Okay, you're getting it. I use three minute bars on stocks. Buy the open of the second bar on the call if the stock is above its open, and so on. Two minute bars on SPY. Time frames are an individual trader's preference. I'm just suggesting my own. Basically, with options, because of time decay, you want the trade to go your way right away. With persistence, experience and discipline you eventually arrive at what feels right for you.

There are other decisions any individual trader can make (this is trading, after all). For instance, trading only one side of the market depending on daily direction, like this week the market as been in rally mode, so mostly calls. Or counter trend if one is comfortable with that...

And yes, whipsaws are killers. Deciding to trade one side only eliminates half of the whipsaw. Or one can decide for oneself how much one is willing to lose, say 30% or 50% in a day and quit there to live to trade another day. By the way, options trading like this should be only a small portion of anyone's account.

I have no idea how anyone can backtest this since it's always a different strike and different expiration but I suppose there will always be someone who can. Based on my experience, there are more whipsaws than I like (which is to say, any), but it's simply far more profitable, far more often, than it when it isn't, which is why I've thrown this out here.