Authors: Harvey Penick, Bud Shrake (With), Byron Nelson
ISBN-13: 9780671759926, ISBN-10: 0671759922
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
Date Published: May 1992
Edition: (Non-applicable)
Harvey Penick lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife Helen. This is his first book.
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.
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. Illustrations not seen.-- Jim Paxman, Tennessee State Univ., Nashville
Introductions
My Little Red Book
Golf Medicine
What's the Problem
Looking Up
Hand Position
The Three Most Important Clubs
The Grip
The Waggle
Holding the Club
The Easiest Lesson
Palm Reading
Starting Young
Hole Them All
Learning Around the Cup
Do You Need Help?
The Right Elbow
Take Dead Aim
Beware
How to Knock Five Strokes Off Your Game
Reassurance
The Practice Swing
The Average Golfer
How to Tell Where You're Aimed
Seasoned Citizens
The Left Heel
Backspin
Heavy Clubs
Hints on Greenskeeping
The Wrist Cock
Hit a Full Approach
Easy Bunkers
Bunker Play
Don't Relax
Positive Thinking
Psychology
Stay Behind the Ball
Hitting From the Top
Hypnotism
The Slow-Motion Drill
Powder the Ball
Ball Position
Swing the Bucket
The Weed Cutter
Placing Your Feet
The Turn
Instant Humility
Maxims
The Mythical Perfect Swing
First Things First
The Prettiest Swing
Hitting the Target
The Magic Move
How to Practice the Full Swing
Warming Up in a Hurry
Chipping
Putting
The Dreaded Four-Footer
The Shank Shot
Why I Decided to Become a Teacher
The Stance
A Very Bad Habit
The First-Time Student
Competition
Kids and Carts
A Story by Helen
Learning
Some of the Women in My Life
And Some of the Men in My Life
The Sexes
A Practice Rule
John Bredmus
Hooking and Slicing
Strange Penalty
Yardage
Long and Short
Best Dressed
My Best Boys
Chip or Pitch
Out of Sight
The Follow-through
A Little Bit
A Golfer's Poem
Preparing for a Big Match
Uphill and Downhill
Playing in the Wind
Titanic Thompson
Trick Shots
Caddies
A Life in Golf