Not topless in club, finding rope that controls movement (9)
I believe the answer is:
mainbrace
'controls movement' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'not topless in club finding rope' is the wordplay.
'not topless in club finding' becomes 'main' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'rope' becomes 'brace' (brace is a kind of rope).
'main'+'brace'='MAINBRACE'
'that' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for mainbrace that I've seen before include "may get spliced at sea" , "that got spliced" , "rope" , "It's spliced aboard" , "Part of rigging" .)