What a hammer is not

We spend an unkind amount of time on this. A hammer is a small body near the top of the session’s range after a decline that is already visible on the page. If the decline is not on the page, we do not use the word. If the body sits in the middle of the range, we do not use the word. If the upper wick is as long as the lower, we do not use the word.

Students protest that textbooks show prettier examples. Textbooks crop. Our packs do not. The ugly almost-hammers are the ones that teach the rule. Naming them too early is how people start seeing patterns that are not there.

Bring that scepticism to the evening clinic as well. The clinic is shorter, so the temptation to rush names is stronger. We still collect the pencils before anyone is allowed to title a bar.