The Beginner's Playbook
A condensed reference of the highest-probability setups and the discipline that keeps you in the game.
Setup A — Trend continuation sweep
In a higher-timeframe uptrend, wait for price to sweep a sell-side liquidity pool below a recent swing low on the 1H. Confirm with a bullish CHoCH on the 15M and a return to a 15M bullish order block. Enter long, stop below the sweep low, target the next buy-side liquidity above. This is the bread-and-butter SMC setup.
Setup B — Reversal with SMT
After an extended move, watch for your target to sweep a major high or low while a correlated asset diverges (SMT). Wait for the CHoCH and order block on a lower timeframe, then enter against the swept direction. Reversals carry more risk than continuations — size down and require every confirmation layer.
The discipline that matters most
The setups are simple; the discipline is hard. Trade only when the full sequence is present. Accept that you will miss moves and take losses — that is the cost of the edge. Journal every trade: the setup, the timeframe, the result, and most importantly, whether you followed your process. Mastery is repetition with feedback, not a secret indicator.
You have now completed the foundation. Re-read the lessons that felt unclear, mark up charts daily, and remember: seeing the unseen is a skill built through deliberate practice, not a destination.
Setup A, traded in real time
US30 is in a daily uptrend. You're watching for the core setup: trend-continuation sweep into an order block.
- 1Pre-session: mark the sell-side pool — the 4H swing low at 38,900 — and the buy-side target: the old high at 39,600.
- 2The sweep fires: price dips to 38,870, below the 4H low, and rejects. Setup A is now live; you do nothing yet.
- 3Confirmation: 15M prints a bullish CHoCH and carves a clean order block at 38,920–38,950. Journal note at entry: 'HTF uptrend, sell-side sweep, 15M CHoCH, long at OB.'
- 4Execution: long at 38,940, stop 38,860 (below the sweep), target 39,600 — 80 points of risk against 660 of reward. Win or lose, the process was followed, and the journal entry is what compounds.
The setup was simple; the discipline was the edge — waiting for every layer, and writing down the why before the result.
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