Harvey Penick's Little Red Book : Lessons and Teachings from a Lifetime in Golf

Harvey Penick's Little Red Book : Lessons and Teachings from a Lifetime in Golf
by Harvey Penick

Harvey Penick's Little Red Book : Lessons and Teachings from a Lifetime in Golf
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Book Summary Information

Author: Harvey Penick
Edition: Hardcover
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 1992-05-15
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 175
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Book Reviews of Harvey Penick's Little Red Book : Lessons and Teachings from a Lifetime in Golf

Book Review: A great little book.
Summary: 5 Stars

In evaluating this book, it's important to note what it is, and what it isn't.
It isn't a straightforward instructional book. It's very non-linear; for example, the grip is not discussed until page 30, and the stance until page 110. Instead, this is more a book of collected observations about the game, its pleasures and pains, its pitfalls and secrets for success, and its personalities.
Another thing it is not: a classically well-written book. After all, Harvey was a golf teacher, not an author (it appears that -- to his credit -- co-author Shrake allows Harvey's voice to come through, instead of completely rewriting his thoughts). What ultimately results is a slim volume full of both anecdotes and helpful tips (I have worked my way out of swing problems many times by going back to the Little Red Book).
A complete instructional guide to the game? No. This is a modest work -- very appropriate to the quiet and gentle man who taught a U.S. Open champion, a Masters champion, and hundreds or thousands of lesser-known golfers whose ability and appreciation for the game were enhanced by their having known Harvey Penick.

Summary of Harvey Penick's Little Red Book : Lessons and Teachings from a Lifetime in Golf

Harvey Penick's life in golf began when he started caddying at the Austin, (Texas), Country Club at age eight. Eighty-one years later he is still there, still dispensing wisdom to pros and beginners alike. His stature in the golf world is reflected in the remarkable array of champions he's worked with, both men and women, including U.S. Open champion and golf's leading money winner Tom Kite, Masters champion Ben Crenshaw, and LPGA Hall of Famers Mickey Wright, Betsy Rawls, and Kathy Whitworth. It is not for nothing that the Teacher of the Year Award given by the Golf Teachers Association is called the Harvey Penick Award.

Now, after sixty years of keeping notes on the things he's seen and learned and on the golfing greats he's taught, Penick is finally letting his Little Red Book (named for the red notebook he's always kept) be seen by the golf world. His simple, direct, practical wisdom pares away all the hypertechnical jargon that's grown up around the golf swing, and lets all golfers, whatever their level, play their best. He avoids negative words; when Tom Kite asked him if he should "choke down" on the club for a particular shot, Harvey told him to "grip down" instead, to keep the word "choke" from entering his mind. He advises golfers to have dinner with people who are good putters; their confidence may rub off, and it's certainly better than listening to bad putters complain. And he shows why, if you've got a bad grip, the last thing you want is a good swing.

Throughout, Penick's love of golf and, more importantly, his love of teaching shine through. He gets as much pleasure from watching a beginner get the ball in the air for the first time as he does when one of his students wins the U.S. Open.

Harvey Penick's Little Red Book is an instant classic, a book to rank with Ben Hogan's Modern Fundamentals of Golf and Tommy Armour's How to Play Your Best Golf All the Time.


Before titanium drivers, before oversized heads and bubble shafts, before electronic systems to tell you how far you are from the pin, golf was much the same game it is today. The lessons Harvey Penick taught in the pre-gadget days still stand. The golf swing is basically the same, and Penick could teach it better than anybody. For most of his life, he never intended to publish his Little Red Book, a notebook of golf wisdom and anecdotes that he compiled with the idea that he'd pass it on to his son. But, for the sake of history, it's a good thing that he changed his mind. Contained in its 175 pages is just about all you need to know about golf from a technical standpoint, along with Penick's priceless memories of working with famous pros, teaching absolute nobodies to get the ball in the air, and finding a horde of bat guano and hauling it across town in a pickup truck to fertilize his golf course. This book makes you feel good about playing golf, that you're part of something steeped in ritual and mystery and tradition, and that the game was played perfectly well before perimeter-weighted, graphite-shafted irons came along.

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