Stephen Gallacher

The 2019 Hero Indian Open champion offers simple, straightforward tips picked up over the course of a quarter of a century on tour

1 Beating a slice

Strengthen your grip a little. A slice is invariably from an outside path, so you could also practise with a bucket of balls on the inside of the ball and try to hit away from it, rather than into it as you would from the outside.

2 Reading greens

I was told to always read putts side-on. If you’ve got a 10ft putt, I’d read it from the low side and break it into three. The first three feet doesn’t really do much, the middle three feet I’d have a bit of a look at, and then at the end, when the ball is losing its speed, that’s when it breaks the most.

3 Match play

You’ve got to change your thinking. You’re not just playing the golf course, there’s an element of playing the player too, and I think you’ve got to be aware of that. People say play the course, not the man, but I think you’ve got to do a bit of both.

4 Next shot after a shank