ball control

noun

|Updated on: 25 May 2018

Definition of ball control

: an offensive strategy (as in football) in which a team tries to keep possession of the ball for extended periods of time

Recent Examples of ball control from the Web

Tchani’s turnover proved to be the first of many by a Fire offense that struggled with ball control and production overall, only managing one shot before the halftime mark.

— juan pimiento, chicagotribune.com, "Vincent late goal earns Chicago Fire their first point against Portland," 31 Mar. 2018
From there, CovCath played keep-away with efficient ball control.

— james weber, Cincinnati.com, "Covington Catholic's Fredrick prefers state title to Mr. Basketball: 'It's just an award.'," 18 Mar. 2018
Good ball control allowed the Sea Kings to attack close to the net.

— andrew turner, latimes.com, "CdM boys' volleyball back on track with win against Laguna Beach," 14 Mar. 2018
His West Coast offenses, heavy on veterans and ball control, struggled to score.

— SI.com, "In Oakland, Jon Gruden Is Ready to Grind," 19 Feb. 2018
There are certainly several examples of similar calls where ball control was ruled from the regular season — many fans will point to those that coincidentally benefited the Patriots.

— peter king, SI.com, "Wristband 145: Behind The Play That Confused The Patriots and Gave The Eagles The Super Bowl LII Win," 11 Feb. 2018
But Saban wins with defense and ball control, and Hurts was a better fit.

— chris korman, For The Win, "Tua Tagovailoa's astounding throw shows that Nick Saban is an actual coaching genius," 9 Jan. 2018
Forward Ahmed Khan was dubbed the 'snake charmer' by the British media for his mesmeric ball control.

— SI.com, "World Cup Countdown: 17 Weeks to Go - Did India Drop Out of 1950 Because They Refused to Wear Boots?," 25 Feb. 2018
The Dolphins, in their second year under Don Shula, had a nice package, too: a young defense and a ball control offense spiced with deep threat Paul Warfield.

— david j. neal, miamiherald, "Super Bowl history game-by-game, from Packers to Patriots | Miami Herald," 30 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ball control.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.