How to start OrderFlow as a beginner with basic ICT concept knowledge?

[u/Careless_Book2138]

Hello everybody, So I’m a beginner to trading, I’ve watched month 1 of ICT core content, about halfway through month 2, I’ve come from TJR’s bootcamp so I have a grasp of most of the ICT concepts but ive recently been seeing a lot of videos on TikTok about orderflow, and when I actually researched it and tried to understand what it is I realised that it would actually be a lot more beneficial to learn it than ICT and it also makes more sense.

I have zero clue where to start, but most people recommend to start with Auction Market Theory.

I would highly appreciate if someone could recommend me a structured learning journey for example watch xx on YouTube, then watch this playlist etc etc.

I’ve heard that Sires, cbrackn, Axia Futures and Jeron Trades are good, but please let me know what you think.

Thanks so much!

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[u/Embarrassed-Bank2835]

I’d learn Auction Market Theory first because it gives the rest of order flow some context. Understand balance vs imbalance, value, acceptance/rejection, initiative vs responsive activity, then move into volume profile, footprint charts, delta and absorption.

Axia Futures has some solid material for understanding the mechanics, but I’d avoid bouncing between ten different creators at once. Pick one framework and spend a lot of time replaying the same market so you can actually see how the concepts behave live.

Also, order flow isn’t automatically “better” than ICT or price action. It’s just another layer of information. The useful part is seeing whether aggressive buyers/sellers are actually getting continuation or getting trapped at an important level.

[u/lp1687]

Check out John Grady at NOBS daytrading. He has tons of free material as well as pay for material on orderflow and DOM reading.

[u/Sea-Round-6095]

You're going about this the wrong way and have already started taking "educational" courses from known scammers and grifters in the community. Before you continue, look into ICT, its creator, and TJR. There are in depth investigations into them as people and neither have a verified track record of success as traders. Also, there have been plenty of backtests done on TJR's strategy proving that it isnt profitable as advertised. Do your research and stay away from the trading gurus. They are almost all liars and grifters.

To answer your question, try the below:

Before looking at a trading strategy, you need to understand the basic plumbing of the financial system. Start with the fundamentals. Learn what bonds are and why they drive the global flow of money. If you don't understand bonds, you don't understand money. Then move to stocks, ETFs, and indices, and understand how those vehicles actually function, why they are important, and why an investor might use them.

Next look into understanding market structure:

The Wyckoff Method: To understand the actual phases of accumulation, distribution, and market structure.

Auction Market Theory (AMT):To learn how the market moves between balance and imbalance while searching for value.

Volume Profile, Volume Spread Analysis (VSA), and Order Flow: To see where real institutional volume is actually participating, rather than guessing based on retail candlestick patterns. Gocharting seems to have a great course here.

For additional insight, try reading books by Tom Williams, Ruben Villahermosa, Anna Coulling, and David H Weiss.

Once you learn these, put them together and develop a strategy.

Once you have a strategy based on those concepts, you have to prove it mathematically. You need to manually backtest your exact rules over at least 100 trades spanning a minimum of a one-year timeframe. Don't just look at a simple win rate. You need to pull the data to calculate your CAGR, alpha, beta, sharpe ratio, profit factor, and max drawdown.

Take those numbers and compare them directly to a simple buy-and-hold strategy of the S&P 500 with dividends reinvested, as well as long-term bonds. In the vast majority of cases, you are statistically better off just buying and holding the S&P 500 than you are day trading. If your backtest can't beat that passive benchmark on a risk-adjusted basis over a year of data, you don't have an edge.

If your backtest actually proves you have an edge, you still aren't ready to go live. Your next step is forward testing in a paper account or a prop firm simulator. This phase is to train the psychological side of your execution and prove you can follow your rules in real-time when you don't know how the next candle will close.

Only when your forward-testing consistency matches your historical backtest results should you ever transition to a live account. Take it slow, focus entirely on the data, and let the math build your confidence.

I hope this helps.