Great — you’re diving into a high-skill area that rewards precision, discipline, and fast decision-making. Here’s a custom training and prep roadmap tailored to scalping futures + passing prop firm challenges using TradingView, Tradovate, or NinjaTrader:
Phase 1: Foundations (Week 1–2)
Core Concepts to Master:
- Order flow and volume profile basics
- Price action scalping techniques (flags, traps, VWAP bounces)
- Understanding futures margins, tick values, and session volatility
Recommended Training:
- Axia Futures – “Futures Trading & Order Flow”
- Site: axiafutures.com
- Focus on DOM scalping, footprint charts, and fast execution
- Futures Fanatic (YouTube) – Great free education for real-time scalping setups.
- Futures Fanatic YouTube
Phase 2: Platform Setup (Week 2–3)
Choose your weapon (or combo):
• TradingView: Great for analysis, limited for execution unless linked with a broker.
• Tradovate: Clean UI, direct futures trading, often used in prop firm evaluations.
• NinjaTrader: Best for advanced order flow, DOM, and custom automation.
Key Tasks:
• Open a simulated account or demo funded challenge through:
• Leeloo Trading
• TopStep
• Apex Trader Funding
• UProfit
• Earn2Trade
• Connect to Rithmic (most prop firms use this data feed) and configure:
• DOM (Depth of Market)
• Bracket orders (e.g., 2-tick stop, 4-tick target)
• Hotkeys for fast entry/exit
Phase 3: Scalping Strategy Building (Week 3–4)
Top Strategies to Backtest:
1. Opening Range Breakout (1-min)
2. VWAP Reversion Scalps
3. Liquidity Sweep Rejections (ICT-style)
4. Order Block Break + Confirmation
Tools & Scripts (TradingView):
• Auto VWAP
• Liquidity Pool Indicators
• Sessions High/Low Markers
• Journaling via TraderSync or Edgewonk
Phase 4: Prop Firm Challenge Simulation (Week 4–6)
Simulate These Conditions:
• 10–12 trading days minimum
• Profit target: ~$2,500–$3,000 on a $50k eval
• Daily loss limit: $1,000 (varies)
• Max trailing drawdown
Recommended Firms (Scalper-Friendly):
• Apex Trader Funding (frequent discounts, multiple resets)
• Leeloo Trading (great for fast payout timeline)
• UProfit Trader (simple rules, decent scaling)
• TopStep (respected but more strict)
Bonus Tools:
• Bookmap (order flow heatmap – pro level)
• NinjaTrader Add-ons: BloodHound, OrderFlow+, Volume Profile
• Tradovate DOM Setup: Customize brackets, visual trade tracking
Mentors/Traders to Follow:
• Futures Trader 71 (FT71) – Twitter, YouTube, Volume Profiling Master
• Axia Futures Team – DOM mastery
• ICT (Inner Circle Trader) – Concepts used even in futures scalping
• The Trading Lab (NinjaTrader content)
Would you like me to create:
• A weekly training tracker
• Strategy backtest templates
• A practice trading checklist
• Or connect your preferred platform to real-time prop firm sim tools?
Let me know your time commitment and I’ll customize it further. Sent from my iPhone