Overtrading in Prop Firm Evaluations

The behavior that blows more futures evals than trailing drawdown or bad setups combined.

1. What “Overtrading” Actually Means in Evaluations

Overtrading is not “too many trades.” It’s:

  • Taking trades outside your plan
  • Trading boredom instead of setups
  • Trying to “make back” losses
  • Trading every wiggle on the DOM

This ties directly into Common Evaluation Mistakes, but gets its own guide because it destroys accounts fast.

2. Why Overtrading Destroys Evaluations Faster Than Anything Else

In a futures prop evaluation:

  • You have a fixed trailing drawdown
  • You cannot widen stops
  • You cannot take unlimited trades
  • You MUST avoid large givebacks

One bad impulse day can erase an entire week of good trading.

3. The “Three-Trade Max” Rule

The simplest way to eliminate 90% of overtrading is limiting total trades per day.

Rule: You get 3 trades per day. That’s it.

  • Trade 1 → A-setup only
  • Trade 2 → Only if Trade 1 was valid, win or lose
  • Trade 3 → ONLY if the first two followed your plan perfectly

After trade 3, platform closes. This rule plugs directly into: Prop Evaluation Game Plan.

4. The Boredom Problem

Overtrading comes from boredom, not opportunity.

Signs you're trading boredom:

  • You are staring at the DOM waiting for something to happen
  • You enter on tiny wiggles
  • You say “fuck it” and click market buy
  • You’re “just trying to do something”

Solution: Only trade the first 90 minutes and then walk away. If nothing sets up in that window, there were no setups.

5. Revenge Trading = Overtrading on Steroids

Revenge trading is overtrading + emotional panic. It’s what takes a $100 loss and turns it into a blown eval.

Simple guardrails:

  • If Trade 1 loses → take 10 minutes off
  • If Trade 2 loses → you’re DONE for the day
  • If Trade 3 loses → you already broke the rules

These rules are anchored to Daily Loss Limits & Resets.

6. The Fixed Risk Rule

Overtrading often comes from random risk sizing.

Evaluation rule:

  • Fixed 1 contract unless you are within 10% of profit target.
  • No scaling out, no scaling in.

This keeps your trailing drawdown stable instead of spiking around.

7. The “Stop After First Win” Method

If you struggle with impulse trades, use this:

  • One good win → done for the day
  • No more trading, even if you see setups

This method has the highest pass rate out of every prop rule system, especially when paired with the cushion math in Scaling After Funding.

8. The Ultimate Anti-Overtrading Checklist

  • Did I limit myself to 3 trades max?
  • Did I take at least 10 minutes off after a losing trade?
  • Did I stop after my first solid win?
  • Did I trade only A-setups?
  • Did I avoid the lunch-time chop?

If you answer “no” to any of these, you overtraded.

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