Endurance Sport and Trading

[Mogli]

Not sure this is in the right place of the forum but hey ho (I think it is loosely connected to Psychology).

I am reasonably new to trading (I have been making some profits for the last 6 months - have been losing money {I mean educating myself} on and off since 2009). In my quest for information I stumbled across the video below:

Traders Millions By The Minute Season 1 Episode 1 Full Episode

About 23 minutes in to the video - they talk to a trader and he is in to a endurance sports.

Got me thinking....

Is there a link between sports and trading?

I know that certain sports like running, cycling, golf etc... all require self discipline. Is this the same discipline required to be a good trader?

Is there any one out there that finds this sort of activity helps them with their trading life/career? if so what sort of sports do people do? Is it single person sports like cycling?

Would love to hear peoples thoughts before I don Lycra and buy massively over priced carbon triathlon bike.

 

[options-george]

Very good questions.

I engaged in endurance sport for the last 5-6 years, but stopped this year. My poison was speed-skating (inline skating) for longer distances - double marathons, 6hr races, 24hr races. This required a lot of training between January and August of each year - combined with good dieting.

I found that the discipline from the trading helped me with discipline in trading. I would think that generally speaking having the experience from competitive sports is definitely a plus in a trading career.

 

[Forexmospherian]

................

Is there a link between sports and trading?

I know that certain sports like running, cycling, golf etc... all require self discipline. Is this the same discipline required to be a good trader?

Is there any one out there that finds this sort of activity helps them with their trading life/career? if so what sort of sports do people do? Is it single person sports like cycling?

Would love to hear peoples thoughts before I don Lycra and buy massively over priced carbon triathlon bike.

Hi Mogli

Sure is - its that disciplined winning mindset - combined with getting over every obstacle that is stopping you perform at a high level.

I have been FX trading approx 13 yrs ( 7 yrs full time) and now at age of 61 don't compete in all the former sports I have loved this last 30 yrs or so.

When I was young - it was football, rugby and cricket with athletics and table tennis at county level. Then I was jogger for over 20 years - doing loads of 5 and 10 miles and a few half marathons - but no marathon - and then from age of 45 I got my MSA competition driving licence for car racing - and in between done 3 Triathlons etc

I have mentioned this quote before - " Failing or losing is just temporary - its giving up that's permanent"

The fact that I was use to competing - used to pressure both in sports and in business - that helped me during my first few years of my trading journey - ie at times when I just wanted to give up and think I will never make it etc etc.

You need to know your limits of pain and endurance etc and also know how to get into your own "focus zone" etc - and then it will all help on the trading side

There's a well know trader in the UK - Charlie Burton also featured in the BBC series on trading series and he got his body fat level down from a fairly fit 15% to a very low top athlete level of 3.5%. You would never be able to do that without extremely strong will power / discipline and mindset - and as you might guess - he is also a successful retail trader

Dont spend 5k + on the cycle for now - just compete at an high level on anything you are good at ;-))

Regards


F

 

[Mogli]

Hi - thanks for the comments.

In the past I have play rugby and switch to boxing after breaking a few bones. After finding out I don't like people punching me in the face I am now a keen runner. My preferred distance is half marathon and I broken the sub 1.30 mark

What I am struggling with is that I am not sure how to use the discipline with in my trading. Any advice?

 

[Atilla]

I agree and think marathon training and running has much to offer trading...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-32265153


Best way to explaining it is for all those people interested in making money out of the markets is to try running a marathon.

My best half marathon time was 1:47...

 

[TechQuant]

Don't know about endurance sports, but most successful traders are men. So being male is a obviously a definite advantage.

Of the successful traders I know, of the pros, they hit their peak for about 2 years before dumping. So being male and being already one year into your best year ever is also another characteristic you'll need to acquire.

Oh and something else, of all successful traders I know, they virtually all drink alcohol and/or do drugs. So another pointer.

Seriously guys, there is no definitive, empirical relationship between being good at A MEANS being good at B and/or vice versa.

If you're really into extreme endurance try getting married.

 

[Svetlana Korj]

I agree that sport helps in trade. First, you can catch a break from problems, if you have them. Second – it trains patience and endurance.

 

[pennycapitalist]

I don't know if this is the right thread but this is related to a trader's mindset. Van K. Tharp, the NLP trading coach and author of "Super Trader" says all of the great athletes and traders he has interviewed trained their minds as well as body.

When a player kicks the dirt, or spits, or any number of seemingly superstitious acts, he is using an anchor to change his state to the higher state needed to do what he has trained to do.

One mystic trick to train the mind is called "thought watching". If you have a rush of thoughts racing through your mind, sit quietly, calm down, breathe deeply and watch your thoughts. As each new thought comes, recognize it, then dismiss it. Don't try to think, just watch the thoughts that pop in your head. Don't think about them, just let them go. Your mind will slow and you will relax. Your mind will clear and move from chaos to order.

Learn to do this for a minute, then two, and then five to ten minutes each day before trading. In the hours following your meditation, you will begin to notice things about the market that will give you an edge. You will become a watcher. Watchers see what non-watchers do not see.

If you like this, the next step is disassociation. While in a relaxed state imagine your mind leaving your body and watching your body from the doorway or the ceiling of the room. See yourself placing a winning trade. Experience the success of a winning trade. This is like a player visualizing a goal or a winning run. See this enough in your head, eventually it will play itself out in reality. Use these tricks to establish iron clad discipline. Visualize yourself following your trade rules without question.

 

[Atilla]

 

[Mogli]

Thanks Atilla and pennycapitalist

Do you both adopts these practices in trading?

The interesting thing is the understanding of what the top sports people do. I have a similar approach to running, I am only happy to run once I have laced my shoes in a specific way and completed the same set of stretches before I run.

Sounds like I need a similar approach to trading. To help with my discipline I was thinking (in the short term) of having a tick sheet with my trading rules. For example, one box when the price crosses the 500 MA, one for the Stochastics to be over brought etc.... Only when I have all the boxes ticked am I allowed to trade.

Thoughts? Do you or other traders use this or something similar?