Nikesoccer

Carli Lloyd: the advantage of exceptional control

NSblog — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:08:20 GMT

A center midfielder has to do everything well. There is no place to hide in the middle of the field. The modern game demands speed, touch, accuracy, endurance, and above all, control.

Carli Lloyd has it all, which is why she is at the offensive helm of the women's national team.

This is her story, in her words. Learn from her path to help you find your own.

Get Dedicated

Just like a lot of other kids, my parents signed me up for soccer when I was about five. I think from there I just started to like it. I don’t know, I guess it’s hard to tell if a kid’s got talent, you know, at age five. I kept with it, going out each year and playing. The biggest thing is just that I found a love for the game, a passion. I was always 100 percent dedicated. I know there are some kids that don’t want to give up a friend’s birthday party or different stuff, but for me it was different. Any free time I had, I walked down the street and went and shot for hours at the goal and juggled or whatever. I think all that mileage added up. It wasn’t necessarily using the right technique while kicking, but just the mileage and the hours that I put in with the ball. I kicked the ball against a curb in front of my house for hours and hours. So I think those are the sort of stories you hear about how you have to make the sport your life around the clock, and that’s how it was for me. My dedication was extreme, more extreme than most. Down the street for me, there were Turkish players always playing at a field, and I would jump in when I got a little older and started to play with them any chance I could. That was above and beyond team practices, club level, travel team, whatever. I thought I had to take the initiative upon myself to go and practice more. And I think those were important times that made me what I am today.

Make Your Weakness Your Strength

For a number of years I got a way with just getting by on my talent alone. And, you know, I had so many coaches throughout so many years that didn’t push me. I didn’t get the most out of me. The national team really taught me that if I’m giving 80 percent on the field, I’m going to be benched. My 80 percent might be better than the majority of the players, but in order to be successful, in order to get to the top, I should have been working at 100 percent the entire time. I was dedicated. I loved the sport. I was gifted with certain things as a player, but when I got to the highest level, I realized that this is going to take a lot more hard work than I have ever been putting in. It took a while to change my ways. Now if someone tells me I can’t do something, I’m going to go out and show them that I can. And I’m going to work my butt off, every session, every practice, and I’m going to become a true professional around the clock. You know, sleeping, eating, hydrating, stretching, which all instill confidence in me through fitness. That was a major weakness of mine growing up, but I’ve made it a strength of mine now.

Find Your Fitness

To get into shape for the national team, I will start about 6 weeks before we begin camp. Four days a week I will focus on longer runs, maybe starting off with a 30-minute run and then 45-minute run, and then kind of working my way up to an hour and fifteen minutes for a good three weeks, just to get that base back. There’s lots of people that argue that long rungs make you really slow but those long runs have been a big blessing for me in my career. If you only did long runs and no sprints, I could see where that would make you slower. But for me, as a center midfielder, who needs to be able to cover a lot of space and run almost constantly for 90 minutes, spending two to three weeks getting a good solid base is super important to me. At the same time I throw in some eight-hundred-yard sprints and then three sets of 15-minute runs with 2 minutes of rest in between. Then as I get closer into the camp, that’s when I focus on my short sprints, building explosiveness. I’ll throw in a lot of back pedaling runs, even some “up and downs,” where you sprint to a cone, drop down and do a push-up and then reverse and do it again. And obviously incorporating the ball any chance I get. You can never do enough ball work. Never.

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The toughest losses make the strongest teams.

NSblog — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 03:36:00 GMT

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Go Up And Get It

NSblog — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 16:03:20 GMT

The opportunity arrives.

Now go up and get it.

Pressure Makes Us

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Pressure Makes Us: Alex Morgan

NSblog — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 15:04:28 GMT

Every moment is a chance to be a hero.

Take yours.

Pressure Makes Us

http://nikesoccer.com/PressureMakesUs

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Prove You Deserve It

NSblog — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 16:20:22 GMT

Grab attention.

Then prove you deserve it.

Pressure Makes Us

http://nikesoccer.com/PressureMakesUs

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Pressure Makes Us: Yo Yo Test

NSblog — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 15:51:39 GMT

60 minutes with 10 women.

Fitness carries you through.

Prepare yourself with the SPARQ Yo Yo test.

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Pressure Makes Us: Carli Lloyd

NSblog — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:11:03 GMT

Power, vision, control.

Everything matters in the midfield.

Only the strong survive.

Pressure Makes Us

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Pressure Makes Us: Squat Test

NSblog — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 16:30:23 GMT

Work for the moment.

You never know when it will arrive.

Pressure Makes Us

http://nikesoccer.com/PressureMakesUs

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Never Give In

NSblog — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 18:09:48 GMT

Take on Adversity.

Never Give in.

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For the Love of Pressure

NSblog — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 14:14:43 GMT

High expectations.

High pressure.

Who will show their love for it?

Pressure Makes Us

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Pressure Makes Us: Tobin Heath

NSblog — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 14:58:53 GMT

For Tobin Heath the game is a privilege.

The future limitless.

The pressure powerless.

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Pressure Makes Us: 14 Days To Germany

NSblog — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:38:30 GMT

The 9-month journey finished with one last camp in Austria.

Preparation paid dividends with early success.

Will it see them through?

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Pressure Makes Us: Hope Solo

NSblog — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 00:42:57 GMT

Would she get back in time?

Could she handle the pain?

How will she thrive under pressure?

Join Hope Solo on the road to recovery.

Pressure Makes Us.

http://nikesoccer.com/PressureMakesUs

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Pressure Makes Us: Sprint Test

NSblog — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 16:29:12 GMT

The modern game is built on speed.

Quickness over the first 10, 20, & 30 meters is critical.

Be there first.

Pressure Makes Us.

Learn more about SPARQ testing at http://go.nike.com/SparqTesting

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Build Your Game

NSblog — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 18:38:27 GMT

The long road is just getting started.

As the pressure builds, so must your game.

Pressure Makes Us

http://nikesoccer.com/PressureMakesUs

Have your say and join the conversation with Nike Soccer on Twitter and Facebook. Watch all the latest videos from Nike Soccer on Youtube.