By: Neil Phillips

I’m not much of a golfer. I often tell people that I go golfing so others can feel good about their game. Besides, it’s too hot in Texas to golf very much. One thing I do know is that the best golfers mentally work to create the perfect golf swing and their whole focus is on bringing it to life.

The Legend of Bagger Vance is a 2000 U.S. film directed by Robert Redford and starring Will Smith as Bagger Vance. It was one of those sports movies that wasn’t really about sports. The story is based on the book of the same name written by Steven Pressfield.

For most golfers, the perfect swing is about a golf swing. For Bagger Vance and Junah, it’s about the game of life. Bagger Vance is a mysterious caddy that appears out of the night to help Savannah golfer, Rannulph Junah, recover his life after the trauma he experienced in World War I. Bagger Vance uses the metaphor of the golf swing as a way of explaining the key aspects of getting through life. He says things like:

“Play your game. The one that only you can play. The one that brought you into the world.”

“The trick is to find your swing… Now it’s somewhere… in the harmony… of all that is… All that was… And all that will be.”

“Inside each and every one of us is one true authentic swing… Somethin’ we was born with… Somethin’ that’s ours and ours alone… Somethin’ that can’t be taught to ya or learned… Somethin’ that got to be remembered… Over time the world can, rob us of that swing… It get buried inside us under all our wouldas and couldas and shouldas… Some folk even forget what their swing was like…”

That’s what we can learn. We need to find our swing. The one that only we have.

As a coach, my goal is to support people looking for theirs. When they find it, they know. They can change it, adapt it, even forget it for a while. But once they know what their perfect swing is, they own for all times and just need to remember.

Junah rediscovered his by jumping into the game, pushing himself, and deeply committing to discovering what he used to have.

Are you playing full out?

Are you stopping once in a while to think about why you are doing what you are?

Have you thought about your perfect swing lately?