ball control

noun

|Updated on: 6 Jul 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

Now Mexico faces a tight, cohesive Swedish team that outshot and outpossessed South Korea to win its opener before conceding ball control against Germany, which needed five minutes of stoppage time to find the winning goal.

— kevin baxter, latimes.com, "Mexico goal is to win group, not just qualify for next round," 25 June 2018
The team of about 30 boys stretches languidly in the sticky heat, then runs through ball control drills and scrimmages punctuated by friendly trash talk in the players’ native Spanish.

— ben teitelbaum, SI.com, "A Dream Re-Routed: Deported Maryland Brothers Seek Options, Play on After Being Banished," 27 Feb. 2018
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

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.