Social media has been in a tizzy about Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio not winning a gold medal in the last two months. The suggestions and predictions are flying with fans saying Johns should retire, Johns should drop Tardio, Tardio should drop Johns; there’s also no shortage of opinions on who Johns should now play men’s doubles with. Partnership switches are big news, and it is fun to predict and speculate about new pairings. But I am going the other way and predicting no partnership change for Johns and Tardio, at least not any time soon.

Let’s first talk about what explains Johns and Tardio having what is—for them—a bad streak. The game continues to change. As I wrote about a few weeks ago, men’s singles has changed from a 100% kitchen-oriented volleying game to a more mixed game that is much more reliant on baseline exchanges. I pointed out how Johns’ singles game has changed as an example, with him staying back more instead of using his old style of coming in quickly on as many rallies as possible. The cause is a combination of faster paddles and a ball that bounces higher. Johns himself talked about these effects soon after that column appeared.

We have also been seeing the effect of the faster game in doubles. Ben Johns switched away from Collin Johns because of the changes to the game. Collin is and always has been an entirely defensive oriented player. Ben switched to play with a more offensively oriented player in Gabe Tardio. But, even with the switch to Tardio, Johns’ own doubles game has not changed much in the last two years. He still seeks to drop to get to the kitchen; if he hits a drive, it is merely a method by which he gets an easier fifth shot to drop. Once at the kitchen line, he speeds up only very rarely off the bounce. His strategy is to win by dinking. He either waits for his opponents to miss a dink or leave one up that he can attack with a volley, most often with a backhand flick or roll down the line.

Other players have adapted to the new paddles and ball by becoming more offensive in their kitchen game. A great example is JW Johnson. Two years ago, Johnson virtually never sped up from the forehand wing off the bounce. That spot was known to opponents as a safe zone—just dink Johnson up the middle and a simple dink, usually down the middle, came back. Now watch Johnson play, such as he played at Worlds. He was speeding up off the bounce with forehands and looking for either an outright winner or an attackable ball off the opponent’s reset attempt. Another example is Elliott Schupp off the backhand. In the kitchen game, Schupp will sneak a two-handed backhand speedup off the bounce down the line. These types of speedups were just not done as much or as effectively two years ago. But Ben Johns has not incorporated them into his game to the same extent as other players.

Tardio has also been a little less offensively oriented as of late. He has crafty shot making skills, in part due to his somewhat unusual grip and style. For whatever reason, though, he seems to have been a little more reluctant to go on the offensive in kitchen exchanges. He has a good inside out forehand that is an effective shot, as it attacks his face up opponent’s backhand.

Rather than a personnel change, what I expect to see from Johns and Tardio is more offense in the kitchen game. While Johns definitely loves the patient game and long dink exchanges where it looks like he is drilling, the fact is that the game has changed. If Johns and Tardio play only a defensive style, it gives their opponents an opening to set the pace and go on the offensive. Opponents of Johns and Tardio recognize that they are unlikely to win a purely defensive, dink-exchanging match. This encourages them to play offensively, and the paddle and the ball reward that style more than ever.

Ben Johns has shown in singles that he sees the changing game, and he has tried to adapt. I expect the same now in doubles. Look for Johns and Tardio to use more speedups off the bounce. Also, look for them to dink middle a little less to try to avoid their opponents speeding up off the forehand.

Ben Johns is still the best player in the world. Gabe Tardio is still the best right-side player in the world. But, the next ten players are closing the gap, aided by the new paddles and the LT Pro 48 ball that bounces higher. Pickleball is an evolving game and one where players need to adjust. Expect adjustments from Johns and Tardio, not a partnership change.

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