Conviction – if you don’t have it, a comment can take you out of your game. The old golf pro played by Robert Duvall asks the young pro to tell him why he holds the club the way that he does. “It just feels good.” That answer is not enough for the old pro, and he asks the young pro to write down why he does everything that he does. In life, those things that we haven’t thought about are the ones that will trip us up. Knowing what we believe and why we believe it can save us heartache and pull us through those times when others are trying to convince us to do something wrong.
Balance requires emotional control. The young golf pro goes fly fishing. After standing the boat for a while, he hooks a fish. He gets so excited that he falls into the river. It isn’t just anger that can takes us out of balance.
If you want to play like a pro, you have to act like one.
See it. Feel it. Trust it. (SFT) Rather than just going out and hitting the ball, the young pro is told that he needs to see the hit, what it is going to do and where it is going to go before he even picks up his club. When he sees it in his mind, his body needs to feel it, and the pro needs to trust that it will turn out as he saw it.
Respect tradition but have a passion for the truth. It is important to know history and know the traditions, but when a better way comes along, it is also important to adapt to that truth.
That’s because they know they’re trapped; it makes their lights go out. This is probably the best part of the film. The young pro is standing in a field in the dark with the cutest girl in Utopia. He caught some fireflies, but their lights are not shining – a lot like what happens to a person who feels trapped.
Bury the lies and take the truths with you. The old pro digs a shallow grave in the graveyard and hands a box with a couple of sheets of paper, a pencil and a Bible in it. The young pro is told to write down the lies that he had been told, like how his worth is related to his golf score and bury them.
See the "Seven Days in Utopia" review.