Pickleball court dimensions

A pickleball court is 20 feet wide and 44 feet long, lines included, for singles and doubles alike, with a 7-foot kitchen on each side of a net that stands 36 inches high at the sidelines and 34 inches in the middle. Around the lines, the rulebook asks for a playing surface of at least 30 by 60 feet and recommends 34 by 64 for a new court.

Pickleball court dimensions in feet and meters

Rule 3.A.1 sets the size: The court must be a rectangle measuring 20 feet (6.10 m) wide and 44 feet (13.41 m) long for both singles and doubles matches. Rule 3.A.2 says where to measure from: Court measurements must be made to the outside edge of the perimeter and non-volley zone lines. So the 20 and 44 feet include the lines, 880 square feet of court in all, and the kitchen’s 7 feet include its line. The lines themselves should be 2 inches (5.08 cm) wide and the same color, clearly contrasting with the color of the playing surface and court (rule 3.A.4.e).

Metric figures are the rulebook’s own, except the half court, service court and diagonal, which follow from the rules’ measurements and which we converted. The kitchen’s 6.10 m width is rule 3.A.1’s; rule 3.A.4.c itself prints 6.08 m.

USA Pickleball also publishes a court diagram with every line labeled, if you want one to print.

Kitchen, service courts and which lines are in

The kitchen, officially the non-volley zone, is the 7-by-20-foot area on each side of the net. Its line runs parallel to the net, 7 feet away, and belongs to it: All lines that bound the non-volley zone are part of the zone (rule 3.A.4.c). That is why a toe on the kitchen line during a volley is a fault, and the kitchen rules guide covers the rest of what happens there.

Behind each kitchen, the centerline runs from the kitchen line to the baseline and splits that end into a right and a left service court, each 10 feet wide and 15 feet deep.

For the serve, The right and left service courts are bounded by and include their adjacent baseline, sideline, and the centerline (rule 3.A.4.f), so a serve on any of those is good, and a serve on the kitchen line is out (rule 8.C), because that line belongs to the kitchen. Once the rally is under way, a ball on any line of the court is in. Our rules guide covers who calls them.

Pickleball net height and post placement

The net is 36 inches high where it crosses the sidelines and 34 inches at the center, each to within a quarter inch (rules 3.B.6 and 3.B.7). The center height includes the center strap, an optional strap centered 10 feet from the outside edge of the sidelines that pulls the middle of the net down to height (rule 3.B.5).

The posts stand 22 feet apart, inside to inside, and should be no more than 3 inches across (rule 3.B.2). On a 20-foot court that puts each post about a foot outside its sideline, which is where USA Pickleball’s lining guide puts them, ideally 12 inches out. The net itself should be at least 21 feet 9 inches long and 30 inches from bottom to top, with a 2-inch white tape binding along the top (rules 3.B.3 and 3.B.4).

How much space does a pickleball court need?

Rule 3.A.3 says The minimum playing surface area is 30 feet (9.14 m) wide and 60 feet (18.29 m) long, then lists Other recommendations for playing surface dimensions: 34 by 64 feet for new construction and for tournament play, and 50 by 80 feet for a stadium court. In square feet, that’s 1,800 at the minimum and 2,176 at the recommended size.

With the court centered, the minimum leaves 8 feet behind each baseline and 5 feet beside each sideline, and the recommended surface leaves 10 and 7. The 8 feet agrees with the USTA’s guidance for courts at tennis sites: Industry standards recommend a minimum of eight (8) feet between the pickleball baseline and the permanent fixture.

Outdoors, the direction matters too. USA Pickleball’s construction page says Courts should be oriented north–south outdoors to avoid players looking directly into the sun during morning or late-afternoon play.

Backyard and driveway court dimensions

The rulebook has one size and no smaller official court, so a backyard court is 20 by 44 feet like any other, and it needs the same 30-by-60-foot surface to play properly. Pickleball.com’s guide to building one gives the same minimum.

