Best Selling Pickleball Books – Must Read to Improve Your Game Skills In 2023

“This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission when you buy through our links. Learn More!

I don’t know about you, but I love books. I personally believe that nothing can be a better source of knowledge than a good book. And my belief doesn’t change when it concerns sports either.

Physical practice is indeed vital for making good performances in a sport like pickleball. But if you want to excel, you will need to understand the game and strategies thoroughly. For that, you will need theoretical knowledge, and that means books. 

But in a market overflowing with books related to pickleball, it can be confusing to determine which one is the best. Fear not! I am always happy to help potential book lovers. 

That is why I have selected and described 8 Best pickleball Books 2021 in this article to assist you in finding the one you might need. 

Types of Pickleball Books

Pickleball was invented only in the-1960s but has grown in popularity. Most of the pickleball books cover the fundamental concept of the sport itself. 

You can find so many good pickleball books online or in bookshops that you need to pick depending on your game level & Interest

Beginner Books:

Those books will lead your journey from scratch. They have a detailed explanation about rules and how you get scores, most uses tactics, clubs actions, and lots of player feedback, which builds your self-confidence on the game field. 

Some introductory books explain the mental aspect of your opponent’s movements. Reading those books makes you mentally strong in competitive games and entering tournaments. 

Pickleball History Books:

Wise people like you don’t back them to know the pickleball history. Those books let you know the origin of pickleball and how they are becoming popular in a short time, among others. 

Pickleball Strategy Books:

You will find plenty of strategy books to do well in the game. Those books explain every strategy and action that you can take during play. Within time, you can imagine and understand what you need to do in which situation. Also, you will learn a short selection strategy and the return serve.

So, scroll down and see which one is suitable for you! 

Our Recommended Best Pickleball Books For You:

1. How to Play Pickleball – The Complete Guide from A to Z

About the Author

This book is authored by ‘Pickleball Legend Coach Mo’ and ‘Joe Baker.’ 

Joe Baker is a B.S. graduate from North Carolina State University in mechanical engineering. He is well known as an avid pickleball and golf player.

And Coach Mo had poured over all of his years of knowledge accumulated as a trainer and player in this guide. 

Review:

Frankly, this book is a gold mine of pickleball techniques and strategies. Not only is the book rich in information, but it is also written in a simplified way suitable for even a beginner’s understanding.

I much appreciate his tone. His method of explaining complicated strategies made reading them fun and interesting.

Moreover, the whole book is full of diagrams and photos. And we all know how easily a picture can explain something a thousand words cannot.

When you read the book, you will feel that he honestly tried to give his all. He even explained drop shot techniques in detail here, which few authors give importance to. 

Reader’s Opinion 

How to Play Pickleball‘ is very popular among pickleball players. It is one of the top-rated pickleball books, ranking at 35th in the Best Racket Sports Books list. 

This fantastic book has 246 pages in its paperback version. The audio version is also available. 

On YouTube, you can find training videos made by the authors to further your understanding.

Overall, this is a must-have book for you if you are a beginner or an intermediate level pickleball player. 

2. History of Pickleball: More Than 50 Years of Fun!

About the Author

The authors of this historical text are Jennifer Lucore and her daughter Beverly Youngren. Mother and daughter both love pickleball.

Lucore is a gold medal champion with a rich and glorious sports history. She is also a famous pickleball blogger and traveler. 

And like her mother, Youngren loves pickleball and traveling. Since the late 1990s, she has played pickleball for almost 20 years. 

Review

Unlike most pickleball instruction books focused on strategy and playing methods, ‘History of Pickleball’ narrates the more than a 50-year journey.

This 192-page book describes pickleball’s birth as a game and everything related to its evolution as a famous American sport.

The theme of this book is the summer of the 1960s. Why? Because pickleball was born in the summer of 1965. 

‘History of Pickleball’ this volume is a well-written book worthy of 3 years of painstaking research. You can feel the authors’ enthusiasm and passion leaping out from the pages when you read it. 

