"The Little Red Book" (and His Other Books) by Harvey Penick

[Pinseeker81]

I never had the book, but years ago my Grandfather gave me the video. First golf video I ever watched. Can't remember the name of the guy that narated/hosted, but it had Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite.

On a side note, I thought it would be cool to have signed balls from the both of them since watching them kind of started my intrest in golf (and because Crenshaw is a distant cousin). I went to a Champions tour tourny here in Houston and got Ben's sig, but Kite stiffed me several times. I read later that Kite "no longer signs golf balls". He could have at least told me that, jerk acted like he didn't even see me. I showed him though, I bought a signed ball off ebay from back when he wasn't above such things, lol.

[Titleist Man]

I love all of Harvey Pennick's books. They are sooo great!

[loopy]

The one thing that has stuck with me after reading the book... "if I tell you to take an aspirin, don't take the whole bottle". I'm guilty of this with swing thoughts and mechanics and then I remember.. "don't take the whole bottle". A little goes a long way.

[TakeDeadAim]

a nice read..but really the only thing i remember from the book is "take dead aim".

b-)b-)b-)

[golfchief]

Great books, If your a techie it's your loss for not using his advise.

[mirv]

i found this on ebay for dirt cheap recently. it's a good little read, though i can't say it did much for my game. i passed it along to my dad, maybe it'll do him more good than it did me.

[IcemanYVR]

Another set of classics, surely to part of any growing library.

I like "The Little Red Book", the best but have his other two as well. If you are a golfer they are a wonderful read, nicely broken down into stories, so you don't have to devote large chunks of time to reading. I hate to say it, but these are great "bathroom" books.

[golfchief]

you can get caught up reading the little stories and miss the lesson. What I liked about Harvey was he got the best out of your swing without trying to clone you with other golfers

[Eeryck]

Definately liked the little lessons:

When taking asprin, don't take the whole bottle
Swing the bucket
Take dead aim

Otherwise it had a very positive outlook on golf that is easy to forget about when you are struggling. It was nice to see the number of people he helped just by saying what they needed to hear to restore their confidence.

-E

[CarlSpackler]

I usually read this book every spring before the season starts or shortly after. I find Harvey's words very calming and helpful to remember on the course. I often tell myself to Take Dead Aim on the course, whether it is at a spot on the fairway, center of the green, or the pin.

[DBake]

"Take Dead Aim"

The three most used words Thursday through Sunday on any tv channel.

[Fourputt]

I just finished reading this book two days ago. Overall a great read. Very entertaining as well as instructive.

I find this a bit of a shock. I keep my copy on the bookshelf over my computer, and I refer to it often. Even if I'm not looking for anything specific, it helps keep me in a good frame of mind. Harvey wasn't just smart, he had wisdom, yet he knew how make his point with utter simplicity.

What a dream it would be to have been able to meet him.

[Big Jupe]

My dad gave me his copy of The Little Red Book a few years back. I didn't read it until recently and I found it thoroughly enjoyable and fairly insightful.

[1par2win]

Short and to the point. Still the best teaching style for the majority of people. Quite a switch from the "guru's" that are out there.

[CarlSpackler]

I find this a bit of a shock. I keep my copy on the bookshelf over my computer, and I refer to it often. Even if I'm not looking for anything specific, it helps keep me in a good frame of mind. Harvey wasn't just smart, he had wisdom, yet he knew how make his point with utter simplicity.

I certainly agree. I find his words very relaxing. I bet he could have fixed Barkley's (SP?) swing, no offense to Hank of course.

[RC]

I feel guilty posting again about Harvey, but he was a very special person. As mentioned, he was not caught up in a great deal of the technicalities, but on the other hand, he said things that some how applied to how to play golf. The reason for this second post is just that... today while playing, I had a tough shot, and like a light flash going off, something Harvey said years ago came into my head. I made par, but should have bogeyed, and probably would have had not of his ideas popped into my head. The idea was, "so you lie two and are not on the green and have a tough shot... you actually have two shots to make par, use them."

[wrx_junki]

Just received my copy. Hopefully I can start it after finals.

[Fishinjdb]

I have read it many times. It calms and gets your mind right. I am do to read it again, and soon!