Older Aces have to be careful to take care of their bodies
Alysha Clark knows something’s wrong when the details of the game start to disappear. The Aces wing is playing her 10th season in the WNBA, and at this point, she’s well-accustomed to the signs of fatigue.
“It’s the little things,” she said. “Stuff you’re usually on it with — whether it’s like passing or defensive schemes or a little lapse in something — that’s where I notice it.”
The Aces are back home for an extended period of time after playing six of their first eight games on the road. They take on the Seattle Storm to Michelob Ultra Arena at 7 p.m. Thursday, the second matchup of a nine-game stretch where the Aces will play at home eight times.
Since returning from their early-season road trip, the team’s emphasis has been on rest and recovery. The Aces (8-1) flew back from Connecticut June 9, then had an off day before beating the Chicago Sky 93-80 at Michelob Ultra Arena June 11.
Coach Becky Hammon gave her team another off day Monday before returning to a normal practice schedule Tuesday ahead of their game against the Storm (2-6).
This Aces squad is significantly older than the 2022 championship team. Hammon’s roster from the past season was the fourth-youngest in the league, with an average age of 26.89 years. Guards Sydney Colson and Riquna Williams, then age 32, were the oldest players on the team.
The Aces were the first team to win a championship with a roster below the league’s average weighted age since the 2009 Phoenix Mercury.
Another year of wear and tear, plus the offseason additions of Clark, 35, and two-time MVP Candace Parker, 37, means Hammon and the coaching staff have to take extra care to make sure the team stays fresh during the regular season.
Hammon stresses the importance of clear communication about health with players and training staff. She said veteran players know their bodies better than anyone and have to be trusted to do what they need to stay healthy.
It’s hard to find time to rest while traveling, especially with the difficulties of WNBA travel. Normally, teams prefer to fly out of a city immediately after the game to get a full day of rest or practice between games.
However, since WNBA teams are required to travel commercially, their travel schedules are dictated by airline flight times and sometimes include layovers.
The Aces have some new tools at their disposal to combat fatigue. They added assistant medical director Tera Giroux and performance coach Jeremiah Welch during the offseason. The Aces new practice facility also includes a hot tub and cold plunge, a cryotheraphy tank, an infrared sauna and other equipment which aids in player recovery.
Giroux says she believes there are two main types of recovery: passive and active.
Passive recovery requires limiting physical movement, which Giroux said helps relax the nervous system and aids in mental rehabilitation. Active recovery means the athlete is doing some kind of physical work, just not related to their sport. Examples include an intense yoga session or a run on an underwater treadmill. She says both active and passive recovery are important to helping the Aces avoid fatigue.
“At the end of the day,” Giroux said, “the athlete needs to be healthy and feel their best in order to perform their best.”
Contact reporter Andy Yamashita at ayamashita@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ANYamashita on Twitter.