diff --git a/components/player/hooks/useHLSPreloader.ts b/components/player/hooks/useHLSPreloader.ts
index 8500a3f..65603c1 100644
--- a/components/player/hooks/useHLSPreloader.ts
+++ b/components/player/hooks/useHLSPreloader.ts
@@ -12,29 +12,22 @@ export function useHLSPreloader({ src, currentTime }: UseHLSPreloaderProps) {
     const segmentsRef = useRef<Segment[]>([]);
     const [isManifestLoaded, setIsManifestLoaded] = useState(false);
     const lastStartIndexRef = useRef<number>(-1);
+    const isInitializedRef = useRef(false);
+    const downloadTimeoutRef = useRef<NodeJS.Timeout | null>(null);
 
     // Fetch and parse manifest when src changes
     useEffect(() => {
         if (!src || !src.endsWith('.m3u8')) return;
 
+        // Reset initialization flag when src changes
+        isInitializedRef.current = false;
+        lastStartIndexRef.current = -1;
+
         const fetchManifest = async () => {
             try {
                 console.log('[Preloader] Fetching manifest:', src);
 
-                // Clear cache for this video on mount (fresh start each time)
-                if ('caches' in window) {
-                    const cache = await caches.open('video-cache-v1');
-                    const requests = await cache.keys();
-                    const baseUrl = src.substring(0, src.lastIndexOf('/') + 1);
-
-                    for (const request of requests) {
-                        if (request.url.startsWith(baseUrl)) {
-                            await cache.delete(request);
-                        }
-                    }
-                    console.log('[Preloader] Cleared previous cache for this video');
-                }
-
+                // Parse manifest but keep existing cache (for faster playback on revisit)
                 const segments = await parseHLSManifest(src);
                 segmentsRef.current = segments;
                 setIsManifestLoaded(true);
@@ -48,43 +41,60 @@ export function useHLSPreloader({ src, currentTime }: UseHLSPreloaderProps) {
         fetchManifest();
     }, [src]);
 
-    // Manage downloads based on currentTime
+    // Manage downloads based on currentTime with debounce
     useEffect(() => {
         if (!isManifestLoaded || segmentsRef.current.length === 0) return;
 
-        // Find segment index for currentTime
-        let startIndex = 0;
-        for (let i = 0; i < segmentsRef.current.length; i++) {
-            if (currentTime < segmentsRef.current[i].startTime + segmentsRef.current[i].duration) {
-                startIndex = i;
-                break;
+        // Clear any pending download timeout
+        if (downloadTimeoutRef.current) {
+            clearTimeout(downloadTimeoutRef.current);
+        }
+
+        // Debounce to avoid rapid restarts during initialization
+        downloadTimeoutRef.current = setTimeout(() => {
+            // Find segment index for currentTime
+            let startIndex = 0;
+            for (let i = 0; i < segmentsRef.current.length; i++) {
+                if (currentTime < segmentsRef.current[i].startTime + segmentsRef.current[i].duration) {
+                    startIndex = i;
+                    break;
+                }
             }
-        }
 
-        if (startIndex >= segmentsRef.current.length) return;
+            if (startIndex >= segmentsRef.current.length) return;
 
-        // Check if this is sequential playback or a seek
-        const diff = startIndex - lastStartIndexRef.current;
-        const isSequential = diff >= 0 && diff < 3;
+            // Check if this is sequential playback or a seek
+            const diff = startIndex - lastStartIndexRef.current;
+            const isSequential = diff >= 0 && diff < 3;
 
-        if (isSequential && abortControllerRef.current) {
-            return; // Continue current download
-        }
+            // Skip if already downloading sequentially
+            if (isSequential && isInitializedRef.current && abortControllerRef.current) {
+                return; // Continue current download
+            }
 
-        console.log(`[Preloader] Seek detected. Current Time: ${currentTime.toFixed(2)}s. Starting from segment ${startIndex}.`);
-        lastStartIndexRef.current = startIndex;
+            // Only log on significant seeks or initial start
+            if (!isInitializedRef.current) {
+                console.log(`[Preloader] Initial start at segment ${startIndex} (${currentTime.toFixed(2)}s)`);
+                isInitializedRef.current = true;
+            } else if (!isSequential) {
+                console.log(`[Preloader] Seek detected. Current Time: ${currentTime.toFixed(2)}s. Starting from segment ${startIndex}.`);
+            }
 
-        // Abort previous queue and start new one
-        if (abortControllerRef.current) {
-            abortControllerRef.current.abort();
-        }
-        abortControllerRef.current = new AbortController();
+            lastStartIndexRef.current = startIndex;
+
+            // Abort previous queue and start new one
+            if (abortControllerRef.current) {
+                abortControllerRef.current.abort();
+            }
+            abortControllerRef.current = new AbortController();
+
+            downloadSegmentQueue({
+                segments: segmentsRef.current,
+                startIndex,
+                signal: abortControllerRef.current.signal
+            });
+        }, isInitializedRef.current ? 0 : 100); // 100ms debounce on initial load only
 
-        downloadSegmentQueue({
-            segments: segmentsRef.current,
-            startIndex,
-            signal: abortControllerRef.current.signal
-        });
     }, [isManifestLoaded, currentTime]);
 
     // Cleanup on unmount