How can we help you?
Athletes often wonder—“What can I do to perform better or play more consistently?” Many assume that physical practice will ultimately improve performance, but that is a myth. To be truly successful in sports you must refine both the body *and* the mind. And, that’s just where Protex Sports helps athletes excel!
As sports psychology and mental toughness professionals, we help you uncover the hidden mental barriers that adversely impact athletic performance and stifle the inner athlete. Then, we craft and refine your unique mental game plan so that you find your performance zone faster and stay there longer for optimal performance. We apply real and tactical sports psychology principles to ensure that you are armed with the mental skills needed to perform well both in practice and in competition.
Call us today for a free consultation at 408-235-1500 or contact us.
PROFILES IN SUCCESS
My Son Achieved Top 15 in Summer Nationals
“My son has been working with John for over a year now and I am very pleased with the results. I was initially referred to John through a friend and colleague to help my son get through some challenging times having lost a very close friend, mentor and fencing coach. This loss was difficult and it not only affected his emotional approach to sports and fencing, but also his performance. I really wanted to find someone to help him process the loss, but also to get back his confidence and rekindle his joy for fencing. John has gone above and beyond and has been a great mental game coach, trusted mentor, and has helped my son get back on a successful performance track with his competitive fencing. Through this process my son has also been able to learn valuable life lessons he will undoubtedly reference in the future. Just recently he achieved Top 15 at the Summer Nationals Fencing Tournament. I would recommend John to any parent looking to help their child improve their sports performance as well as gain valuable insight into how performance experiences in sports can provide valuable lessons for the future.”
Focus and Momentum Increased Confidence and Effectiveness
"My husband and I contacted John Ellsworth to work with our son during his senior year in High School. John worked with him to help him understand his roadblocks and to develop tools and techniques to overcome them. John was not only able to work with Kyle on his mental game, he took the extra steps to work on his physical game. The extra support of working on his mechanics was a wonderful addition to Kyle's development. John's connections and introductions to local coaches became a valuable asset. We appreciated John's complete approach to all aspects of Kyle's baseball development. John's patient and compassionate approach to working with Kyle was truly unique; he was not given a standard coaching template but rather he was able to work with our son's personality and make suggestions that he was comfortable with, in a time frame that worked with our family. The structured approach of the coaching relationship combined with focus on Kyle's goals a created momentum. This focus and momentum increased both his confidence and effectiveness. John continues to check in with our family and keep in touch on Kyle's baseball progress".
"My son’s soccer coach felt my son could be a highly successful goalkeeper but his game performance was lackluster. He had the skills to be one of the best players on the team but during games was underachieving. John Ellsworth began working in the fall and within one month my son’s performance improved. My son not only earned the starting job but during State Cup Tournament my son played every minute of every game. He was instrumental in his team’s success (making it to the Final Four).
I knew the work he was doing with John was “sticking” when on the way to the second round of State Cup I asked him how he was feeling, and he responded, “Mom, I need quiet, I am doing my self-talk.”
Protex Sports provides the mental skills to compete effectively and consistently as a solid performer.
"John Ellsworth of Protex Sports has done an admirable job working with my 14-year-old son. John's coaching has given him the mental skills to compete effectively and consistently as a solid performer on his traveling club baseball team. My son's batting has definitely improved. Furthermore, his ability to respond to challenging situations and improved emotional composure has made him one of the most reliable pitchers on his team. He often serves as the "closer" in pool play and as one of the regular starting pitchers in the play-off rounds in tournaments. Thanks, John for helping my son's baseball efforts become more satisfying and successful for him."
Sports psychology is highly recommended to anyone who is serious about competing and
excelling at their sport.
"Working with John provided me far more than I originally expected. Not only did we address my initial issues, but then we focused on improving my mental attitude and establishing a game plan for all phases of my sport from training to competition. I would highly recommend John and Sports Psychology to anyone who is serious about competing and excelling at their sport. "
Protex Sports helps athletes become mentally prepared
and tougher to excel in sports competition.
