golf academy and what parents should consider when seeking coaching & guidance for their golf prodigies.
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How did Altus Performance Florida get started and what is the mission/goal of your program?
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After the success of our academies around the world, we’re excited to expand into Florida, a location that perfectly aligns with our vision. Florida was the ideal choice for us, as it’s a perfect hub between Europe and the United States, and the climate is ideal all year round. Our focus is on finding a spot near Orlando, and we’re fortunate to have found a promising location at Orange County National, which is a fantastic setting for our new academy.
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Our goal is to create an environment that nurtures exceptional results, utilizing the same proven process that has supported some of the world’s best players. As part of Altus, the organization with the highest number of players on various Tours around the world, we’re dedicated to helping every player who joins us reach their full potential and achieve exceptional results.
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What separates Altus Performance Florida from other private golf schools?
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What separates Altus Florida from other schools or academies is the academy size. We intentionally keep our sizes small because we want to give each player the attention they deserve and that has become a staple here for us at Altus. We also want to make sure that each player is adhering to their blueprint that we create for all players that is designed to guide them and show them the points of success along the way to mastery.Â
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What are the differences between your three core junior programs – Foundation, Aspire and D1 Program?
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The difference between our three programs lies really in the development or ability of the player at that time. All three focus on building skill and solid functional movements, but each focus on different aspects. Foundation is focused on creating solid fundamentals that are also functional. We focus on the basics but go deeper into why and attach skill games and assignments along with certain tests in order to move on to the other programs. Aspire is all for the competitive juniors who are either looking to compete or are already competing. In this we go over how to structure practice sessions as well as changing ball flights/trajectory as well as introducing our tournament prep system known as Primed to Perform that goes over how to create a game plan for every tournament as well as certain mental strategies that we also use with our PGA and LPGA Tour players. (I’ll let you answer D1 since even I am not fully aware of it)Â
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For parents considering private coaching for their junior golfer, what should they be looking for and how do parents determine the right fit for their child?
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For private coaching, parents should be looking for a coach who will meet the student where they currently are at skills wise and help them devise a plan to help them grow over time and build in lasting changes without being forced to swing or play under any sort of methodology. Parents can help determine if the coach is a right fit by asking questions about what success would look like during their development as well as ways they can be informed on how to better help their child succeed even outside the lesson tee. You also need to find a coach that your child will want to be around as if they look forward to going to the lesson and feel good about themselves, they will be more motivated to do what they are being shown.Â
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Can you describe your full-time program?
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Our full-time program provides a deep under the hood look and process into our players’ games. Here we go deep into what they need to improve upon in their technique, mental strategy, and overall approach to the game. The program meets 5 days a week for 4 hours each day and will cover everything from individualized instruction, skill development, short game lie detection and adaptation, putting concepts for the three major skills of putting, and we dive deep into the mental aspects of tournament play and prep. We also tie in golf specific homework in the form of skill tasks that must be completed. Our goal is to leave no stone unturned, and we expect our players in this program to do the same. We also intentionally keep this program small operation on a 4:1 student to coach ratio as we want to ensure we have time to meet with each player and give them complete access to coaching.Â
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Altus Performance Florida is staffed by 3 extremely competent and complementary coaches:
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Guillaume Biaugeaud – Director of Instruction
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Before making his mark in the U.S., Biaugeaud was one of France’s most sought-after golf coaches, renowned for his exceptional ability to develop the skills of golfers across all levels, with a particular focus on coaching high-performance players.
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His influence extends beyond coaching. He founded and successfully ran Altus Performance Europe for six years, achieving outstanding success and results. His journey is a testament to his dedication and impact in the world of golf instruction.
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Highlights:
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– Trained over 60 Tour Professionals, guiding them to full status on the DP World Tour and securing victories.
– Opened and managed Altus Performance Europe for six years with remarkable success.
– Trained over 150 juniors who have won national and international championships and obtained scholarships at prestigious colleges.Â
– Winner, as a coach, of more than 35 national and international team tournaments with the prestigious Racing Club de France.
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Scott Downing – High Performance Coach
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High Performance Coach Scott Downing, PGA, has been teaching golf for over 30 years to beginners through professional players. He was named 2010 PGA teacher of the year in the Indiana Section. Collectively, Scott’s students have over 60 top three finishes including 40 wins on the HJGT alone, including a world championship. His philosophy is simple- he teaches to the individual in a way they can most easily comprehend. Scott welcomes the opportunity to work with all levels of junior golfers.
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Alec Sailer – High Performance Coach
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Alec Sailer is a high performance golf coach for Altus Performance Florida who before coming to Florida spent time in Dallas learning directly under Cameron McCormick at Trinity Forest Golf Club. Alec brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to his coaching that stems from his time as a player and attending college at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where he graduated the PGA Program there to his time spent with Altus and continuing to learn all he can to better help his players.Â
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To learn more about Altus Performance Florida, or to request a free consult, visit https://altusperformanceflorida.com/
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