Book 1 Project. Relating The Book to My Life.

            While reading The Legend of Bagger Vance, I was able to relate to it in many ways. I relate to the novel in the obvious way that I play golf, but also in a much deeper way. Often times on the golf course I find myself getting very upset and mad any time I hit a shot bad, which eventually transfers to my game going bad. When you start to show emotion and have a poor attitude you are just giving up on yourself. Your golf game always translates the way in which you act. Junah, in the novel, has many moments similar to my own on the golf course. In the novel Junah’s mystical caddy, Bagger Vance, gives many speeches to Junah telling him how your head has everything to do with how you play the game. A chord struck me very deep while reading these parts.

            Coming from a golf family and watching golf nearly everyday, I found a love for the game at a very young age. Much like Junah I would spend every dying moment on the course when I was younger, whether that was caddying, practicing, or playing. I truly believe that because of my strong love and passion for the game, it drives me mad when I hit a poor shot. It is the only the thing I can think about for the next three holes. Much like Junah on the course when things start going south, they go south fast. My head affects every shot on the course. In the novel Bagger explains how he believes one can become a truly great golfer, and it all started with having a positive mind set. He says it doesn’t matter about how you swing, but how you must trust yourself to produce that one authentic swing. Your swing. Junah throughout the novel is constantly worrying about how he grips the club, but Bagger explains that it doesn’t have to be perfect for it to work. It really reminds about golfing with my grandfather. He is the one who taught me how to swing a club when I was just four years old. Every time I get to play with him now he constantly tells me how I cant let my head get the best of me. He tells me to look at how he plays at 82 years of age. Not everything is perfect, but he makes it work.  So much like how Bagger reminds Junah that its not about being perfect but being positive, my grandfather shares his wisdom of the mental aspect of golf with me. In many ways Junah and I share the same attitude on the golf course. Junah learns to conquer these strong feeling of anger on the golf course with the help of Bagger telling him that he can’t control where the ball goes, he can only control how he presents himself on the course. After reading this book and seeing how Junah conquered his emotions to beat the best two golfers in the world I really believe that I will control my emotions better on the course from now on. Reading about how Junah succeeded makes me want to succeed in the same way.