The Pickleball Handbook: An Unofficial Field Guide for Picklers Who Can't Stop, Won't Stop, and Probably Just Pulled a Muscle - Softcover

Dais, Dawn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0593839617 ISBN 13: 9780593839614

Publisher: Ten Speed Press, 2026

Synopsis

A hilarious illustrated guide to the pickleball lifestyle, including the needlessly complex rules, the fashions, etiquette, gear, injuries, post-game snacks, and much more, for players of all ages, skill levels, and fitness ability.

The Pickleball Handbook is your ultimate guide to surviving and thriving in the world’s fastest-growing obsession. Whether you’re a pickleball newbie who got ambushed by an overly enthusiastic friend or a seasoned player who has more than one custom game shirt, this book is for you.

You'll learn:

• The rules, which are both overly complicated and oddly arbitrary.
• The essential (and often unnecessary) gear you need to fit in.
• The many, many types of pickleball players, including the tournament junkie and the person who is mostly here for selfies and social hour (and all the ways these players will humble you along your pickleball journey).
• The secret language of pickleball, from "dink" to "Nasty Nelson."
• How to know when you’ve crossed over from casual player to full-blown addict (Hint: if you own a custom paddle, it's too late).

If you want to understand the glorious absurdity of a sport that has somehow become the defining activity of a generation, then grab your paddle and let’s get started. (Maybe also grab a knee brace or two, just to be safe.) Packed with full-color illustrations and helpful infographics, this humorous handbook is a perfect gift for all the picklers in your life.

About this title

About the Author

Dawn Dais is a freelance writer and designer who has made a career out of making fun of the "newbie experience." Whether she’s tackling pregnancy, parenting, or running, Dawn has been there, stumbled through it, and somehow survived to tell the tale—usually with a healthy dose of sarcasm. Her previous books, including The Sh!t No One Tells You series and The Nonrunner’s Marathon Guide for Women, topped bestseller lists and were featured by numerous TV and print media outlets. Dawn lives in Roseville, California, with her partner, their four kids, two dogs, three chickens (unfortunate quarantine decision), two cats, and the occasional mouse brought home by said cats.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction

Welcome to the Pickledome

Many people have tried to nail down what exactly pickleball is. Some say it’s tiny tennis; others say it’s oversized ping-pong. In reality, the best way to get an adequate understanding of the pickleball vibe is to picture a mixed martial arts octagon. But instead of burly fighters squaring off, imagine an intense face-off between a TikTok teenager in sneakers and a retiree donning a headband, scowl, and knee brace. One is fueled by youthful swagger, the other by decades of steely determination. And they are brawling in a sport where either one could feasibly come out utterly humiliated. This is the intensity you should be picturing when thinking of pickleball. Think passion. Think bloody rivalry. Think everyone from octogenarians to preteens with an insatiable hunger for victory.

Pickleball is not just a sport; it’s a battlefield where friendships are forged and destroyed in the span of a single set. It’s where mild-mannered accountants transform into paddle-wielding warriors, and bunco-playing grandmothers develop an unnerving killer instinct. It’s where middle schoolers drop-shot their gym teachers into oblivion, and college athletes learn the hard way that pickleball skill is not determined by age. It’s where newbies go from skeptics to full-blown addicts before they’ve even figured out how to properly announce the score; where the already competitive become even more insufferable. And where everyone—at some point—experiences the deep, personal betrayal of watching a perforated plastic ball sail past them, perfectly placed by an opponent they foolishly underestimated.

Because pickleball is much more than just a game—it’s a cultural movement that defies age, fitness ability, and any level of common sense.

Sure, this description might seem a bit dramatic for a sport that features a modified wiffle ball, but underestimating pickleball is a rookie mistake. This “simple” sport often starts as a casual pastime and then quickly escalates into a full-blown obsession. One minute, you’re innocently rallying with a friend, feeling smug about your hand-eye coordination; the next, you have flung yourself fully horizontal, leaping through the air, executing a dive you have no business attempting, all in the name of hitting that blasted plastic ball before it bounces on the ground. (The bloody part of pickleball can come about 3.5 seconds after gravity makes an appearance in your dive attempt.)

Not long after “casually” taking up pickleball, you will find yourself shouting things like “LET IT BOUNCE!” with the intensity of someone trying to defuse a bomb. The stakes? Irrationally high. The reward? Not much besides bragging rights, maybe a cheap plastic medal from a local tournament, and an occasional visit to your friendly neighborhood urgent care. Yet here we are—risking our dignity, our joints, and our weekend plans, all to chase the dink dream.

This is pickleball. And this is serious.

Edition details

• Publisher: Ten Speed Press
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0593839617
• ISBN 13: 9780593839614
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192