Received some Driving distance help from a long drive competitor

[CoolBreeze20]

I was at Ables Golf driving range last night, helping a buddy who just purchased his first set of clubs. I have noticed lately, that my distance off of the tee has been suffering a bit, but never have had time to get to our pro and have him take a look for flaws. Range was kinda packed, so I had to go towards the far right side. We ended up next to two guys, and the first thing I noticed was they were not lined up straight, but hitting diagonally across the range to the left (to make it much longer). Next, I noticed one of them had a staff bag, with some long drive team logo on it. What REALLY gave them away though was when I heard them hit a ball. Unlike any other driver I had ever heard. Simply ear piercing. I asked him "What the hell kind of driver is that?", his response "illegal". Ha. I hit about 10 more drives myself, and the older of the two comes over, introduces himself as Mike, and asks "Can I help you out a bit?". Honestly, first thing I thought was, here we go again, some know it all who likes to pretend he knows it all in front of everyone. I am ALWAYS open for help though, so I said sure. He then informed me he had been a pro for 8 years, and was once ranked #3 in the world in Long driving....and that his buddy was currently #11. He noticed 3 things about my driver swing.....1) I was straightening my right leg on my back swing, causing my swing plane to be very flat and losing a lot of power. 2) I was pushing my hands too far to the left, TRYING to create club head lag, instead of getting it naturally, and 3) right foot was not creating a wide enough stance. Now usually, I am pretty good off of the tee. I very rarely hit anything lower than 270 (including roll) and I can frequently get over 300 if I hit it pure. After implementing his suggestions, I was absolutely CRUSHING the ball. Our range is 251 to the farthest (yellow) flag.....about 30 yards behind it is a 20ft high net, and behind that one is a 50 foot high net. For the rest of my bucket, I was putting them over the first net, or hitting it on the fly towards the top. I was amazed, and it felt like I barely needed to swing (as compared to how I was doing it before). This guy was super nice, and said he just likes helping people when he sees he can, and wasnt trying to be rude. I am an idiot for not asking him his last name, but I ddint want to seem like a "stalker". He said he and his buddy would be on ESPN on Christmas Day for the ReMax Championship. I did a quick google search, but couldnt find anything with just a first name. Sorry for the novel, but I just write this in the hopes that these tips can help someone else as much as they did me.

[Garthmo]

cool! Lucky to have that encounter

[Augusta Hacker]

Not sure if I am following the advice......

1) keep slightly bent right leg in backswing
2) were you pushing your hands too far at address?
3) was your stance too narrow and needed to push out your right foot?

Sorry, but I am slow.....lol.

[$2 Nassau]

Not sure if I am following the advice......

I'm confused about #2 as well. Too far at address or actually throwing your hands out over the ball on the downswing trying to force the lag?

#3 I'm guessing that ball position was good in relation to the left (front) foot but the guy had him move his right foot back a little, making his stance wider. At least that is how I read it.

[CoolBreeze20]

I'm confused about #2 as well. Too far at address or actually throwing your hands out over the ball on the downswing trying to force the lag?

Exactly. And #2, I was pushing my hands too far forward at address.