"I'm in my last few years playing for Clare so I just said I'd really go out to enjoy myself and express myself and if it works it works, and if it doesn't it doesn't," tells John Conlon.
Considering that Conlon is speaking to the media because he's been named PwC GAA/GPA Hurler of the Month for May, it certainly appears that the Clonlara man has found a recipe that works.
In Clare's two Munster Championship games - a five-point defeat to Cork at Pairc Ui Chaoimh and an easy win against Waterford at Cusack Park - Conlan hit 1-8 from play.
"With Clare this year we got some great people into the backroom team and they really helped to evolve my game. I suppose they started playing me centre and full-forward, down the centre, which I enjoy because I like to be involved the whole time.
"Those changes have all helped, but overall I'm really enjoying my hurling."
It's Conlon's tenth year on the Clare panel. An All-Ireland winner in 2013, who doesn't turn 29 until later this month, he's the second oldest player in a group which should be hitting its prime.
The four championships since their 2013 All-Ireland win have been ones of underperformance from Clare. It's five years since they last played at Croke Park. That's a record of which the panel is keenly aware and wants to correct.
"We feel as a group that it is a massive year for us. We haven't really performed in Championship for the past number of years," says Conlon. Defeating Tipp in Thurles this weekend would be a major step in a journey back to Croker which has found many dead ends.
Last year, Conlon - a primary school teacher at St. Aidan's in Shannon - started building a house. On the surface, one would have presumed such a time-consuming project would negatively impact his hurling - that has not been the case.
It just made me relax a bit more on a Saturday before a match.
Leading up to the Cork game I was working in the house all day and going up and down to eat meals and drink water. It was a relaxing day working with my family - my brother and my father helped me out in the house and just took my mind off the game.
The whole day just passed by and usually the day before you'd be sitting around the house doing nothing or going for a walk and just trying to get your head onto the game.
Whereas at least this takes up a bit of time and it passes you by instead of lying idle for a lot of hours. At least you're doing something productive and really enjoying yourself and doing something for your future.
Thinking about his future - and that of his pupils - is something Conlon has been doing a lot of lately. A man who likes keeping busy, he's been doing a course in strength and conditioning though Setanta College, one which he will finish in September.
"I just said I wanted to look into children's fitness and see with fitness in general, especially with children in school where obesity is such a big problem, how I could help out in my own classroom and whether I could bring it into my teaching in the future.
"The GPA provided me with a lot of support in terms of a scholarship and I'd like to thank them for that. They work in conjunction with Setanta College and their grant processing and that helped out massively. I said, 'why not?'
"I can do it online and just have to travel down to Thurles once a month for a workshop or ever two months. Everything is done online and it's a great course.
"I suppose, towards my own future if I ever wanted to ever go into training teams or helping out with teams, at least I have that background."
Since starting the course, it has informed how he has approached games. Small things, especially in the lead up to matches, have been tweaked. In this year's championship, one which has seen the games come thicker and faster than ever, it all helps.
"Obviously there's a lot more on the warm-up and why we do it. You're trying to get up to that level of intensity before you go out on the field.
"And in the lead up to the games, as I've got older this year, I probably had a problem with my back later on in the year last year that affected me, and I just said I need to recover that and I got better.
"If I was training on the Tuesday night I'd make sure to get to a pool the next morning and do a full hour before I got to work. Just recover a lot easier. And get to bed earlier and get proper sleep. Little things like that.
"Things that you took for granted when you were younger, you just need to be a lot more tuned in about now.
"You have to look after your body."
Carlow’s Paul Broderick and Clare’s John Conlon confirmed as the PwC GAA/GPA Players of the Month for May in football and hurling. Pictured is John Conlon after being presented with his PwC GAA/GPA Player of the Month Award at the PwC Offices in Dublin. Photos by Sportsfile
