"Caught" is not one dismissal — it is three different faults wearing the same scorebook entry. Caught BEHIND (keeper/slips) is usually hard hands at a ball you didn't need to play. Caught in the RING (mid-on, mid-wicket, cover) is a closed or early bat face lobbing the leading edge, or a checked drive. Caught in the DEEP is hitting up on a ball that wasn't there for it. Work out where your catches go, and the fix names itself.
The ball you edged usually didn't threaten your stumps.
The leading edge to cover or mid-on comes from a bat face closing early — often trying to work a straight ball to leg. Play the ball back where it came from until the wrists learn patience.
The checked-drive lob to mid-off or mid-on is a drive attempted without commitment: the hands decelerate, the face tilts up, the ball floats. Either drive it fully — head over the ball, weight through it — or defend. The half-drive is the worst of both.
The soft-hands pop to short leg off spin is usually bat-pad: the gap again, plus a stride that didn't reach the pitch.
The skied pull: taken on above chest height, or from the front foot. Pull only what's below the chest, weight back, and roll the wrists.
The long-off/long-on catch: driving in the air against the length. The lofted drive is a real shot, but a chosen one — off a half-volley, down the ground. If it was a good length ball when it left, the catch was in the bowling, not bad luck.
The sweep top-edge: a length not full enough to sweep. The knee goes down, the arc comes up, backward square waits.
Occasionally — a genuine unplayable takes an edge. But a PATTERN of catches is information: the same fielder keeps catching you because the same fault keeps producing the same ball. Track your last five dismissals by fielding position; the cluster is your fault, named.
No — but choose it. There's a difference between a lofted drive you picked off a half-volley and a checked push that floated to mid-off. Uncontrolled air is the fault; deliberate, committed air over the right length is a scoring weapon. The guide on keeping the ball down covers the mechanics.
Because good-length balls punish indecision, and indecision is the real fault. A clear plan — leave by default outside off, play late, commit fully when you do play — turns many of those 'good balls' back into leaves.
Sticks works anywhere you can swing a bat — at the nets, or at home with nobody bowling. It watches through your phone and speaks this kind of coaching out loud, one focus per shot — in English or Hindi. Video never leaves your phone, and it's free while Sticks is in beta.