One very important aspect of pre-race trading is the ability to look back and find out why you made a mistake. Thankfully that is very easy these days. There are a ton of recording software out there – most are very cheap. There are some major benefits to your development as a trader when you can pinpoint your weaknesses because recording your pre race trading can help you identify when, why and how you are making mistakes.
Benefits of Recording Your Trades
- identify the markets you struggle with – eg, handicap v maiden.
- go back and watch trades in slow motion to see where and when a large trade came in which changed the whole market.
- identify where and when you entered a market and weather it was a good entry point.
- reinforce your skill and development when you get a trade 100% correct by watching it again and again.
Importance Of Recording When You Are A Novice Trader
When you are first starting out you make a lot of mistakes, simple. You will need a lot of practice. Schoolboy errors are made, banks will be blown and unfortunately you will repeat the same mistakes again and again. Most people have to learn the hard when when trading on Betfair. Hence the importance of recording every trade, even the profitable ones.
Made a £40 loss in one trade? – go back and look at your recording and find out why.
- did you enter the market at the bottom of the trading range just as a large trade came in on the second favorite (not your horse!)?
- did you over stake on a market with only £50,000 matched in the market and could not get out of your trade?
- did you accidentally go in-play and panic as you struggled to get your money out?
Well, it doesn’t matter because you can now look back with clear vision and criticize your own work. Obviously it only works if you watch and learn. If you do not have a recording then you simply forget what you did wrong and you will probably make the same mistake again.
Isn’t This Going To Take A Long Time?
It can take a long time to record and then play back your trades. If you are in a trade for 8/10 minutes then you have to watch the whole thing back again. However. that’s what it takes.
You can’t expect to simply start trading and learn right away. It takes time to record, watch and learn. So, for example, if you trade three trades at 8 minutes each and you spend 10 minutes or so going through the footage then you can see you will not have time for much else. However, you will learn a lot faster!
Just imagine if you simply trader left, right and center with no way of revisiting your mistakes. You are wasting your time because you will make the same mistakes over and over again.
It may seem tedious when you are sitting watching your trades over and over again but in reality you are saving yourself time, and money – not to mention you will learn a lot faster and progress much faster than if you simply jumped into it with no plan.
Our Final Opinion
Simple! Record your trades. Watch them, learn and move forward. You would be a fool not too.