"John Ellsworth helped our son during his post surgery rehabilitation and during his Senior year on the Varsity water polo and basketball teams. Immediately after surgery, our son wasn't sure he wanted to play sports again, but because of his inner strength, a killer conditioning program, and John's assistance in becoming mentally prepared and tougher, our son returned to competitive sports and excelled. He has even been accepted to the college of his choice along with the opportunity to play both sports. John helped our son defeat mental adversity and improve his competitive in game performance."
Mike - father of HS basketball and water polo player
The whole mental strategy, both pertaining to sports and
off the sports field, becomes much stronger and continues to be stronger.
"My testimonial may be different than others, but it brings out John's strengths as a mental game coach.
First of all, I would like to say that John has a lot of experience in this field, he is very familiar with the sports 'business' on a professional sports, college sports, and high school sports level, educates himself well on any issues a client may be facing, and does research on the particular set of issues involved. He is educated on the mentality and behavior of sports personnel, and has a good idea on how a coach or a player or whomever might react in a particular situation.
He is also very strong in pinpointing particular problem(s) that the athlete many have in regard to their mental game, which may then affect their sports performance, for example perfectionism, procrastination, fear, etc. and he builds a plan to work step by step with the athlete to resolve these issues and thus allow the athlete to play to their true game potential.
John has worked with my daughter, a collegiate division I sports participant. He has not only helped her progress through a serious injury, but works and continues to work on her mental game as well. Her whole mental strategy, both pertaining to sports and off the sports field, has become much stronger and continues to become stronger while working with John.
John also adds the element of 'hope' to all situations. No matter how bad a situation may seem, John will find rays of light and hope, and turn the situation into a positive, and educate the athlete to deal with the situation, that with hard work, there may/will be light at the end of the tunnel, which in turn, teaches the athlete to better deal with this and other situations, both sports related and non-sports related.
In addition, John cares about the client, he goes the extra mile to help the athlete to reach his or her goals. I have worked with other sports trainers (not mental coaches but sports trainers) and each at times seemed out for themselves, their main goal to promote their own business. John is genuinely concerned with the athlete's goals and their progress in achieving those goals".
"Before I knew about Sports Psychology, I was not a very confident individual. In February 2006, I was set back even further when I had a major operation on my ribcage. It took me months to recover from this physically, but I was still damaged mentally. I then met John and he introduced me to Sports Psychology. I soon developed a more open mind set and began to live and play sports without fear. My confidence rose to levels I had never seen before, and this helped me on and off the court, in and out of the pool. Thanks to Sports Psychology and John's help, I am now living my life in a greater state of freedom and excelling in sports because I know that I have the mental edge over my competition."
Regained Confidence by Developing
a Positive Mental Focus
"John Ellsworth has been tremendously successful in working with my son, a varsity golfer at Bellarmnie College Prep. He was able to help my son work through a significant mental block in his game and gave him the tools to continue moving forward. John’s interest, involvement and expertise went well beyond my expectations. He was able to help my son regain his confidence by working on efficient practice strategies and by developing a positive mental focus. We are so grateful that my son was able to get back into his game and go on to CCS finals and NorCal with his team. I’m absolutely positive this would not have been possible without John’s involvement.
John’s guidance went above and beyond the realm of golf. He has empowered my son in a way that will support his needs through college and beyond. As a parent I am grateful that my son was able to finish out the year in golf and even more grateful that my son has found a fantastic mentor in John. Our group effort has been extremely effective on so many levels. Thanks again John!"
"Although John has only recently begun working with our daughter we are already seeing changes in her mental approach to the game. We enjoy watching her use the mental tools John has given her. Not only has this resulted in a noticeable improvement in her physical skills but her overall enjoyment of the game seems to have skyrocketed. We will continue to rely on John's expertise as her mental approach to the game continues to develop."
"Our son was a top pitcher on a competitive traveling team that played in state and national tournaments. He then played in a competitive high school baseball program which was state and nationally ranked. Something happened however, and he started to change in his thought process, he approached the game differently and he started to play with doubt and started to put pressure on himself.
We knew nothing about sports psychology, but as a parent we added pitching lessons, hitting lessons, acceleration programs and we think nothing about the high pressure of playing a sport in such a highly competitive environment. It seems to me that a crucial link is missing.
