How Do You Fix a Post That Flopped?
Before you make anything new, fix the opening of what you already have.
People decide almost immediately whether to keep watching or keep scrolling. A video that opens with you walking to the line loses them. A caption that takes three lines to get interesting loses them too. The best part might be a few seconds in. Almost nobody sees it.
That is fixable, and the fix is cheap.
Start on the best moment
Go back through your old posts and find one that flopped but has something real in it. A swish. A hit. A moment worth watching.
If it is a video, trim the front so it starts right on that moment. Skip the walk-up. Skip the setup. If it is a photo post, lead with the strongest frame. The best part is the reason someone looks, so put it first.
Open with the hook
Then give the post a hook. On a video, that is one line of text on screen in the first second. On anything else, it is the first line of the caption. Either way, one line that makes people need to see what happens.
“My coach said I couldn’t go left.” Now I have to watch. Did he go left? What happened?
Your line should come from your own career. A doubt someone had about you. Something you worked on all summer. A question the post is about to answer.
Repost it
Then post it again. Same post, new opening. Reposting old footage is allowed. Some followers may have missed the first version. A stronger opening gives them a reason to watch this one.
This matters beyond views. A coach who lands on your page scrolls the same way everyone else does. Give a coach a reason to keep watching right away. If every post opens with dead air, your page undersells the work you actually put in.
Your homework this week
This is Week 5 of the Athlete Brand Challenge: fix your hook.
Find an old post that flopped but has a real moment in it.
Rework the opening so the strongest moment or line comes first.
Add the hook: text on screen in the first second of a video, or a first caption line that earns the next one.
Repost it and tag @tewdilly and #AthleteBrandChallenge so I can feature my favorites.
The opening decides whether anyone sees the rest. Make it count.
