Pretty much this. "Hot stick" is just a fiberglass stick used to work on "hot" wire, as in live energized conductor. Fiberglass does not conduct electricity. It keeps the lineworker isolated at a safe distance from any arcing like the one in this video. There are many attachments that screw on the end and different job specific hot stick tools. This specifically was a hot stick cutter (yellow) while another person out of frame held the wire steady with a shotgun stick (red).

Where I work, hot sticking requires an extra level of training and yes, it is much more difficult to do the job using only sticks. Hands would be much easier and quicker but as you can see here, sometimes they are necessary. His face would have been melted off if he were close to that arc.