Optimism and Delusions

What's Wrong with Michael Chang and What he Needs to Do

by Dr. Roland A. Carlstedt

Listening to Michael Chang's interview after his straight set loss to Nicolas Lapenti you'd think he won the match. Sure it's o.k. to be optimistic, however, Chang takes Seligman's concept of personal optimism to new heights, almost to the point of being delusional. While most experts doubt that Chang will ever find his top-10 form, he is convinced he'll make it back to the upper echelon of the game. Although we expect champions to talk like Chang, and more importantly continue to train hard and fight, he has to learn that mental toughness alone will not do it especially when technical and tactical deficiencies are obvious. It'll take much more to brake the emerging modern game that is rapidly passing Chang by.

In Chang's case we see one of the mentally toughest players of all time actually falling victim to those very traits that once made his psyche the best in the game. His positive attitude fails to recognize the negative in his current game. His mental discipline has turned to stubbornness, and the repressive coping he still exhibits is more unconsciously structured toward warding off doubts about his ability to compete with big-boys and the imminent demise of the career that defined him, than fending off disruptive thoughts during a match. In other words, the unconscious psychological armor that once propelled him to heroic heights by suppressing common doubts players often experience during critical moments of competition, functions more to protect the super-star's ego than facilitate stellar performances.

Even though Chang has fallen well out of the top 10, he doesn't seem to recognize his game is no longer up to snuff

This often occurs when disparity exists between one's self-image and the reality of one's actual ability or inability. Chang's inability to recognize or admit that his present game as is is no longer up to the task of beating most of today's players is an example of a sort of "sport cognitive dissonance." Essentially, what this means is that if what you believe about your game does not jive with what is happening, you'll restructure your thought processes to protect your self-image. For example, Chang, even though falling well out of the top 10 doesn't think or recognize that his game no longer is up to snuff, instead, consistent with his beliefs, self-image, and value system, he tells us how much fun he is having and that it's just a matter of time before he finds his old form and ranking.

He has adjusted or modified his thought processes to his current predicament in such a manner that the essence of his ego or self-perceptions are not threatened, even though the reality of his situation shows that his game is no longer consistent with his self-image. This disparity, if not recognized and addressed, will hinder Chang from ever reaching the top again.

What Chang is experiencing is common when an athlete nears the end of his or her career or when their game no longer keeps up with developing advances in a sport.

When I coached Ronald Agenor at the start of his comeback at the age of 34, he told me he wanted to at least get into the top-15 or a semi-final in a Grand Slam tournament. I said, "Fine, but what are you going to do about it?" I asked if he was willing to change his game to adapt to a style of play that was not around when he started playing almost 20 years ago. How could he possibly reach such grandiose heights with the game he played almost two decades ago?

Here lies one of the major problems with Chang and other players who are slipping into tennis oblivion, they usually are not willing or serious about making drastic but necessary changes to at least have a chance at making another run to the top. Oh, they'll tell you they will do anything to reach that illusory goal, but in reality, just as they are bound by firmly entrenched psychological and behavioral patterns, so too their technical and tactical is usually etched in stone.

The only hope for Chang may be to totally revamp his game, but is he willing?

This doesn't have to be so. Research clearly indicates that psychological and neuropsychological changes can be made. A top athlete is actually better able to make drastic changes than a novice, so that indeed, "an old dog can learn new tricks", provided the new tricks are learned in an efficient and systematic manner. In tennis this is difficult because most players are unwilling to pay for resources that are readily available to older players involved in team sports; this means having trainers and coaches familiar with the latest research in motor learning and neuropsychological processes.

As I see it, the only hope for Chang is to totally revamp his game. He should consider a more powerful racquet, flattening out his excessive topspin, and inducing the first pressure or big-shot in a rally. He should no longer play the percentages like he did in the past, instead he must get extremely aggressive and end points as soon as possible. Systematic training would help him implement a new game and that may be the only hope for him. The same applies to Agenor and Vince Spadea who can't even qualify for major events any more.

The time has come for a Chang make-over, and that means restructuring the mental characteristics that once made him one of the toughest players and using them to learn and effectively use a new technical and tactical game.

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Dr. Roland A. Carlstedt has followed the professional tennis tours since 1985, fulltime from 1989-1998 in which he on average attended 25 tournaments a year including all Grand Slam events and important Davis Cup ties. During this time he complied perhaps the most extensive database in existence on the psychological performance, tendencies, and profiles of most ATP and WTA players. His annual Psychological World Rankings for Tennis have been published since 1991 more than 500 times in over 40 countries. His rankings and data are based on his Psychological Observation System for Tennis. Interestingly his 2000 rankings which were released prior to the 2001 Australian Open had 2 of 4 semifinalists and 8 of 16 quarterfinalists on them including such unlikely players as Arnaud Clement and Sebastian Grossjean. His 2001 rankings will appear in TennisONE at the end of the year.

Last Updated 8/26/01. To contact us, please email to: webmaster@tennisone.com

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