When a match starts speeding up and slipping away, the answer is not to hit harder. It is to take time back.
Key Takeaways
- A reset is not a soft shot. It is a time-control shot
- Most players fail not because they cannot reset, but because they reset too late
- Under pressure, one good reset can change the shape of a rally and stop momentum
There is a moment in most matches where everything starts to speed up.
The ball comes faster. Contact feels rushed. Decisions shorten. Points disappear quickly.
That is exactly where Ben Johns and Gabriel Tardio found themselves early in their semi-final.
Federico Staksrud and Andrei Daescu took the opening game 11–4, dictating tempo from the first ball. Johns and Tardio were being pulled into fast exchanges through the middle of the court, reacting rather than choosing.
They were not losing because they were playing badly.
They were losing because they were playing at the wrong speed.
A reset works because it changes that.
What a reset is really doing
A reset is not just a soft ball into the kitchen.
It is a decision to refuse the pace being imposed on you.
In the first game of that semi-final, Johns and Tardio were trying to stay in rallies that were already moving too quickly. Balls were being taken slightly off-balance, contact points were drifting, and the next shot was coming before they were set.
From the second game onwards, they made a simple shift.
They chose to play one more ball.
Instead of matching pace, they absorbed it. Softer resets into the kitchen. Fewer early counters. More willingness to extend the rally by one or two shots.
That single adjustment did not win them points immediately.
It gave them time.
The real mistake — resetting too late
Most players do not struggle with the reset itself.
They struggle with when they use it.
In that opening game, Johns and Tardio were already under pressure before attempting to neutralise it. By the time they tried to slow the rally, they were stretched, rushed, and reacting.
From the second game onwards, the timing changed.
They reset earlier in the rally:
- when the ball arrived with pace
- when their feet were not fully set
- when the opponent looked ready to speed up again
They did not wait for the point to break down.
They acted before it did.
That is the difference.
What a good reset actually looks like
Forget perfect technique. Look at effect.
During the turnaround, their resets did three things consistently:
1. They removed pace
Balls that had been coming back fast in the first game started landing softer into the kitchen. That forced Staksrud and Daescu to generate their own pace rather than feed off it.
2. They stayed low enough to pause the attack
Even when not perfect, the resets were not attackable. That alone was enough to stop the immediate pressure.
3. They gave time to recover
This is the key moment most players miss.
Watch the rallies in games two and three. After a reset, Johns and Tardio were no longer scrambling. They were set. Balanced. Ready for the next decision.
That is what the reset bought them.
Not a winner.
A position.
What this looks like at different levels
3.0–3.5
Players often try to “survive” rallies once they are already under pressure. The lesson here is simple: reset earlier. Even a slightly high reset that slows the rally is better than trying to counter from a rushed position.
3.5–4.0
The reset exists, but it is often rushed. Players try to neutralise and attack in the same moment. The Johns/Tardio shift shows the value of accepting one neutral ball before looking to move forward.
4.0–4.5
Decision-making becomes critical. The difference is recognising when to absorb pace and when to counter. In Utah, that choice flipped the match.
4.5+
The reset becomes a strategic tool. It is used not just to survive, but to manipulate rhythm. That is what happened in this semi-final. The match was moved onto different terms.
What this means
As the game gets faster, the reset becomes more valuable.
Not because it is soft, but because it controls time.
That is what Johns and Tardio demonstrated.
They did not overpower their opponents.
They did not suddenly hit better shots.
They changed when and how they played them.
And in doing so, they turned a match that was getting away from them into one they could control.
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The reset is not about softness. It is about taking time back before the match takes it from you.
Further Reading
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- Regional pickleball coverage
Chris Beaumont
Founder and Editor-in-ChiefChris Beaumont is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of World Pickleball Magazine. Chris follows the global game closely, reporting on the latest news, developments, stories and tournaments from all five continents. He also hosts the World Pickleball Podcast, interviewing people at…
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