I have been helping new sports traders for several years now, and there is something I see time and time again that honestly baffles me. I will spend hours creating and explaining detailed strategies, breaking down concepts step by step, even recording videos showing exactly what to do. Then I watch as new traders nod along, say they understand, and proceed to do the complete opposite.
Does this sound familiar?
Here I am not gatekeeping some secret formula. I am literally handing out the blueprint.
Over the last few days I have highlighted the Pincer (Hedging) strategy that some Trade on Sports members use and the Zoning system that we use for the Horse Racing. These strategies have been designed by someone who used to be a stock broker and someone who has subsequently gone on to work for the British Horse Racing Association. So they know what they are talking about.
Yet within days, members are messaging me stating that things are not working, and when I review their trades, they have not followed a single instruction that has been given to them.
So, I started asking myself: why does this keep happening?
The Uncomfortable Truth
After countless conversations with struggling traders, I have realised something. It is not that they do not understand the instructions. It is that they do not want to do the work those instructions require.
When I suggest to someone, they need to spend three months paper trading before risking real money, their eyes glaze over. When I explain they need to study market patterns for hours each day, they are already looking for a shortcut. When I say mastering one strategy completely beats knowing ten strategies poorly, they have usually already given up and go looking for “the secret method the pros do not want you to know.”
I fully understand that we live in a world of instant gratification. You can order food and have it at your door within twenty minutes. You can binge an entire drama series in a weekend. You can get answers to any question in seconds. So why should trading not be quick and easy too?
The Reality Check Nobody Wants to Hear
Here is what I have learned after spending many hours at the screen: there is no shortcut. Not one that actually works, anyway.
The traders I have seen succeed, the ones who are now starting to get into profit have one thing in common. They did the boring work. They followed the process even when it felt tedious. They practiced the same setup time after time. They kept journals. They reviewed losing trades just as carefully as winning ones and they learned to be patient.
Does that sound exciting? No. Does it work? Absolutely.
Why We Run From Difficulty
I think deep down, new traders avoid the difficult stuff because they are scared. Not of the markets, of themselves. They are scared that if they really try, if they give it everything they have got and follow every instruction perfectly, they might still fail, and that failure would mean something about them.
But here is the thing I wish I could make every new trader understand avoiding the hard work guarantees failure. At least if you do the work and struggle, you are building something. You are getting better. You are learning what works for you and what does not.
When you chase shortcuts, you are just spinning your wheels and losing money while convincing yourself you are “trying different strategies.”
What I Want You to Ask Yourself
If you are reading this and feeling a bit called uncomfortable, I would ask yourself. Are you following the process, or are you just going through the motions while looking for an easier way?
Are you avoiding the difficult concepts because they are genuinely too advanced, or because you do not want to put in the focused effort to understand them?
Are you really here to learn a skill, or are you just chasing the fantasy of easy money?
My Challenge to You
I am not going to sugarcoat this. Sports trading is hard. The learning curve is steep. Most people who try it will fail, and most of those failures happen because they will not commit to the process.
However, for those of you willing to do what most will not, you can achieve the goal of profitability. However, you only get there by walking through the difficulty, not around it.
So here is my challenge: for the next 30 days, follow your strategies to the letter. No modifications, no “I think this would work better,” no jumping to something new because it looks shinier. Just commit to the process completely.
Track everything. Journal every trade. Do the boring drills. Study when you do not feel like it.
Then, and only then, you will have earned the right to say whether something works or not.
Who is actually willing to do this?
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