Reader’s Opinion 

History of Pickleball‘ is a book beloved by pickleball players, ranking 943 in sports biographies.

Since its publication, it was considered as a must-read book for all pickleball players. 

3. At the Line Pickleball: The Winning Doubles Pickleball Strategy

If you are a pickleball enthusiast looking for good pickleball books focused on strategy and is suitable for advanced players, ‘At the Line Pickleball’ is ideal for you. 

About the Author

Remember the co-author of ‘How to Play Pickleball’? 

Yes! Joe Baker, the passionate pickleball player, teacher, and you tuber, is the one to write this book.

Review

‘At the Line Pickleball’ is one of the eight best pickleball books in 2020 with everything you need to know as a pickleball player. From drop-shot to strategies, everything! 

I think the book is well informed and written in an easy language. To help the reader understand the topics, it includes detailed diagrams and illustrations. 

‘At the Line Pickleball’ is an ideal pickleball book for grasping advanced pickleball strategy with ease. A perfect solution for getting rid of your mistakes.

Reader’s Opinion 

At the Line Pickleball‘ is a book good enough to have a 4.9-star rating!

Whether you are a novice or an expert, if you want to have a good understanding of the pickleball strategy, you can’t go wrong with this book.

4. The Pickle Ball Bible

Like the Bible provides the guidelines to the religious Christians, ‘The Pickle Ball Bible’ provides the pickleball players’ basic guidelines.

About the Author

Dr. Rick Lambson and Tim Finger are the authors, and Robert Thompson is the co-author of this student-friendly text. 

Dr. Lambson, the primary author of this book, is an accomplished athletic coach.

Review

This 100-page handbook focuses on providing fundamental guidelines of pickleball to the readers. 

The book is designed like a student workbook. You can see from its contents that it is meant for entirely new players. How?

The Pickle Ball Bible‘ is a book focused on explaining the pickleball fundamentals and rules. 

It explains some professional strategies and techniques written in a suitable style to help beginners understand. 

See? The guide practically screams in your face that it is for the novices.

Reader’s Opinion 

This book is good enough to rank 40th in racket sportsbooks’ list no matter the target audience.

If you are entirely new to the sport, then this book will be beneficial for you to familiarize yourself with the game.

5. Smart Pickleball: The Pickleball Guru’s Guide

Who does not want to learn from the best?

Let us learn from Prem Carnot, the best pickleball coach, through his book, ‘Smart Pickleball: The Pickleball Guru’s Guide.’

About the Author

Prem Carnot is famous for his effective pickleball coaching. He is considered as the premier pickleball coach on the planet.

Review

Look at the pickleball books cover. It shows a devastating pickleball shot sure to win the game. 

Yes! If you want to increase your playing skills to win the games with ease, you need the pickleball guru’s guidance. 

While it can be hard to get practical guidance, through this book, you can get it quickly. In this book, you will find several Prem Carnot’s coveted private lessons exclusive to ‘Pickleball Guru Academy’ clinics only. 

Reader’s Opinion 

This 39th ranked book is a must-read for players of national tournament levels, in my opinion.

6. The Art of Pickleball – Techniques and Strategies for Everyone

About the Author

The author, Gale Leach, is a writer and a pickleball lover. She began her journey as an author with her first published book, ‘The Art of Pickleball.’

Review

This book was first published in late 2005, and it has 216 pages. It incorporates Leach’s personal experiences and understanding in her time as a pickleball player. 

It explains everything you might need to know to be a good pickleball player, starting from equipment selection to tournament strategies.

It’s a beneficial book for an easy understanding of the sport.

Reader’s Opinion 

‘The Art of Pickleball’ is a well-written book that won the ‘Arizona Book Award’ in 2007. If you are looking for an all-rounder book, then this one’s for you.

7. Mind Game: Quantum Performance Leap

About the Author

The author of this book is Dr. Neil P. Schulenburg. He is an enthusiastic pickleball and tennis player and a psychotherapist. 

