Knowing how to make a good sports trade is essential: You will need this and an understanding of exactly how sports trading mechanics work to make it a success. However, there is much more to sports trading than proper analysis and data skills.

The top online sports traders have great discipline and the correct mentality to succeed. The question is, what attitude and preparation are needed to become a professional sports trader? In this article we take a look at some of the reasons mentality and discipline are so important and how they can affect your trading.

Keeping the discipline

Discipline is defined as ‘the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behaviour, using punishment to correct disobedience’.

You may feel this is not linked to sports trading in any way, but you need to think again. You may not be training other people, but you are preparing yourself to become a good sports trader. To do that you must follow a set of rules you have defined and keep them throughout your trading career. These may change slightly the more experienced you become, but for the most part, they will remain the same.

Your punishment is when you make a mistake or miss a trade due to a lack of discipline. For example, you may have made a loss and decide to quickly follow up with another trade that you have not researched properly. Chasing losses will only lead to more losses, and the additional damages are your punishment for lack of discipline.

Chasing losses

Chasing losses is just one example of poor discipline. The discipline and mentality required to become a professional sports trader start with eliminating any distractions.

Sports trading, while talking on the phone to a mate or having something on television you want to watch, is not going to help. Just like any other profession, you need to entirely focus on the task at hand, and that means removing all other distractions. Think of it like being at the workplace. You would not be on the phone talking to a friend while sitting at the office, so don’t do it when you are trading. If you want to become a professional, and that means making sports trading your number one source of income. Treat it that way.

Remove anything that can take your focus away from sports trading. It doesn’t matter if it is music or eating dinner. A lack of discipline usually stems from a distraction. These distractions cause your inner self to make snap decisions. So keep distractions to a minimum, you are on the right path to becoming a professional sports trader.

Keeping records

Recording your trades is another example of the discipline required to become a top sports trader. It is no good making trades and forgetting about them, especially when they are unsuccessful. Not only will you be able to look back and spot patterns of when you made good trades, but you also see the terrible trades and use the information to eliminate them in the future.

Besides, keeping a record is an excellent way to ensure you stick to your bankroll. You must set yourself a limit, whether it be daily or weekly, depending on the frequency of your trades. So how will you know if you are sticking to that limit if you are not keeping a record?

Recording your trades will help you remain within your bankroll limits, which is another form of discipline required to reach the very top of sports trading.

Having a checklist is another fine example of the sports trading discipline required to become a professional. Knowing what you need to have in place to make a successful trade is excellent, but how are you going to refer to that quickly if it is not recorded anywhere? Type up a checklist of the elements you know make a successful trade, print it out and keep it on your desk for easy access.

Each time you are about to make a trade, check the list and make sure it covers all the bases before committing. That way you know you are sticking to the plan and not deviating because you have been tempted by something else which carries too much risk.

Moving on from discipline to mentality and if you want to become a professional sports trader, you must take responsibility for your trades. You will be quick to pat yourself on the back when a trade comes off but what about then it falls flat? It is easy to say you were unlucky, but there is often more to it than that.

Analyse what went wrong and why. Who or what caused the result to go against you? One of the leading mental factors in sports trading is accepting you are responsible for your results, good or bad. Never try and shift the focus away from yourself and ask yourself what you could do next time to avoid a similar outcome.

Taking responsibility

Blaming yourself is not easy but becoming a professional sports trader is not easy either.

To become a good sports trader, you need to accept uncertainty. Most people prefer to deal with certainty. It is reliable and makes people feel at ease. The unknown is something most people fear, but when sports trading, there is always an element of uncertainty.

You embrace the fact you are never 100% certain what is going to happen next, and this is key to the mentality of a professional sports trader. You may have completed all your research and believe you have made a great trade, but there is always the element of doubt until you see the money enter your account.

Do you have the mentality to deal with that daily?

Finally, you need to get into the mindset of betting for profit and not for fun. Sports trading is not the occasional bet you make and then go bragging to your mates that you won. It is a serious business, and the bottom line is making a profit.

If you are not willing to view sports trading as you would any other job or career, it is time to change that mentality. The only thing that matters is your profit.

 

Thank you for reading!

Sports Trading Network newest contributor Jon Goodey can be found @goodeyjon on twitter and  https://tradingsportsreviews.com/