But the new Canberra Capitals recruit says it may well have turned her into a more potent weapon on the court as she sets her sights on a WNBL hub in north Queensland.

Smart has joined her teammates for pre-season training after finishing a two-week stint in quarantine following her arrival from Melbourne where COVID-19 runs rampant.

Her arrival in Canberra has granted the 35-year-old a "sense of freedom" - even if she was reduced to basketball drills on a balcony for her first two weeks in the city.

Luckily her room at the hotel had "a good balcony", because Smart had to find a way to maintain an edge over her rivals ahead of the hectic 39-day campaign which begins on November 12.

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She's had some practice with thinking outside the box - Smart's stint in Victoria when courts and gyms were closed forced her to strip things back.

She challenged herself to work out how to do ball handling and footwork without a chance to shoot. In a sense it was refreshing - Smart could test the waters without worrying about makes or misses.

Smart started from the ground up, laying the foundations for improvement with the seemingly simple things so often taken for granted - footwork, timing, dribbling, and finding a rhythm.

"For me it was just being proactive," Smart said.

"If it was starting to get too hard or tough, I'd figure out ways to make it more interesting, figure out a different type of routine, or figure out a slight change or edge in detail I'm missing.

"I tried to turn that into finding something I maybe would have overlooked if I got distracted with all the luxuries all the time. When things are taken away, you strip it down, keep it simple and look for ways to still improve, still get better, and find an edge.

"No one really cares you spent six months in Melbourne, or you weren't inside a gym or couldn't find a court, or quarantined for two weeks. You've got to figure out a way to stay on top of things."

The Capitals are bracing for one of the most gruelling WNBL campaigns yet with a schedule which could force them to play 17 games in 39 days.

That is if they are to go the long route to the grand final on December 20, playing a semi-final and a preliminary final following a 14-game regular season.

"It's going to be a challenge, there's no doubt about it. We're athletes and we're competitive," Smart said.

"If you're versatile and you're agile, and you're able to handle yourself in adversity, you always want new challenges. Can I be a good athlete, can we be a good team in this situation?

"It's not necessarily worse, it's how we're going to solve a problem."