Harvey Penick's Little Red Book

I am reading "Harvey Penick's Little Red Book: Lessons and Teachings from a Lifetime in Golf", which is a compilation of his notes and observations that have been tried and tested with success over many years. Harvey Penick taught golf for over 60 years and his pupils include Ben Crenshaw, "Tommy" Kite, Betsey Rawls, Kathy Whitworth and Mickey Wright, as well as numerous duffers, so his credentials are well-established. His little red book is only 175 pages long with about 20 pages of introductory comments from Crenshaw, Kite, Rawls, Whitworth and Wright. Harvey passed away in 1995 right before the Masters. Ben Crenshaw won the Masters that year and dedicated his victory to his long-time teacher and friend Harvey Penick (Tiger Woods was the low amateur at that Masters).

I have read a number of golf instruction books and articles, including "Golf for Dummies" by Gary McCord (for the life of me I could not understand that book!), and this is the simplest golf instructional book that I have ever read. Much of what Penick espouses is good old-fashioned common sense, visualizing and the power of positive thinking. He is very careful not to use negative words even when they are used in a different context. For example, he does not like to say "choke down on the club" because of the negative connotation, but rather says "grip down on the club". He recommends eating dinner with a good putter rather than a bad putter because it cannot hurt and some of his confidence may rub off on you.

Comments that resonate with me in the first 100 pages of the book include: the three most important clubs in your bag are your putter, wedge and driver; play the game from the green backwards, and if you play poorly one day, forget about it; if you play poorly a second day, check your grip and alignment; and if you play poorly a third day, see your golf professional.