CHARLOTTE, N.C.â€”Stephen Curry stopped mid-workout to run and grab his phone. There was something he had to show his trainers at Accelerate Basketball. On the small screen was a video of Curry throwing down a windmill, the first time he's completed the dunk.

Being healthy sure has its advantages.

Curry's almost giddy approach in the gym this offseason comes from being freed of past restrictions, from back when he still was recovering from multiple surgeries to his right ankle.

Over this summer, his first at full health since entering the NBA in 2009, Curry has taken advantage of every opportunity to add to his game. Whether he's running sand dunes or resorting to hotel weight rooms, Curry hasn't passed up a day of workouts.

"I haven't missed any time," Curry said. "That's a big part of being consistent over the summer, so that come August, I won't be trying to push too hard to make up for the summer. I feel like I'm in pretty good shape right now, and I'll get to training camp stronger and a better player."

Historically, Curry has raised his level of play as the season goes onâ€”and his health improves. Such was the case last season, when he narrowly missed the 2013 All-Star Game only to become one of the best stories of the second half.

Judging from the tone of his workout Sunday, Curry's determined to get off to a strong start in 2013-14 with a Warriors team expected to compete in the West. He pushed himself from the opening minutes of a three-hour workout, ignoring phone calls in favor of shooting, ballhandling and footwork drills. Each drill targeted a specific area of growth potential for Curry:

Shooting

Because he's one of the NBA's best shooters, Curry doesn't simply count misses and makes like the next guy. Between exhausting workouts, he steps up to the free-throw line, where he shoots at a 90 percent clip, and counts the number of shots he can make without touching the rim.

In this process, Curry becomes discontent with simply hitting shots. Frustration sets in on his face when he touches the rim too often. On the rare event that he actually misses, "It's always the ball's fault," said Brandon Payne, who handles Curry's skill development work. The ball didn't take much blame on this day.

But that's just the start.

When Curry steps out behind the 3-point line is when the real work sets in. He hit an NBA single-season record of 272 3-pointers last season, but "he's not satisfied with 272," Payne said.

Curry was strapped to a weighted pulley system and charged with making basketball moves. He practiced the sweep-through and step-back with weight added around his waist.

Once the weight was taken off, Curry completed the moves and went into his shot. Trainers stood by and added contact by hitting Curry's arms with pads as he went into his move. Curry executed pull-up shots and a double step-back without traveling, a move he says they'll have to warn officials about.

Curry is taking on more in his workout everyday, and after a banner year, he's become more self-assured.

"I feel a lot more confident," Curry said. "A lot of that is in conjunction with my injury, being healthy.

Scoring through contact

At 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, Curry isn't the physical specimen NBA players of his level tend to be. His trainers want him to be as strong as possibleâ€”at 190 pounds. So, on Sunday, he didn't lift a weight in the conventional sense.

Curry's strength training was geared toward being able to take bumps in the lane and finish at the basket. As things stand, Curry can stretch the defense to 30 feet. Adding to his ability to finish at the rim, though, will only give him more space to get off one of the NBA's best outside shots. He's done OK with defense there, hitting 43.2 percent of his shots when guarded in catch-and-shoot situations, according to Synergy Sports.

Curry's efficiency takes an arch that works contrary to most players, however. He becomes less efficient as he gets closer to the basket, and last season he scored 1.024 points per possession on shots around the rim last season, which rates as below average.

Curry shot 53.1 percent inside of 5 feet, but his shot attempts from outside of 25 feet more than doubled those at the basket. He wants to balance that and reach the free-throw line more, which is the next progression on a path that could lead him to become one of the NBA's top five scorers.

"I hopefully will be able to shoot the ball at a high level every year," Curry said "But, as a point guard, with all the different teammates, you have you have to be able to make plays and handle contact."

Ballhandling

Curry entered the NBA with the reputation of a shooter and not much more.

Each year, he's worked to shed that label and prove that he has overall game. He continues to work toward that now, even after four NBA seasons and a breakout year at point guard.

In his workout, Curry did ballhandling drills with weighted balls, weights around his wrists and a number of different stimulants that forced him to process information and react with the appropriate action.

Because Curry hasn't had to bother with rehab as of late, he's been able to improve his ballhandling, which showed when he averaged 6.9 assists per game last season, a career high.

"Throughout the injury and the last two years," Curry said, "I've been able to add skills to my game that I didn't have before when it comes to strength and movement on the court and my ballhandling getting a lot more crisp and being able to make a lot more plays off the dribble."

Work ethic

Set to workout at Accelerate Basketball, Gerald Henderson called Payne and asked if he could bring along a friend, Stephen Curry.

Curry returned alone the next day and never left. It's been two years now, and Curry has become one of the NBA's top point guards.

"I've kind of been in an underdog situation since high school," Curry said. "That's the one thing I can control, how hard you work in the gym in the summer because it prepares you to get through an 82-game schedule. It gets harder and harder every year. That's a big part of my progression as a player."

Curry reached the playoffs for the first time last season. His Warriors defeated the Denver Nuggets and pushed the San Antonio Spurs to six games. Curry said he is putting time in this summer with the thought of another postseason trip in mind.

"The team knows your game inside and out," Curry said of the playoffs. "It is more physical, there's no doubt about that. At the end of the season, you've already played 82 games, plus preseason, playing heavy minutes and having to raise that intensity level even though your body is fatigued from the season. That's where this part of the summer is huge.

"Anybody can get ready for training camp and get ready for pre-All-Star schedule, but to sustain yourself over the long haul, especially in the playoffs, that's when you have to raise your game to a new level."