Been diving into Al Brooks’ price action teachings. I find his views on market structure intriguing, but I’m curious about their real-world effectiveness.
Who’s applying his methods regularly? What’s been your experience?
Brooks’ breakout setups work well if you combine them with simple support and resistance. I focus on the two leg pullback for entries and avoid the complex bar counting. The key is knowing if the market is trending or just moving sideways. His books improve your price action reading but streamline his methods to make them practical for trading.
Stick to breakout patterns and keep it simple.
His wedge patterns work consistently if you manage risk properly. The three push pattern’s perfect for catching exhaustion in trending markets. Brooks shows you how to spot momentum shifts - huge help when price action gets messy. His second entry stuff after failed breakouts has saved me tons of losing trades. Don’t get bogged down in complex bar analysis - stick to his basic market geometry. Just the swing high/low concept will make your chart reading way better.
Brooks has solid bar reading fundamentals, but his stuff works way better on 4H and daily charts. His reversals and continuation patterns are pretty reliable there. Problem is he wants you to read every single bar, which turns into overanalysis hell on shorter timeframes. The always-in concept is actually helpful for trend following though. Leg counting and measuring moves give you decent targets. Just don’t chase every setup he throws at you - pick 2-3 patterns that fit your trading session and stick with them.
Been using Brooks’ methods for 3 years. His best skill is getting you to think in probabilities rather than hunting for perfect setups.
Biggest breakthrough for me? Learning failed breakouts. Brooks teaches how weak breakouts make the best reversal trades. Stopped me from chasing garbage moves so many times.
His stop placement rocks too. I put stops past the signal bar now instead of using tight stops. Way less getting chopped out by noise.
Learning curve’s a killer though. Took 6 months just to spot his basic patterns reliably. Plus he overcomplicates everything with that bar numbering system.
I stick to 4-5 of his setups and ditch the rest. Way better than trying to trade his entire playbook.
His market structure concepts really help you read charts better. This video breaks down the basics well.
Brooks’ methods take practice, but once you understand trend legs, your entry timing gets way easier.