Review

Psychological strength is essential for any player, and this book addresses it very well.

The focus of this book is to help the players to strengthen and discipline their minds. It gives excellent care in preventing the players from breaking down after a loss or getting too arrogant after a victory.

Learning the mental game is essential for good performance in any sports, I must say. It makes the book unique and valuable.

Reader’s Opinion 

The book, ‘Mind Game‘ is unique to other pickleball texts. 

8. Pickleball Fundamentals

About the Author

This book is published by The USA Pickleball Association (USAPA) with Mary Littlewood as a co-author to help the novice pickleball gamers.

Review

As you can see from the name, ‘Pickleball Fundamentals‘ is a book dedicated to teaching the fundamental pickleball skills to beginners.

While it does not focus much on advanced pickleball techniques, it is valuable in its plethora of basic knowledge.

Reader’s Opinion 

The existing drills and game-like activities in the book are invaluable for improving the novices’ performance.

Importance of Reading Sports Books

Sport is an allegory for life. This fact is one reason why so much literature has been written about the world of sports. Practice alone will not bring success.

 Learning, as well as reading and watching other players, can help you find strategies. And that’s why reading a sportsbook is significant for a player and general people who want to know more about sports.

Few Alternative of Regular Pickleball Books

  • Audiobook: Voice recording of a whole textbook known as an audiobook. It is more effective than a textbook. You can listen to the audiobook any time, even if you are doing other work.
  • Kindle edition: The Kindle is an electronic device powered by the android system and created by Amazon. Actually, it is an e-book reader.

The buying guide on choosing the best pickleball books

Looking for specialist advice and how to improve your chosen strategy? Think about the criteria before buying a book at the stop:

Topic and Scope

Firstly identify what prospect of pickleball you like to study, so you shouldn’t finish with a book which is not related to your requirements. I suggest you a medley of training demonstrators’ choices, statistical and historical accounts exploration for the game.

Experience level

Professional players might search for some ideal pickleball books to elementary for their choice. In contrast, very complicated pickleball skills can overcast the inexperienced player. 

In my suggestion, you can see a mix of newbie, intermediate, and professional reference books.

Author Background 

I suggest you study whether the perspectives and sources used by the author fit your preferences. Some expert writers share tips from their personal experiences. 

Others study hundreds of matches to find interesting trends. Some writers used the polite position of an entertaining pickleball fan.

FAQs

Are any pickleball books fun to read?

Some folk don’t find any reason for reading pickleball books. They think spending time reading pickleball books issueless.

Just think of a guy who practices all day long, doing the drills correctly with an excellent spirit but still doesn’t know to get his game right on the way. What is the problem he faces? Is it the guidelines that make the problem? Or the mental setup tails him behind.

So much of the physical and mental stress a player faces in his everyday life. So if you want to hear up the courage back again, the pickleball books can support him.

 Pickleball institution’s books give him/her the proper guidelines. You can find lots of fun while reading pickleball books, which provides you with the strength to do better.

Who are the readers? 

Today’s generation of people have no interest in reading any kind of book, and pickleball books are far from their thoughts. 

They are very much like spending time on the Internet or social media. But the good news is that now hardcover books and paper books are publishing and sold.

But do you know who these people are still reading books? How can they access Facebook or other social media and other things? Don’t they have a smartphone?

Actually, those readers are within us, and they have owned a smartphone in their hands. But they still love to read books in their free time for pleasure. 

The authors also spend all day to reveal their golden thoughts on the book. People who read the book make sure that the application is the same as before.

Final thoughts

If you want to perform well as a pickleball player, you need some in-text knowledge. Right? 

Therefore, the books listed in the 8 best pickleball books in 2022 are the cream of the crop. So just select the ones most suitable for you and start excelling in the game!

I'm Dave Ogden, a professional pickleball player from Ogden, Utah. When I'm not dominating the court, I pour my passion into writing a blog, sharing pickleball trips and tricks. Join me as I take you on an exciting journey through the world of pickleball. Let's improve our game together!

Leave a Comment