On Wednesday, in a surprising shift from his well-known defensive style, Collin Johns debuted a noticeably more aggressive serve during his match alongside brother Ben Johns against Luke Wasson and Jonny Andrews in the Round of 32.

In a match that lasted less than 20 minutes, Johns was faulted four times, with only about a dozen serves executed total. The unusually high fault count immediately caught people’s attention, especially given Johns’ preference for playing the game with a more traditional style and strategy. Johns also missed a handful of serves during the match, indicating that he’s still fine-tuning his technique.

The PPA Tour recently raised eyebrows when it announced that it was considering different ways to “de-weaponize the serve,” a shot that has been growing in power and effectiveness across the pro tour.

The experimentation reportedly came in response to player concern over historical shifts in how pickleball is played at the highest level, including several complaints from players on the PPA’s Pro Player Council, a body that Johns is a member of.

With the advent of more powerful paddle technology and increased incentive to push the envelope of what’s considered a legal serve, pro players have ratcheted up their strategy and muscle on their opening shot.

Johns and Johns have not won a title as a team together since April, and many have started to speculate about whether their days of dominating men’s doubles are over. The brothers are traditionally a very steady and consistent team who play high-percentage “smart” pickleball and gravitate towards long dink rallies and patient play. The two have been reluctant to upgrade to more powerful paddles, favor the drop over the drive, and only look to speed-up when the opportunity is there.

C. Johns commented on his new approach to the serve in his interview after the match with B. Johns agreeing that they had decided to shift to a more offensive style as a team in response to the evolving nature of professional pickleball.

Currently, PPA’s serve rules remain the same as they have been historically. Serves must be (1) contacted with the wrist below the paddle head, (2) at/below a player’s waist, and (3) have an upwards motion. While MLP recently adopted new serving rules that do away with a large portion of these rules and only stipulate that players must follow rule #1, the PPA has not yet followed suit, possibly waiting to see how the change plays out on MLP.

What are your thoughts on serving rules? Will a more offensive style help or hurt the Johns brothers as a team? Let us know on Pickleball.com’s X or IG.

You can watch the full match between Johns/Johns and Wasson/Andrews on YouTube.