[ESPN] How Curry overcame ankle issues

RV6 · Jun 5, 2015

http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/201...ayoffs-how-stephen-curry-put-ankle-issues-him

How did Curry put those ankle worries to rest?

It's all in the hips. Literally.

That's the answer given by the Warriors' director of athletic performance, Keke Lyles, a leading expert in injury prevention and maximizing body potential through the use of cutting-edge technology like STATS LLC's SportVU cameras and Catapult Sports' GPS accelerometers to track movement.

When Lyles joined the Warriors' training staff two summers ago, he asked Curry to perform a simple stationary pose you might find in a yoga book: the single-leg hip airplane.

You can try it yourself. Stand on one leg, tilt your body forward at the hip and get as long as possible with your arms out and opposite leg outstretched to resemble a Boeing 747. Once you have that, slowly open up your hip toward the sky.

Did you struggle? Curry wobbled and swayed at first, too.

"He wasn't awful," Lyles says. "But now the difference is night and day."
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Lyles' prognosis was simple, yet perhaps a little counterintuitive. He hoped Curry's issues could be mostly solved not by strengthening his ankles, but his hips and glutes.

Those kinds of herky-jerky movements, at game speed, tax joints like ankles. The remedy is balance and core strength to make those movements fluid and stable. "I think Steph really liked to use his ankles to control everything," Lyles said. "But now he's using his hips instead. You know how everything laughed at Tiger Woods saying he just needed to activate his glutes? Well, Tiger's right."
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"We do a lot of things to teach guys how to control their bodies in weird positions. To me, injuries happen in awkward positions and if you can't control yourself in those awkward positions, you're going to get hurt. So we try to teach our guys about awkward positions and extend their limit of range of motion with the body. And Curry just excels."
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"He's probably 10 times stronger than what people think," Lyles says.

Exhibit A: Curry can deadlift 400 pounds.

The exercise the Warriors prefer is the trapbar dead lift, which is basically a safer way to mimic lifting a giant boulder off the ground. One of the primary muscles that it works? Yup, the gluteus maximus.

"Steph's the second strongest on our team pulling that one," Lyles says with a straight face. "For his size, Steph is ridiculous strong."

Only center Festus Ezeli, who stands about seven feet and 270 pounds, can top Curry on that particular lift. That may be hard to believe, but that core power is the secret that unlocks Curry's magic.

"We knew he was strong," Lyles says, "but when he started pushing that kind of weight, I was like 'This guy is just a freak.'"
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Carl Herrera · Jun 5, 2015

Thanks for the jinx, ESPN.

malakas · Jun 5, 2015

So he can lift 400 pounds with his butt.

BigggReddd · Jun 5, 2015

Carl Herrera said: ↑

Thanks for the jinx, ESPN.
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Same immediate thought lol.

Panda23 · Jun 5, 2015

Curry can TRAPBAR deadlift 400 pounds. Impressive for him nonthtless but its actually more of a reverse squat movement

RedRedemption · Jun 5, 2015

Huh.

Was wondering why his ankle injuries suddenly disappeared.

Dgn1 · Jun 5, 2015

Underarmour might have something to say about this.

Damion Laverne · Jun 5, 2015

Ass > t***

Dave_78 · Jun 5, 2015

Panda23 said: ↑

Curry can TRAPBAR deadlift 400 pounds. Impressive for him nonthtless but its actually more of a reverse squat movement
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Exactly. It's nothing pulling 400 lb on a true dead. I'm sure he can bench 300 lb on the bench press machine too.

Crashlanded19 · Jun 5, 2015

Lol ESPN gets bored some nights. They have to find something to write that involves Stephen Curry. They don't even deserve the click.

RV6 · Jun 5, 2015

Dgn1 said: ↑

Underarmour might have something to say about this.
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