For those pickleball addicts looking to put down temporary court lines at their local YMCA, community center or tennis courts – or are considering building their own pickleball courts – I’m often asked, “what are the official dimensions of a pickleball court?” As the diagram shown below illustrates, regardless of location or venue, the official pickleball court size and dimensions will always be the same – 20′ x 44.’
Pickleball Court Size Specifications – According to the USAPA Official Tournament Rulebook
Pickleball court dimensions are explicitly laid out in the USAPA Official Tournament Rulebook. The following are 3 key points with respect to official pickleball court size and configuration.
2.A.1. The court shall be a rectangle 20 feet (6.10 m) wide and 44 feet (13.41 m) long for both singles and doubles matches.
2.A.3. A minimum playing surface area measuring 30 feet (9.14 m) wide and 60 feet (18.29 m) long is recommended. A 10-foot (3.05-m) surrounding margin with a larger size of 40 feet (12.19 m) by 64 feet (19.51 m) is preferred.
Make sure there is plenty of room between courts. Don’t – and, I repeat – don’t cram the courts together!!! Space is needed.
2.B.3. Non-Volley Zone (NVZ). The area of court bounded by three lines and the net: the parallel line 7 feet (2.13 m) from the net (non-volley-zone line) and the two sidelines, which are perpendicular to the net. All NVZ lines are inside the NVZ.
As the name implies, one cannot volley (hit a ball out of the air) with a foot inside the Non-Volley Zone or on the Non-Volley Line. For additional information, please check out the following Pickleball Kitchen Rules FAQs.
One More Question… How High is a Pickleball Net?
To answer this question, we once again turn to the USAPA Official Tournament Rulebook.
2.C.5. [Net] Height. The net shall be suspended over the center of the court and shall be 36 inches (91.44 cm) high at the sidelines and 34 inches (86.36 cm) high at the center of the court.
Pickleball Court Dimensions (including Net Height) vs Tennis Court
The square footage of a tennis court is just over 3 times that of a pickleball court. More specifically, whereas a pickleball court has court dimensions equal to 20′ x 44′ a tennis court (including doubles alleys) has dimensions equal to 36′ x 78′.
While a pickleball net is 34″ at the center, a tennis net measure 36″ at the center. The following image should give you a better graphical representation of the size differences between a pickleball court and a tennis court.
A Common Configuration at Tennis Facilities
We live in southwest, Ohio, where we are a bit spoiled with 16 dedicated outdoor pickleball courts within a 20-minute drive. During the winter, however, we are relegated to playing indoors. Luckily, more and more tennis facilities are adding pickleball to their tennis offering.
At these facilities, you will often see 2 pickleball courts (with temporary pickleball nets) laid out on a single tennis court like you see below. You will notice that the tennis net divides the two pickleball courts.
What the Movie, Hoosiers, Teaches Us About Court Size & Dimensions
I love the following scene from the 1986 film, “Hoosiers.” If you recall (and if you don’t recall, rent it or buy it from Amazon), Hoosiers is a 1986 sports film about a small-town Indiana high school basketball team that wins the state championship. The story is set during 1951/1952, when all high schools in Indiana, regardless of size, competed in one state championship tournament.
In an iconic scene, the coach demonstrates with the help of his players, that, regardless of the size of the venue or arena, the court dimensions will always be identical – with the free throw line always set at 15 feet from the basket and the height of the basket always 10 feet from the floor.
Pickleball Court Measurements Should Always be the Same
Similarly, whether you play at a dedicated pickleball facility, a church gym, your own outdoor court – or anything in between – the pickleball court dimensions should always be the same.
Look forward to seeing you on the pickleball courts – and if you build your own backyard court, please invite me to play!
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