Swing thought confession time.  I recently had a golf lesson where my swing was pared back to the bare bones, the essentials.  In order to quiet my mind and keep my swing thoughts to a bare minimum I’ve distilled the pre-shot head game chatter down to a single mantra: lead with my shoulders, resist with the left hip on the takeaway. That’s it.   Another swing ingraining technique I’m using is playing with a penny just out front and to the right of my ball and that’s preventing me from coming out over the top.

My tempo pre-lesson had become akin to a rollercoaster climb with a slow and plodding backswing that would take a dramatic pause at the apex in tribute to Hideki Matsuyama and then suddenly explode on through to the ball into the finish.  This slo-mo build up followed by a fast forward lash was causing major inconsistencies.  That’s all out the window.  The new overarching swing thought to create a more smooth and balanced motion is to swing like I’m skipping a stone across the water.  So now it’s all 1) Lead with the Shoulders 2)Resist with the Left Hip 3) Swing like I’m skipping a stone across the water. Nice and smooth.

To commemorate my bare bones approach, I'm showcasing a trio of sweet skeleton watches by Stuhrling. CyberMonday may be over but I got you covered. For 20% off any of the three Stuhrling skeleton watches pictured above and shown in the below video, just enter the promo code GOLF at checkout: Modena 889 Automatic 46mm: https://bit.ly/2BqFXVp Emperor's Grand DT 127A2: https://bit.ly/2DRFnmc Emperor's Grandeur 127A: https://bit.ly/2KnzehK

 Ok, this vegan nut swill has half the calories as the stuff that comes out of a cow's udders so it's great for weight loss and there's also zero cholesterol.  Pulverized almonds blended with water and strained now accounts for 4% of all milk sales.  But did you hear about leche de almendra’s vaunted club cleaning abilities?

We put the urban-legend  to the ultimate test. Pitted against Palmolive & water, water (as a control test), and vodka (just for kicks and giggles) does almond milk come out on top of the leaderboard?  Watch the below video and witness the astounding results.

Just caught wind of Undone, the custom  fashion watch leaderboard topper who graciously has offered Slinging Birdies readers and viewers a 10% off use discount code: MIKE10

Ever seen a watch in a store and though it’s cool…but it would be much cooler if the dial had a more modern vibe and the case was a shade different.  And while we’re at it, could the bezel have been olive green rather than navy?  Get customizing.

 They’ve been in the tailor made, customized, personalized to your liking made to order watch game for four years now.  All production is in-house in their Hong Kong based office so they don’t farm out elements of their operation so they can control the quality.  We take a look at their Aqua model in the below video, keep watching to the end for some Lego Voltron action.  The sharp golf polo worn in the video is Rhoback's Cabana Boy

Just discovered Stance, their NBA Future Legends sock line, including a Curry and a Harden  made quite the splash.  For socks that really pop on the fairway, take a gander at their  Bubba and Jack looks and the below pictured Caddyshack themed socks.    Been wearing Stance all week long now and beyond the fashion statement they're really very comfy and well made.

As  a longtime sufferer of of the dreaded micro flinch on putts, you know the ones that cause those "are you kidding me" misses by just a few centimeters, I was very intrigued to say the least about this stability enhancing aftermarket putter shaft by BGT, the new outfit by Adams golf founder Barney Adams.  Justin Rose has already given the product tour cred putting it in play in competition.

The innovation game seems to have bypassed plain Jane steel  putter shafts for years while every other piece of club anatomy went through as many tune-ups as the Star Wars franchise.
 
As putter heads have gotten bigger and heavier, putter shaft technology stagnated and didn't evolve with the rest of the club.
 
The stability shaft is designed to minimize vibrations on contact or "impact wobble" something pretty much every amateur has experienced while playing a round.  Watch the below  vid for the full scoop on this product already gaining Tour cred as Justin Rose and K.J. Choi have put it in play!

If you dig the The Droppin' Bombs tee featured in the video check out Weekend Warrior Golf, they've got plenty of awesome graphic tee designs.

