Fremantle goalsneak Hayden Ballantyne has taken up pilates in a bid to avoid the soft-tissue problems that have plagued him throughout his AFL career.
Ballantyne missed the first 13 rounds last season because of two hamstring injuries, the first of which required surgery.
It continued a theme of injuries that have occurred regularly during Ballantyne's 151-game career.
At 30 years of age and with only a one-year contract under his belt, Ballantyne is doing everything he can to ensure season 2018 will be one to remember for all the right reasons.
Flexibility exercises worked well for Matthew Pavlich during his 353-game career and Ballantyne was more than happy to follow in the footsteps of his former skipper.
"Pav always used to talk about all the extra flexibility stuff he used to do, so I thought I'll give pilates a go and it's worked wonders, and I'll keep doing them," Ballantyne said on Monday.
"I've done eight or nine weeks of pilates. I'm getting my flexibility up, a bit of core strength as well.
"My hamstring flexibility has gotten a lot better. Calves, everything.
"Once you hit 30 apparently you're old, so I needed to do something."
Ballantyne says his new pilates regime hasn't pushed aside his boxing training.
"(Still) plenty of boxing," Ballantyne said.
"Boxing more gets out the beers I drank the night before on a Saturday morning."
Next season looms as crunch time for Ballantyne, who some considered lucky to earn a new one-year deal
At his best, Ballantyne is a dynamic small forward who terrorises opposition defences and pops up for important goals.
But Ballantyne's influence has waned in recent years.
Since booting 49 goals in 20 games in 2014, Ballantyne has managed just 52 goals in 45 games over the past three seasons.
The recruitment of Gold Coast forward Brandon Matera could place extra pressure on Ballantyne to hold his spot.
Or it could help take the pressure off Ballantyne, allowing the veteran more space to roam.
Ballantyne feels he, Matera, and Michael Walters could all play together up forward in a scenario similar to what premiers Richmond employed this year.
"That mosquito fleet down forward with one big forward in Jack (Riewoldt), and all those guys went through the midfield too," Ballantyne said.
