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How to practise a prop challenge with bar replay
Bar replay lets you trade past market days as if they were live. Used with the same rules as your evaluation, it is the cheapest way to find out whether your plan survives a trailing drawdown and a daily loss limit.
1. Copy your target evaluation's rules
Use the same account size, profit target, drawdown style and daily loss limit you will face. If the real evaluation uses end-of-day trailing, practise with end-of-day trailing.
2. Use random dates
Picking dates you remember turns practice into hindsight. Use a random start date and set an end date a few weeks later so the attempt has a deadline, like a real evaluation.
3. Trade only your session
Jump to your normal session open (for example 9:30 AM ET for index futures), trade it, then skip to the next session. Don't fast-forward through losing trades or restart days.
4. Always use a stop
Decide the stop before entering. In BackForFree switch on Stop loss in the order ticket, or drag the "+ SL" line on the chart right after you enter.
5. Measure what matters
After each attempt check: did you pass or fail and why, your largest losing day versus the daily limit, how close the trailing floor came, win rate and profit factor. Repeat until you pass several random attempts in a row.