Like Bubba Watson likes to say, you need to live your best life on and off the course. Dude’s right, sometimes you need to play without your clubs. A perfect day in North Carolina kicked off at the Foothills Regional Airport, 8 miles northeast of downtown Morganton. This is the launch pad of Thermal Valley Aerosports , a family-run outfitter offering thrilling aero-towed tandem hang gliding experience where you’ll feel like Superman to rank newbies like the Slinging Birdies crew.

Flights start at $159 for 1500 feet on up to $385 for a mile high glide. So what’s it like to get pulled behind a Dragonfly, an ultra light and ultra maneuverable Australian bush plane? Well it’s a lot like waterskiing in the sky and then when they cut the tow cord when you reach the assigned altitude that’s when this human kite flight gets dialed up to the next level as you catch the thermals and float down to terraferma while pulling off every aerobatic maneuver in the book if you’re so inclined! See if you can catch the Dragonfly pilot pull off a few gnarly moves after cutting us loose. Next we feasted at JD’s Smokehouse is a Burke County BBQ institution, drawing commuting diners as far as adjacent states for their fall of the bone ribs, pulled pork, brisket and a smorgasbord of Southern sides—I can vouch for the cobbler and the red slaw and admit to stealing a couple envious glances at a neighbor’s sweet potato crunch. Then it was off to Sidtracked Brewery. Their 5 Barrel system chugs and choos over a dozen whistle-wetting beers like Cross-tie Brown, Light Rail Blond and Thomas the Dank Engine New England IPA. Did some locomotive artwork ogling and brushed up on my Lantern Signals while sampling a flight of delicious brews. They’ve also got the pub sports: ping-pong in the back and there’s darts to fling too. As it started to get dark we sauntered over to Cawtaba Brewing Co.   to knock back a couple White Zombie’s and catch a cover band.

 Birdie Bundle takes  customization a step further than any other golf sub and gift box on the market.  In addition to logging customers style preferences, a common best practice, they also account for dislikes. Wouldn't be caught dead off the first tee wearing a checked or paisley polo? No problemo, Birdie Bundle will screen them out when they hook you up.  The surprise factor is still intact they just do their due diligence to avoid unhappy surprises.  We sneak a peek inside a Birdie Bundle down on Daufuski Island, South Carolina's southernmost inhabited island and give you the goods in the below video which is queued right up to the unboxing portion of the video.
 

Being calm and having smooth consistent energy is very important in the game of golf. We put a spearmint flavored elixir called "Golf Gum" to the ultimate test to see if it will bolster cognitive function.

Warning: If you have a pet squirrel, python, or hamster, keep them away from this product. Golf Gum is for human consumption only. If you're playing golf with your labradoodle and you drop a piece and he takes a bite, quickly grab him and wrestle the gum out of his jaws because it could have real dire consequences for pets.

Pregnant women and children should also not chew golf gum. If you start playing exceptionally while chewing Golf Gum, do not proceed to then put another piece of golf gum in your mouth every couple holes because golf gum is mega strong. It's not recommended to  chew more than two pieces of gum within a ten hour period so no more than one piece per round.  Now that we got that out of the way, lets chew some Golf Gum in the below vid.

Played in the Battle of the Smokies this past weekend at Etowah Valley Golf Club and got a lot of complements on my Asher glove. The Death Grip which also comes in white has been around for a few years but always turns heads in the tee box.  Alice Cooper has been known to rock the glove on courses.

Antigua’s 2017 Spring line is out so we had to zip in and take it for a spin.  Antigua is the brand that you think of when you think of the perfect holiday, only this a vacation you can wear on your back and torso. Pictured is is their Arctic's pullover, it’s very cool, it's got that diamond pattern going, a
little quilting action. What's unique about this quarter zip is the arms are a lighter layer than the chest, so there's a vest effect.  It makes you feel like you got bigger chest muscles and sleeker arms which is important because I I’ve got the opposite.