Junuh hitting golf balls in the rain

Thank you so much for your response. I enjoyed reading it. I loved your analysis of how water is used in the film...I didn't really think about it the way that you mentioned it. Well done!

I agree again about Robert Redford as a director and the depth that he has. I know a lot of critics tried to paint this movie along the lines of, "Redford tried to make a golf version of 'The Natural ' but failed." While I do acknowledge that there are definitely flaws with this movie, I don't think he "failed." More than any other golf movie I've seen, this one makes me want to play golf more than any other. I appreciate the "spiritual aspect" of this movie and how it relates to golf.

Matt Damon and Will Smith was interesting casting. Damon's career was red-hot back then and he gave the film a big name. He really struggled getting the golf swing down (although the film does a pretty good job of concealing that), but he did fine, I thought. I think Redford wanted Morgan Freeman to play Bagger Vance, but Smith begged Redford for the role and Redford gave it to him. Smith was really big into golf back then and he had a pretty nice golf swing (in the one scene at night where he hits one). However, as you mentioned, it does seem that Smith was just too young to play Bagger Vance. Bagger needed to be older, I think...but, I love the movie regardless.

Also agree about Bruce McGill (and I'll also mention Joel Gretsch, who played Bobby Jones). McGill was fantastic...he actually has a physical resemblance to Walter Hagen and he was a pretty good golfer back in the day. He's been great in everything I've seen him in...terrific actor. By the way, regarding Michael Mann, Bruce McGill was in one of the best episodes of "Miami Vice" back in the 80s (played a cop who kind of went off the deep end, so to speak... it's a terrific episode), so I'm thinking the "Mann-McGill connection" may go back to that.

BeaSouth: "I wonder if your bout with your swing was connected to some disorder in your real life; gripping too tightly connected to not letting go of some issue or person that you needed to put behind you?"

That is an excellent question and it has definitely been true for me in the past (Heck, even PGA Tour Pros, who are pretty much "machines" when it comes to the golf swing, have struggled when facing certain crises in their personal lives). However, in this case, the answer is "no." While my life is certainly not perfect by any means, I'm doing pretty well today and feel very blessed and fortunate to be where I'm at now.

I think what it boils down to for me is this...the golf swing is just awfully darn hard to "master" (I'll never really "master" it, to be honest). It's so easy to fall into bad habits with it and diagnosing the actual "root cause" can be very difficult. In my case, I weakened my right-hand grip a bit (I'm a southpaw, FYI) and that has made all the difference in the world. Such a relatively simple fix...yet it took about a year for that to finally sink into my thick skull! 😀

Regarding the Redford quotes you mentioned, I do agree with him that golf is indeed a great metaphor for life. However, as the years have passed, I'm not so sure about the "mystical qualities" of the golf swing. I think it boils down to simple physics on one hand (i.e., the ability to repeatedly hit the golf ball in the center of the clubface). But also, especially at the PGA Tour level, the mental ability to focus and play your best golf when the pressure is on matters also. That is one thing I marvel at both Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods so much...how often they were able to play their best golf when they were under the most pressure and when it really mattered. There's a lot of "mental pressure" in golf, whether you're trying to win The Masters or trying to break 70/80/90/100, etc. It's part of what makes golf so challenging.