THE MESSAGE Ken Hinkley had for his players on the first day Port Adelaide's entire squad assembled for pre-season training was loud and clear – "What did we learn?"

It was spelt out on a billboard overlooking Alberton Oval on Monday morning as the Power's players were put through their paces.

After the Power missed the finals for the past two seasons, captain Travis Boak knows improvement across the board needs to happen.

"I think the biggest thing we learnt was that the standard wasn't good enough, and we've got to come back and want to improve and want it more," Boak said.

"That's what Ken said and they're the words that will be ringing in the guys' ears.

"The want was certainly there today and it will continue to be like that for the rest of pre-season.

"Certainly things will change and it will be a fresh start for this group and a fresh start for the club.

"A few of us went away on a trip to America to experience some difficult culture in sport and we learnt a lot from that and we'll certainly bring that to training and change a few things."

About a dozen Power players and fitness guru Darren Burgess took a couple weeks out of their off-season to get a close-up look of how NFL powerhouse, the Seattle Seahawks, and college football's Oregon Ducks, prepare their players.

"The biggest thing about that was how much fun they had at training and how much they enjoyed being around, but also when it was time to get into a drill, it was full on, it was pretty intense," Boak said.

"Walking around talking to coaches and stuff, there's certainly a few things we can change.

"If things aren't going your way, it can get a bit tense and anxious at times.

"There's probably a little bit of game plan stuff we can tinker with, which we do every pre-season and a huge focus on skills and our kicking as well."

The Power will have an emphasis this pre-season on improving their skills by foot after turnovers cost them dearly this year.

But Boak believes the Power aren't far off the mark, especially with former Essendon pair Paddy Ryder and Angus Monfries returning after serving their 12-month anti-doping suspensions.

"We know our best footy is still pretty good, we just need to close that gap between our best footy and our worst footy," Boak said.

"We need to work on those areas that really cost us in games that when they did get close, we weren't able to stand up to the mark.

"That comes down to our turnovers, our kicking, and then we had to defend a lot more."