Pickleball Courts
Court Dimensions
Indoors you can play on a badminton court. Generally the non volley zone is not wide enough on a badminton court (~6 inches short each side depending on width of line). Some sport centres will agree to a NVZ line being added their court but you do need to ask.
Outdoors, you can get up to 4 pickleball courts from one tennis court area. The dimensions are above. Tips on creating lines are below.
Court lines:
There are several ways of creating a temporary or permanent Pickleball court both indoors and out:
Chalk – this is a quick & temporary method particularly useful if you are just starting out or the court owners don’t want any residue left from tape.
Tape – this can last 3-4 weeks if put down on a clean, dry court on a wind free day outside. This can also be used for tournament play maximising the use of several tennis courts. Court tape is available online.
There is specific court tape available usually in 50m rolls which will provide lines for a whole court if you don’t put a central line across where the net is placed, just needing 2 small marks to show where the middle is for the nets to be placed. Gaffer tape can also be used, this can be bought at DIY stores or online, often this comes in 40m rolls so you will need more than 1 roll/court.
Beware that both of the above may leave a residue when removed.
Permanent or semi permanent lines can be done with spray paint which can be bought at builders merchants or you can source specific line paint. The best way of achieving neat edges/straight lines is to template the whole court with gaffer tape with an outer & inner line leaving a 2” gap for the actual line to be sprayed. Where possible try to match relevant lines with existing tennis lines (ask for advice if needed). The lines can then be sprayed holding the spray can close to the template lines or you can use a line machine, wait until the spray paint has dried which generally only takes a few minutes & remove the template tape. Try and do on a wind free day for best results.
If you would like to download a pdf with example layouts for pickleball courts on tennis courts click here.
If you are looking for a powerful case history on a tennis club opening up to pickleball, you could do a lot worse than this one on YouTube.
Safety on Court
Ian Wilson’s top tips are the best we have seen (reproduced here courtesy of pickleballoxon.org):
Have fun, get some exercise, but play safe by remembering the safety and courtesy rules!
1. Wear a good pair of tennis court shoes (no black soles, walking, running, cross trainers, or street shoes).
2. Always warm up your body before playing with some easy stretches, back, arms, shoulders, hamstrings. If in doubt consult with a certified physiotherapist or doctor who can factor in any medical problems you may have.
3. Keep well hydrated, drink plenty of fluids before, during and after playing.
4. Please do not run backwards to get to a ball over your head, it is too easy to fall or collide with a wall and hurt yourself. 5. Carefully run forward to get that low bouncing ball so you don’t fall and hurt yourself.
6. Always yell ‘BALL ON COURT’ loud and clear and NEVER run onto the adjoining court to retrieve your ball; the players on that court will throw it back to you.
7. Never walk behind players while they are playing; wait until they are between points and let them know you want to cross behind their court.
8. Don’t take an extra ball or balls with you on the court. Only one can be used and strays should never be left lying on the other courts. Always retrieve the stray ball.
9. Do not take extraneous materials (bags, bottles, towels) on the court or hang them on the net posts. These items create unsafe courts and impede visibility.
Positioning yourself on the Court
