Golf Books #55 (Lessons and Teachings from a Lifetime in Golf)

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

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.

Penick, a golf instructor who has been credited with improving the scores of several professionals on the mens and ladies’ tours (including Tom Kite and Sandra Palmer) here provides both physical and psychological tips for golfers. He also instructs on the preparation required before approaching the first tee. Though the value of this book is its information, libraries owning previous works on the mental aspects of golf (e.g., Peter Cranford’s The Winning Touch in Golf: A Psychological Approach , 1961. o.p.) can pass. (source)

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