Measure your space before you buy anything. If it’s narrower than 20 feet or shorter than 44, a regulation court won’t fit, and lines in a smaller space make a practice area. If the lines fit but the space around them doesn’t, the court still plays by the rules, with less room to chase a lob and a wall or garage door closer than anyone wants to run into.

How many pickleball courts fit on a tennis court?

Two fit comfortably and four at most. USA Pickleball’s lining guide says two pickleball courts can easily be added to a standard tennis court without greatly interfering with the line structure of the tennis court, and that It’s possible to have as many as four pickleball courts on a tennis court, however, the space will be packed.

SportMaster, which makes court surfaces, gives a regulation tennis court’s area as 60 by 120 feet, which is exactly four of the rulebook’s 30-by-60-foot minimum surfaces with nothing to spare. Tennis courts often come in pairs, and for a pair USA Pickleball suggests six: While a standard two-court tennis facility can accommodate up to eight lined pickleball courts, it’s more comfortable to replace the tennis pair with six pickleball courts.

If tennis is still played on the court, the USTA’s statement of guidance (February 2023) treats shared lines as a last resort, for sites with two or fewer tennis courts when separate courts or other spaces aren’t possible. There it allows Up to two pickleball court blended lines on a tennis court, one on either side of the net, and asks for pickleball lines 1 ½ inches wide, in textured paint a shade lighter than the surface and in the same color family. Where it can, a pickleball line should share a tennis service line or baseline. That is narrower than the rulebook’s 2 inches, which rule 3.A.4.e says lines should be rather than must.

Don’t play over the tennis net. Under rule 1 of the ITF’s Rules of Tennis it stands 3 feet high in the middle, 2 inches more than pickleball’s, so set up a portable pickleball net for each court.

How to line a pickleball court

USA Pickleball’s lining guide, which it credits to Pickleball Magazine, recommends two people and asks for a 25-foot and a 50-foot tape measure and at least 198 feet of tape per court. The tape goes on the inside of each measured line, so the outside edges land exactly on 20 and 44 feet, as rule 3.A.2 wants.

1. Measure a 44-foot sideline from corner A to corner B.
2. Find corner C, 20 feet from A and 48.33 feet (48 feet 4 inches) from B, where the two tape measures meet. Tape A to C.
3. Find corner D, 44 feet from C and 20 feet from B. Tape C to D and B to D.
4. Along both sidelines, mark 15, 22 and 29 feet. The 22-foot marks are the net. Join the 15- and 29-foot marks for the kitchen lines, with the tape on the net side of the marks.
5. Mark 10 feet in along each baseline and each kitchen line, and join them with tape centered on the marks for the two centerlines.

Before you finish, check the other diagonal, A to D. It should also read 48 feet 4 inches; if the two diagonals differ, the court isn’t square.

For temporary lines the guide recommends green Frog Tape, which doesn’t leave residue when removed, and says Do not use duct tape under any circumstance. For permanent lines, talk to a tennis court specialist before buying paint. On a tennis court, it adds, use the tennis service line as a line marker for the non-volley zone line.

Common mistakes when lining a court

• Tape centered on the marks puts each outer edge an inch past its mark, so the court comes out 20 feet 2 inches by 44 feet 2 inches. Only the centerlines are centered.
• If the kitchen line goes on the baseline side of the 7-foot mark, the kitchen ends up 7 feet 2 inches deep.
• Running the centerline through the kitchen. On a standard court it stops at the kitchen line; only skinny singles (the rulebook’s mini-singles) extends it to the net (rule 14.B.1.c, and our singles guide).
• A net left at 36 inches in the middle is 2 inches too high. Measure at the center strap, not only at the posts.

Keep score on your new court

Once the lines are down and the net reads 34 inches, someone has to keep score. Rally Trace keeps it on your Apple Watch: you tap the side that won each rally, and the watch works out the score, the server and where everyone stands, and calls the score out loud.

Every game you save adds to your record with each partner and against each opponent, free. Rally Trace Pro adds how often you win the rally on your serve and on theirs. Get Rally Trace on the App Store before the first game on your new court.