So I am now coming to the end of week 1 in Sultan Tennis Trading Academy and have started to realise the scale of what I've taken on! Not that it is too much or that I'm not enjoying it but I have realised just how much work I have put into trading over the past 3 and a half years. I had never before written out my entire trading plan, so to see it all spread out, every little detail, has been quite strange. Although the basics of what I do is very simple, the subtle nuances that make it profitable are quite complex. Much of it is stuff I have just been doing automatically, based on pure intuition and to learn that level of "gut-instinct" trading takes a long time for the average person. But in order to teach it, you have to be able to break it down and explain it, which is something I've never done before. I've found it very interesting and helpful for my own trading too. For example, I'd never given my individual strategies a name before. Now, whenever I trade, I use those names! It's also forced me to delve into my numbers a bit more. I've never been the best at keeping in-depth numerical records and working out win-loss ratios etc but I've tried to tighten up a bit more on that, for the sake of the academy. I don't think it will make any difference whatsoever to my performance but it is interesting to see the exact figures, if nothing else.
As for the actual mentoring, I'm finding it a lot of fun. It reminds me of my time as an English teacher, where I had to adjust to each class I took (in fact, I am mentoring several different nationalities, so it's more similar than I expected!). The Entry Level 1 classes would have students that only knew a few basic words and couldn't speak in full sentences. The Level 1 classes were almost fluent in English and you could converse with them about anything. Then you had everything in between in Entry Level 2 and Entry Level 3. I'm finding coaching very similar and it is exactly the challenge and stimulation that I feel has been missing from my daily routine since I became consistently profitable as a trader. It helps that my students have been fantastic and are keen to learn, without overwhelming me and having unrealistic expectations - there is a long road ahead for most of them but I think they understand that.
One thing I immediately can pick up, is those bad habits and fallacies that many inexperienced or unsuccessful traders have. I know them instantly because I had every single one of them! The main fallacies which crop up time and time again with traders, are:
Thinking you need a big bank to be profitable (hundreds of thousands in some cases!)
Thinking you need to trade multiple games at the same time
Thinking you need to trade the entire tennis match from start to finish
Thinking you should use large percentages of your bank to trade with
Thinking your strike rate needs to be high (far more wins than losses)
Thinking you need to pick winners
None of the above is true. Time will tell how long it takes for that to sink in - if at all!
So as the first week has gone so well, I have decided to take on 2 more traders. So anyone who missed out last time, now is your chance to join the academy. Please email me using the address that you will find by clicking on "The Sultan" in the top left of the blog (it's a new one by the way - no more hotmail. Microsoft, what on earth have you done to it? Absolutely rubbish since it changed to Outlook). Tell me a little about yourself and your trading and if I think I can be of help, you might get a spot.
Please note: I am not selling the strategies alone. It is the mentoring that interests me, not selling a bunch of ebooks.
Maria Sharapova:
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As for the actual mentoring, I'm finding it a lot of fun. It reminds me of my time as an English teacher, where I had to adjust to each class I took (in fact, I am mentoring several different nationalities, so it's more similar than I expected!). The Entry Level 1 classes would have students that only knew a few basic words and couldn't speak in full sentences. The Level 1 classes were almost fluent in English and you could converse with them about anything. Then you had everything in between in Entry Level 2 and Entry Level 3. I'm finding coaching very similar and it is exactly the challenge and stimulation that I feel has been missing from my daily routine since I became consistently profitable as a trader. It helps that my students have been fantastic and are keen to learn, without overwhelming me and having unrealistic expectations - there is a long road ahead for most of them but I think they understand that.
One thing I immediately can pick up, is those bad habits and fallacies that many inexperienced or unsuccessful traders have. I know them instantly because I had every single one of them! The main fallacies which crop up time and time again with traders, are:
Thinking you need a big bank to be profitable (hundreds of thousands in some cases!)
Thinking you need to trade multiple games at the same time
Thinking you need to trade the entire tennis match from start to finish
Thinking you should use large percentages of your bank to trade with
Thinking your strike rate needs to be high (far more wins than losses)
Thinking you need to pick winners
None of the above is true. Time will tell how long it takes for that to sink in - if at all!
So as the first week has gone so well, I have decided to take on 2 more traders. So anyone who missed out last time, now is your chance to join the academy. Please email me using the address that you will find by clicking on "The Sultan" in the top left of the blog (it's a new one by the way - no more hotmail. Microsoft, what on earth have you done to it? Absolutely rubbish since it changed to Outlook). Tell me a little about yourself and your trading and if I think I can be of help, you might get a spot.
Please note: I am not selling the strategies alone. It is the mentoring that interests me, not selling a bunch of ebooks.
Maria Sharapova:
