Counting up-down walks to a target

A sequence starts at x0=0x_0 = 0, and each step changes the value by exactly ±1\pm 1: ∣xi−xi−1∣=1|x_i - x_{i-1}| = 1 for i=1,…,10i = 1, \dots, 10. How many such sequences of 1010 steps end at x10=4x_{10} = 4?

Show hints (2)+
  1. Let uu steps be +1+1 and dd steps be −1-1. Set up u+d=10u+d=10 and u−d=4u-d=4.
  2. Once u=7u=7, d=3d=3 are fixed, the sequence is just a choice of which steps are down: (103)\binom{10}{3}.

Answer

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120

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