I mentioned sports psychology to my son, and he wanted nothing to do with it. He thought he could fix it himself by continuing his hard work of hitting, fielding and working out at the gym. He agreed to meet with John and was instantly impressed. He wanted to continue to work with John on a mental game approach. Each week he would share information John shared with him, his perspective started to change on how he looked at situations and what was in his control.
I would highly recommend John and his approach to sports psychology. John has been a mentor to our son, and when you talk with him, you will see how passionate he is about his program and his students. What John has taught our son is not just game skills it is life skills!"
“Thank you so much for providing my son with the Mental Game Flash Cards. They are a convenient reminder of what he needs to focus on during the games. The information on the cards has helped him to concentrate on the current game situation, to block out unnecessary distractions, and to maintain his composure regardless of the circumstances. The Mental Game strategies have also boosted his performance, which has resulted in an increase in his confidence level, both on and off the field!”
Saw a Noticeable Improvement
in Less than Three Months
"When I first approached John about working with my son Matt on his baseball skills he was quite reluctant to work with a mental game sports consultant. His confidence was the real challenge, but in order to get him past his fear of working with a sports coach John was flexible with his approach and focused on helping Matt improve his pitching skills. Matt was about to start high school in the fall and wanted very badly to make the freshman baseball team, but was not confident in his skills. Once Matt became comfortable with John's coaching approach and actually started to see his skills improve he was eager to meet with John as often as he could. Over the course of three months not only did Matt's pitching mechanics improve, but his confidence, and trust in his ability as a ball player jumped significantly. At the end of the day my son's skills improved and his appreciation for the mental game of baseball also improved. I plan to have John work with my son once again this fall."
I believe the "Mental Edge Performance Journal" is a great tool for any athlete wanting to take their sport to the next level. It allows me to access my golf game on a daily basis and gets me to pick out both good and the bad. I believe this is key both for my confidence and shows me where and what to improve for tomorrow. The “Mental Edge” also keeps me focused on my goals. It is important for me to have my goals written down on paper, where I can remind myself of them everyday. I also have used the success journal to write down positive self talk statements. Reading these everyday helped me rebuild confidence in areas that were weak”.
My team and I traveled overseas to England to race in the Henley Women's Regatta. We won our first race easily, and then dominated the best junior rowers in England winning by over 3 lengths of open water. Despite bad weather conditions (40 mph winds) we won the finals race by 4 lengths of open water to win the Peabody Cup and our division at the Henley Women's Regatta! It was really exciting and everyone was overjoyed! The help I got from you made an incredible difference in my confidence, overall approach to racing in general, and helped me gain a much deeper appreciation for the importance of having a strong mental approach.
Going into my Freshman Football season my confidence was really low. My high expectations got in the way of my confidence, but as the season went on my confidence began to grow because I learned to play without expectations, and trust in the skills I had mastered. My confidence grew even more when I started using a pre-game routine in the locker room to pump up the entire defensive team. The defense started looking to me as a leader during pre-game. This was a huge confidence boost. John has really helped me to appreciate myself more and as a result I enjoy the game much more than I did last year.
I lost my desire to play tennis after spending many years at a private tennis academy. My dad was concerned because I just didn’t enjoy playing anymore. John helped me figure out that I was playing to please others and not myself. This was an important ah ha moment for me because I learned that pleasing others was always a moving target and I really had zero control over anyone but myself. It was amazing how my becoming aware of this simple fact made such a huge difference in my outlook and enjoyment with tennis.
As a 45 year old Triathlete I had set some pretty big goals to qualify for the Ironman in my age group. I was devoted to my training, but had a really hard time with balancing my aggressive behavior and focus during events. I knew this kept me from reaching the performance success I had set for myself, but was not sure what to do about it and felt like I needed some help. John helped me create a program to channel my energy into improving my performance, and add a series of tools to help me with distraction control. I did not believe it at first, but these tools really made a positive difference.
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(408) 234-1500 | Protex Sports LLC. | San Jose, CA
