Developing Front Leg
Reading a new front leg as it forms in real time — not in hindsight. Requires patience through pivot signal, structural shift, and confirmation.
A developing front leg is a new directional move on the 4H that is currently forming but not yet fully established. In hindsight, front legs are obvious — clean moves from pivot to pivot. In real time, identifying when a new front leg begins requires reading a three-phase sequence: (1) Pivot signal — the previous direction weakens, zones start failing. But zone failure alone is not a pivot. For a bullish-to-bearish pivot, demand must fail AND supply must hold. (2) Structural shift — the 4H creates a change of character (CHoCH), breaking the sequence of higher highs/higher lows. (3) Confirmation — the new direction produces multiple structural breaks, not just one. The critical distinction during this process is shift vs sweep: a genuine shift produces follow-through in the new direction across multiple candle closes, while a sweep breaks one level and immediately reverses. When uncertain whether a new front leg is developing, the default is to stay with the current front leg or stand aside.
✓How to Recognize
- •Three phases: pivot signal (zones fail) → structural shift (4H CHoCH) → confirmation (follow-through)
- •Shift vs sweep: genuine shifts produce follow-through, sweeps break one level and reverse immediately
- •Both sides must confirm a pivot: demand failing alone is not bearish — supply must also hold
- •Wait for at least two 4H candle closes in the new direction before treating it as a new front leg
⚡How to Avoid
- →Flipping bias on a single candle (one bearish candle in a bullish leg = pullback, not pivot)
- →Confusing a liquidity sweep with a structural shift (check for follow-through)
- →Trying to catch the exact pivot point instead of waiting for confirmation (low probability)
- →Reading the left side of the chart too much and missing what the right edge is actually doing