How to Write a Trading Setup Playbook (With Template)

A trading playbook is a short document that defines every setup you're allowed to trade: when it's valid, what triggers the entry, where the stop goes, how you manage and exit it, and when to skip it. Each setup's rules are written so you can tick them yes or no before you enter, which turns "I think this is a good trade" into a checklist. Your journal then measures each setup separately, so the playbook keeps what works and shows you what doesn't.

#Why write a playbook?

• It defines what a "good trade" is before the trade. Without written rules, you judge trades by outcome, and outcome is partly luck.
• It gives your journal categories. Results by setup are only meaningful if each setup means the same thing every time.
• It makes "no setup" visible. Anything that doesn't fit the playbook is, by definition, unplanned. That's often where the losses hide.
• It's the basis for grading. If you kept every rule, it was a well-executed trade, win or lose.

#What to include for each setup

Section	What it answers
Name	A short, fixed name you'll use in your journal every time
Market and timeframe	Which contracts or symbols, and which chart you trade it from
Context	When the setup is valid: time window, market conditions you require
Trigger	The exact event that gets you in
Stop	Where the initial stop goes, and why that's where the idea is wrong
Risk	How much you risk, as 1R, and maximum size
Management	What you do once in: partials, moving the stop, adding
Exit	Target, time stop or other exit rule
Skip conditions	When you don't take it, even if it looks right
Examples	Two or three annotated screenshots: a clean one, a loser that followed the rules, and a near miss you skipped
Numbers	Trades, win rate, average win and loss in R, expectancy, updated from your journal

#How to write rules you can check

The test of a good rule is whether two people looking at the same chart would answer it the same way. Compare:

Vague	Checkable
"Strong trend"	"[Your trend definition] is true on the [timeframe] chart"
"Good entry"	"Entry is on [your trigger], not before it"
"Sensible stop"	"Stop is beyond [the level that proves the idea wrong]"
"Not during news"	"No entry from [X] minutes before to [Y] minutes after a scheduled release"
"Don't overtrade"	"No more than [N] trades of this setup per session"

The brackets are yours to fill in; this guide doesn't tell you what to trade. The point is the form: each rule gets a yes or a no.

Keep it to a handful of rules per setup. Five you check every time beat twelve you skim.

#A fill-in playbook template

Copy this for each setup. The example wording shows format only; it isn't a setup to trade.

Setup name: [e.g. "Morning pullback"]

Markets and timeframe: [e.g. MNQ, MES; 5-minute chart]

Valid when: [time window, in New York time if you trade US futures] · [market condition you require]

Rules (all must be yes):

1. [Context rule]
2. [Trigger rule]
3. [Stop placement rule]
4. [Risk rule: 1R = £/$ amount, maximum contracts]
5. [Skip rule: e.g. no entry close to a scheduled release]

Management: [what you do at +1R, if anything] · [when the stop moves, if ever]

Exit: [target or exit rule] · [time stop, if any]

Grade: all rules kept = well executed; any rule broken = note which one

Numbers (from the journal): trades __ · win rate __ · average win __R · average loss __R · expectancy __R · last reviewed __

#Your playbook's numbers

Once a setup has a name and rules, your journal can measure it:

• Expectancy in R per trade, which tells you whether it pays; see what is expectancy in trading.
• Average R with all rules kept against with a rule broken, which tells you whether the rules themselves help.
• Which rule gets broken most, which tells you where the work is.

Note the number of trades next to every figure. Early numbers move a lot.

#Reviewing and changing the playbook

Look at the playbook as part of your weekly review, and change it slowly:

1. One change at a time, dated, so you can compare before and after.
2. Change on evidence, not on one bad day. A setup that followed its rules and lost three times in a row may be fine.
3. Retire a setup openly. Move it to an "archived" section with its numbers, rather than deleting it.
4. Mark new setups as "trial" until they have enough trades to judge, so their early results don't blur the established ones.

#Common playbook mistakes

• Too many setups. Each one needs its own sample of trades. Spreading thin means none of them has enough data.
• Rules that describe hindsight. "It went straight up" isn't a rule. Rules must be checkable before you click.
• No skip conditions. Knowing when not to trade a setup is as important as the trigger.
• Never updating the numbers. A playbook without results is a wish list.
• Treating "no setup" as normal. If you often trade outside the playbook, that's a rule to write, or a habit to break; see how to stop revenge trading.

In Marble, the playbook is built in. You add a strategy, pick the setup it trades and write up to six rules; they become the checklist when you log a trade. Keep them all and the trade is graded A (A+ at 2R or more), half or more is a B, fewer is a C, and each setup's expectancy fills in from your journal.

If you're new to journaling, start with what a trading journal is.

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Marble turns your playbook into a checklist on every trade, and grades you on the rules you kept. See the playbook.

Marble is a trading journal. Nothing here is financial advice.