The Port Adelaide youngster has been working hand in hand with Adelaide Crows legend Tyson Edwards, now a development coach with the Power.
The results have been impressive. Wingard is one of the League’s most improved players this year, along with teammate Justin Westhoff.
Edwards, whose relentless work ethic underpinned a brilliant 321-game career at West Lake, has specifically shared his fitness knowledge with Wingard, and the results have been obvious to all.
Wingard has increased his average disposal count by 10 to 23 this year, he's booted 19 goals and has taken more than four marks a game, remarkable numbers for a second-year player.
The 19-year-old told AFL.com.au that he was seeking to bring the strengths of Edwards’ game into his playing career.
"He's probably been the most influential coach during my short time at Port. He has a one-on-one interest in me," Wingard said of the former Adelaide champion.
"He played a similar role to me when he first started his career, so he gives me a lot of pointers I wouldn't have thought of.
"His area of strength is my area of weakness - he had a huge work-rate and still maintained efficiency. He knows where I should and shouldn't run, so he's also helping me to play smarter."
Edwards hasn't been surprised by Wingard's ability or output – after all, top-10 draft picks come with a certain level of expectation.
But what has surprised him has been Wingard's consistency this year.
"He plays forward mainly and that's not an easy role, but he still seems to consistently get involved in games which is a real positive,” Edwards told AFL.com.au.
"He's not the sort of lad who's going to get ahead of himself at all, but I know you can sometimes lose focus a bit and think it's just going to happen. We haven't seen that with Chad so far.
"He's willing to do the work and he's open to feedback which is really important."
Wingard freely admitted there was always parts of his game that needed working on.
After a career-high 31 disposals last weekend against Greater Western Sydney, he identified disposal efficiency as an area of improvement.
Other times it's his positioning, or his bugbear – fitness.
Having joined Port Adelaide at the start of what would prove the club's most tumultuous 12 months since it entered the AFL, Wingard has been forced to grow up fast.
By the start of his second pre-season he had experienced a year of consistent failures from the team, the sacking of senior coach Matthew Primus and, worst of all, the tragic death a teammate John McCarthy.
"I feel more mature more than my age [suggests], I feel like I've been here longer than just two years," he said.
"You see life as a whole and you don't take anything for granted – we know football's just a game, we know how life is so much more important.
"Going through what we've been through and putting life in perspective I think has helped me mature as a footballer."
Harry Thring is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.
