It's not ideal to buy from Amazon, but sometimes the convenience is hard to resist. The good news is that it's a great way to support American small businesses — and, it turns out, America's fastest-growing sport: pickleball. Get the gang together for drinks and dinks with these essentials.

First things first: You're gonna need a paddle. And some of the best are manufactured by Selkirk Sport. The family-owned, Idaho-based manufacturer also offers apparel, courses, an app featuring livestreamed pro matches, and a charity program dedicated to spreading the sport.

Fancy pickleball courts are going up everywhere, but you don't need one to play. After all, the sport was invented using an old asphalt badminton court. Pickle-Ball Inc.'s handsome, made-in-America set provides the paddles, balls, and net. You just need to find a driveway, playground, or cul-de-sac.

Sports Tutor in Burbank, California, has been making fine ball-throwing machines for tennis and baseball since 1986. The company has met the training demands of pickleball players with the same homegrown innovation. Its battery-operated, 110-ball-capacity Pickleball Tutor Plus will keep you on your toes with serves, lobs, ground strokes, dinks, lobs, and drives — with adjustable speed and spin.

Your pickleball technique may not be pretty, but that's no excuse for not cutting a fashionable figure on the court. Super Fly Goods' retro visor will shield your eyes with so much '70s flair you may be inspired to stage your own Bobby Riggs/Billie Jean King Battle of the Sexes.