Pickleball is a fairly simple sport, but when you’re tasked with introducing it to others, it can be tough finding the right words to explain everything. If you’re not in the middle of a court with equipment at hand, then it makes it all the more difficult to help others visualize the game.

If people keep asking you, “What is pickleball?” and you find yourself stumbling over the words “dink,” “kitchen” and “pickles” to the dismay of your confused listeners, we’re here to help!

We’ve put together a simple PDF brochure for anyone interested in the basics of pickleball. It serves as a simple primer and will introduce the game to complete newbies in under 5 minutes. It explains what pickleball is, what equipment is needed to start playing, where to find courts and how to get a copy of the rules.

Click to download the “What Is Pickleball” PDF

You can either send interested parties the PDF directly or link them to this page.

For easy reference, the links included in the brochure are:

PickleballCentral.com – For players’ equipment needs

Usapa.org/ifp-official-rules – To download the official rulebook

Places2play.org – To find local courts

We also recommend Pickleball.com’s “How to Play Pickleball” page for a more succinct summary of the rules. Think of it as a “Quick Start” guide.

The USAPA has a Basic Rules Summary that also sums things up in an easier way, and includes the following video if your soon-to-be picklers are visual learners:

We also like this video from PlayPickleball.com for those who’d like to see people in action while learning the necessities:

Of course, it’s always easiest to learn the game by actually playing it with a more experienced pickler. We recommend newbies ask at local clubs if they’d be willing to teach the sport or if they happen to have dedicated clinics and training days, such as those at Pickleball Station.

Do you have any additional resources you use to inform beginners about the game? What do you find is the easiest way to explain pickleball to the uninitiated?