Why won't my AirPods 2 pause with Double Tap?

finally got my old airpod 2’s to connect to my iphone 14. my other two pairs are MIA. however i can’t get them to pause with the double tap. i’m an old lady and that feature is far better for my shaky arthritic hands. i hv 3’s and it’s much harder for me to try to touch along the side to pause. is there something i can do to get that double tap working? i does work by removing from my ear ty!!