Club batters who keep getting bowled are almost always losing their stumps to one of four repeat offenders: playing across the line of a straight ball, a gap between bat and front pad, the head falling toward the leg side, or simply picking length late and playing down the wrong line. The good news: each one has a specific tell, and each one is fixable at training in a couple of weeks.
The bat swings toward mid-wicket while the ball goes straight on. Miss it, and it hits middle. The tell: you get bowled or trapped LBW to straight, ordinary balls, and your good shots go through the leg side. The fix: retrain the default swing to come from over the stumps, down the line, back toward the bowler — see the full fix for playing across the line.
Your front foot goes one way, your hands go another, and the ball goes between them. The tell: bowled through the gate, often off an inside edge onto the stumps. The fix: get the front foot closer to the line of the ball and let the bat swing beside the pad, not around it. At training, exaggerate playing the ball 'under your nose' — the closer to your body you meet it, the smaller the gate.
When your head tips toward square leg, your whole swing follows it — the bat comes across the ball, and the straight one beats the inside edge. The tell: you feel 'off balance' at contact, weight ending on the leg-side edge of your feet, and you miss balls you feel you should have hit. The fix: at your stance, set your head slightly INTO the off side (over or just outside off stump) and make 'head at the ball' your only swing thought for a full net.
Sometimes there's nothing wrong with the swing — you're just deciding late. Playing back to a full ball is how yorkers and half-volleys sneak under the bat. The tell: bowled by full, straight balls you 'didn't expect'. The fix: a length-call drill — have a partner throw balls while you call 'full' or 'short' out loud before playing. Calling it early forces the read earlier, and the feet follow.
Look at WHEN it happens. Bowled in your first ten balls repeatedly = usually technique (one of the four causes above). Bowled after being set, 30+ balls in = usually concentration or shot selection, not your swing.
Front-foot defence and straight drives at a single stump (or one marked on a wall), filmed side-on. One line, one focus: bat swings from the stumps, down the line, back where the ball came from. Boring, and it works.
Film yourself side-on at the nets for one session — most people spot their own head position and bat path within five shots of watching the replay. An AI coach like Sticks calls it out shot-by-shot while you bat, which finds the pattern faster than guessing.
Sticks watches your net session through your phone and speaks this exact kind of coaching in your earbuds, one focus per ball — in English or Hindi. Video never leaves your phone, and your first ten coached sessions are free.