Founder’s Note: JC Parets here. Quantitative Analyst Grant Hawkridge knows a lot about markets and a lot about golf.
Here’s Grant with a great piece on how structure defines them and why good form is essential to success in both…
By Grant Hawkridge
G’day, Grant here again.
Most of you know I spend a lot of time in the charts. But here’s something else about me: I love golf. Always have. It’s where I clear my head, sharpen my discipline, and — weirdly enough — get better at trading.
Because for me, golf and markets are the same game.
Great trades are like great golf swings — built on form, not feel.
You don’t muscle a 300-yard drive. And you don’t force a breakout.
The best results in both games come from structure — repeatable, intentional, and process-driven.
It’s the same discipline: structure over impulse, rhythm over noise, process over prediction.
You can’t fake a good swing. And you can’t fake a healthy trend.
In golf, clean contact comes from mechanics — grip, setup, sequencing, tempo.
Miss just one, and the swing breaks down.
Markets are the same. A trend only holds if the structure is there: rising price, strong participation, and sustained momentum — all working in sync.
Emotion Breaks the Form
Both punish emotion.
You can’t rush the downswing. You can’t chase a move with no confirmation.
The worst mistakes come when you override the setup and swing with your gut.
The best trades — like the best drives — come from waiting for the setup, then striking without hesitation.
This is why we track sentiment.
Because sentiment is one of the cleanest ways to measure crowd emotion — in real time.
When the crowd overcommits — to fear or to greed — trends break down.
But right now? We’re watching belief build without tipping into excess.
That’s the kind of rhythm bull markets feed on.
Belief, Not Euphoria
We track each sentiment gauge on its own — each tells a story.
But together? That’s where the real signal emerges.
That’s why we built this composite.
It clears the noise so we can see when the crowd’s leaning too hard — in either direction.
Right now, the crowd is leaning in — but not swinging out of their shoes.
Our Sentiment Composite sits at 1.0 — a neutral score with a bullish tilt that’s switched from extreme bearish levels earlier this year.
This isn’t euphoria. It’s belief.
And that’s the sweet spot.
Bull markets love this phase — when trends are strong and positioning is rising, but the crowd hasn’t gone all in.
We’re seeing strong momentum. Improving participation. And the crowd still hasn’t overcommitted.
The only time to worry is when confidence turns into conviction — and conviction into blind risk.
Until then, we stay focused on the mechanics. Trust the process. Let the structure do the work.
Because great trades — like great swings — don’t come from emotion.
They come from rhythm.
Stay sharp,
Grant Hawkridge
Quantitative Analyst, TrendLabs