Andrews' Pitchfork: trading the median line
Andrews' Pitchfork, created by Alan Andrews, is a geometric tool of 3 parallel lines drawn from 3 price pivots. It forms a dynamic channel whose central axis — the median line — acts as a magnet that price tends to return to. It's rarely taught but very visual, and sits nicely beside Gann as a way to read the move with geometry.
By the TradingCalculator.Pro team · Updated on · About us
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What it is
It's a tilted channel formed by three parallel lines: a median line in the centre and two "prongs" (upper and lower parallels) on the sides. Andrews' idea is that after an impulse, price spends most of its time swinging around the median and uses the parallels as support and resistance of the move.
How to draw it
You need 3 clear pivots. Point 1 is the anchor (the origin of the move); points 2 and 3 are the high and low of the following reaction. The MEDIAN LINE runs from point 1 through the midpoint between 2 and 3, projected into the future. The two parallels are drawn from points 2 and 3 with the same slope as the median.
The median line (the magnet)
The median is the heart of the tool. Andrews observed that price tends to return to it around 80% of the time, so it works as a natural target: when price moves away toward a parallel and bounces, the median is usually the first destination. Whether price respects or breaks the median also tells you about the trend's strength.
The parallels (the channel)
The upper and lower parallels act as the channel's edges: zones where the move tends to slow and turn back toward the median. A clean rejection at a parallel is an entry in favour of the return to the centre; a break and acceptance outside the channel warns that structure is changing and it may be time to redraw the pitchfork.
The Schiff variant
The classic pitchfork can come out too steep if the first leg was very vertical. The Schiff variant moves the anchor: instead of starting at point 1, it starts at the midpoint between 1 and 2. That softens the slope and usually gives a more realistic channel. The modified Schiff tunes that adjustment further.
How to trade it
The base play is median reversion: look for rejections at the parallels to trade back toward the centre, with the stop on the other side of the line. Traders also use "warning lines", extra parallels outside the channel, as targets or alerts if price escapes. As always, it gains with confluence (a level, a Fibonacci) and confirmation.
Limits (honesty)
The pitchfork is DISCRETIONARY: everything depends on which 3 pivots you pick, and two traders can draw different pitchforks on the same chart. It is not a mechanical system nor does it have the statistical validation of other tools; it is a visual guide to structure. Use it to frame the move and find reaction zones, not as an exact truth.