How a yoga pose helped NBA star Steph Curry become a record-breaker

Warrior-III, also known as the Virbhadrasana-III, the Dekasana and the aeroplane pose, helps improve core strength and balance.

Is it the Dekasana? Is it the Virbhadrasana-III? It’s Super-asana.

They call it the airplane pose in the West. In yoga lingo it is known variously as the Virbhadrasana-III, Warrior-III or the Dekasana.

But Steph Curry might just say this about it. “A pose by any other name…”

To many, the Golden State Warriors guard is the most interesting NBA star to watch. Not only has Curry made it a habit to nail three-pointers, not only did he become the highest scorer of three-pointers in history (2,974) on December 14, he has also turned making space into an art form. A joy it is to see the 33-year-old, more Jerry than Tom by basketball standards, scurry this way and that in enemy territory to shake off defenders and make space. That gains him enough room and time to receive the ball and sink in a three. Sometimes, he makes them with one hand.

But Curry and his clutch shot-making, his three Championship rings and several other honours, almost did not happen. At the start of his career, he had a delicate right ankle which broke down frequently. During one stretch in his opening NBA season, he sprained his ankle five times in 26 games.

According to an in-depth article on ESPN, in 2012, a disheartened Curry told his personal trainer, Brandon Payne: "I feel like I've been doing nothing but rehabbing for two years. I feel like I'm never going to be able to play again."

The solution was not to strengthen Curry’s ankles only, it was to strengthen his core and lower body, so that his ankles alone did not bear his workload.

One way of doing that was the airplane pose, which Curry added to his routine.  It is a one-legged, forward lunging posture.

“Curry swiftly perfected a yoga pose called the single-leg hip airplane, designed to build balance and core strength,” ESPN reported.

The asana, it is believed, takes its Sanskrit name from Virbhadra, who has been described as a particularly fierce version of Shiva. He is depicted as having several arms.

Curry has just two hands and a rebuilt ankle.

When he got the three-pointer record on December 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York, Curry hugged his parents, teammates and Ray Allen, the previous holder of the record. In all, Curry scored 22 points in the game, which his team won 105-96.

“It’s a special moment for sure which I’ll appreciate the rest of my life,” Curry said after the game. As he spoke to the media, he wore a black cap, on which were the words ‘2,974 and counting’.