It doesn't matter who teaches it, but creating a trading plan is absolutely the most important aspect of becoming consistently profitable in trading. Woodie teaches this, as do many others. I paid $12,500 for this education and if I had found Woodie first I'd still have that money. It's not so important what the plan is, as long as you have one that is backed up with statistics and it suits your personality.
Mark Douglas in "Trading In The Zone" talks about assuming the 'probabilistic mindset.' Your trading plan is your edge. If you have an edge, you really don't care if any particular trade is a winner or a loser becuase you know that your edge will prevail over time.
I would guess, based upon the many many conversations I've had with traders, that about one in ten actually has a trading plan. (You know who you are, people.) Often when I ask "Do you have a plan?" the response is "Yeah, in my head." To me that means, "NO I DON'T HAVE A TRADING PLAN."
When I teach people to create a trading plan, I break it into three parts:
1. What do you use for support & resistance levels? This can be broken down into two categories: Static & Dynamic levels. Static levels are those which do not change during the trading day (e.g. Floor trader pivots) Dynamic levels change during the day (e.g. Moving averages)
2. What triggers a trade entry? This is where you determine which markets, charts, timeframes & indicators you use to define your setup. Part of defining your setup is the trade entry trigger
3. How do you handle money management? This is where you define your stops, targets & other exit conditions.
If you have all three of these elements defined so clearly that a programmer could take your specifications and create an auto-trader program, then you have defined your trading plan clearly enough.
Woodie defines all three of these elements in his trading methodology, which is available on his website. The remarkable thing about his system is that while most people define support & resistance with price bars, Woodie uses an indicator (CCI) to define it. I trade his system, but with my own modifications. His methodology alone can make money, but only if you put the trades on like a machine. This is because some of the most ugly looking setups are the biggest money makers, and some of the prettiest ones that come along during the trading day can be losers.
The bottom line to success: Have a trading plan, and then trade that plan only.