A "disciplined and experienced trader" already has the confidence. I am not recommending using that kind of leverage only stating it doable for the qualified. Yes, the developing trader needs to take baby steps or he/she will blow out early.
Swing trading requires conservative leverage to withstand longer and deeper draw downs. Not that that's a bad thing, it's just a different thing. Most never develop the ability to day trade and some don't want to sit at the computer all day.
A 10k account trading 2 contracts of the ES would be using about 24x leverage which is aggressive but controllable by an experienced and disciplined day trader. So the return on LEVERAGED capital would be about 2% per month. The ability to do this appears unrealistic to someone who can't do or...
Understanding of along the ability to read price action, the development of a solid trade plan around that understanding and trading that trade plan with patience, discipline, focus and courage constitute the "holy grail". Good luck
Haven't paid attention in years but back in the tech boom go go days, you could take a position in whatever any analysis would come on and pump and make a few thousand in seconds to minutes (those were the days). It didn't matter if it was JDSU or Garbage.com.
Beginners don't know why they lose but even someone who understands price discovery and has developed a viable trade plan will lose by moving stops, adding to losers, taking impulsive entries etc....and they know damn well why they lose.
Would be traders lose. Trading is a specialized skill requiring more time and commitment than most are willing or able to put it. A competent and disciplined trader makes money.