What it is: A hybrid sport that combines tennis, badminton and ping-pong. It's played indoors or outdoors on a badminton-sized court, using a wood or composite paddle and a plastic ball that resembles a wiffle ball.

Why you should try it: Anyone can play, regardless of your age or athletic ability. The USA Pickleball Association estimates that 2.46 million people play it nationwide. Driving the sport's growth are baby boomers looking for something fun to keep them active.

Getting started: You need a paddle, some pickleballs, court shoes and a court. (Google "pickleball" and "Minnesota" and you are likely to find courts and pickleball clubs near you.) My husband and I took an introductory lesson from John Malmgren, president of the Shoreview Area Pickleball Club, and attended a beginners clinic put on by the Shoreview club. We were immediately hooked. Other pickleball clubs and YMCAs in the metro area offer lessons, and the USAPA website (usapa.org) also has tips and instructional videos. Club fees are nominal, about $15 to $20 for a year's membership.

Will it make you sweat? Definitely. There isn't much out-and-out running, because this is a predominantly doubles game that's played on a small court. But players are constantly on the move.

The basics: An underhand serve to the diagonally opposite court starts the game, and the ball must bounce before players hit it on the first two returns. After that, players can hit it back and forth in the air or off a bounce. They must stay out of the 7-foot non-volley zone on either side of the net, however, unless they step into it to return a ball that has bounced there.

The non-volley zone is exactly what it says it is: Players can't stand at the net and slam the ball back across. Good players master the "dink" game: hitting the ball lightly so it just crosses over the net.

Strategy is a great equalizer across age groups. Just because you can hit the ball hard doesn't mean you're going to win. I've lost a lot of games to players in their 80s.

It's addictive: It took just one game for me to become infatuated with pickleball. Nearly every player I talk with says the same thing. Last outdoor season, my husband and I joined two pickleball clubs and played six times a week. Our achy joints told us to scale that back to four times a week this season. The social aspect of the game keeps us coming back, too. Strangers may be your opponents on the court, but they typically end up as friends.

Kathy Derong is a retired journalist living in Vadnais Heights.