Harvey Penick Little Red Book Review

It is one of the shortest golf books out there, but the lessons in it are priceless classics. Harvey Penick was the long-time teacher of Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite, and gives advice from a golf instructor's point of view. The book contains around 90 lessons from Penick's years of teaching. If you want to learn from one of the greatest swing instructors in history, this is your book.

I haven't ever read the book straight through, but I like to jump around. I use it on a day by day basis. For example, I reference one of the lessons, and work on it for that day or longer. It is a great little reference book which will keep your game sharp.

Harvey Penick on Erratic Golfers

For example, in one lesson, Penick talks about the cure for erratic golfers who shoot 72 one day and 82 the next.

Penick says that if he were like that, he would start a golf diary, and write everything down about each golf round.

What did I eat before the round? How long did I warm up? How much sleep did I have? What was the time of day when I teed off? How was I feeling before the round?

He says that by keeping a nightly diary, you will be able to notice trends—a topic I talk about a lot on this site.