Pickleball’s Best Excuses: Hilarious Quips Every Pickler Should Know

A humorous resource for explaining away your missed shot or your embarrassing defeat. A perfect gift for any fan of America’s fastest growing sport--Pickleball!

If you’re reading this book, surely you don’t need any more convincing. From dinks and dillballs to Falafels and Flapjacks; matches under a sun-soaked sky or swatting that little plastic ball under the lights at night, we can all agree that Pickleball is the best thing to come along since sliced bread. Pickleball is a great workout, a terrific way to meet people, can be played at any age, and is loads of fun! As the adage goes, ＂A bad day on the pickleball court is better than a good day at the office.＂

But what happens when things don’t go your way on the court? When you’re so excited, you inadvertently step into the kitchen on too many occasions. Or that day when you just seem to be plagued by faults, and then you lose the most important point of the day . . . the final point!

When the unthinkable occurs, and you end up on the losing end of the stick, clearly there might be a plausible explanation. And it goes without saying that your athleticism, stamina, or, most importantly, your ability as a pickler certainly can’t be the reason you’re terrible. It’s been said more than once that in order to maximize one’s chances of success, and to make it to the Pickledome, you need to minimize your mistakes. Unfortunately, on some days, the mishaps just pile up.

But as any pickleballer worth his or her salt will tell you, there must be a viable (or not so viable) reason for the loss. Perhaps the sun was in your eyes. Or was there a crack on the ball that caused it to bounce off kilter. Of course! It was all your partner’s fault. Or was the reason you lost one of the many reasons that are compiled in this book?

The good news is, even on your worst of days, when god forbid you get ＂pickled＂ and don’t win a single point, we’ve got you covered. You now have ultimate the resource you need to explain away your worst of defeats. No, you’re not a loser. Clearly, you’re fit, athletic, good-looking, coordinated, and everybody likes you. So, the next time the you go down faster than the Titanic, explain away your woeful play with Pickleball’s Best Excuses!

Joshua Shifrin is a licensed psychologist and the author of seventeen books (eighteen, if you include this one!). His most recent book, Fishing’s Best Excuses, was published in 2023. He loves to write whenever he can find the time. He lives in New Jersey with his beautiful wife and two terrific boys.