Pickleball court dimensions

How to use the court diagram and planner

1. The top diagram shows the court drawn to scale. Choose what to show around it: the minimum 30 × 60 ft playing area, the preferred 34 × 64 ft area, or the court lines alone. The numbered circles match the list under the drawing.
2. Switch to meters if your plans or your contractor use metric; converted values are marked with ≈.
3. In the planner, enter the length and width of your space and how much room each court should get. The planner lays courts out in a simple grid, turning them if that fits more, and draws the result.
4. Use the presets for the most common questions: a fenced tennis court, the lines of a tennis court, or a typical backyard.

Official pickleball court dimensions

These numbers come from the USA Pickleball rulebook. Measurements are taken to the outside edge of the lines, and the lines (2 in wide) are part of the court.

The extra space in the playing area matters more than it looks. Lobs and hard drives land deep, and players often step back past the baseline. With 30 × 60 ft you have 8 ft behind each baseline and 5 ft beside each sideline; 34 × 64 ft gives 10 ft and 7 ft.

Pickleball on a tennis court

A tennis doubles court is 78 × 36 ft, and a single fenced tennis court is commonly 120 × 60 ft. That gives two practical layouts:

• One court inside the tennis lines. A 20 × 44 ft court fits easily inside 78 × 36 ft, centered on the tennis net line. You need a portable pickleball net: a tennis net is 36 in at the center but 42 in at the posts, so it is too high at the sidelines.
• Four courts in the enclosure. Turn the courts 90° so each one runs across the 60 ft width, then line up four of them along the 120 ft length, each with a 30 × 60 ft area. The tennis net has to come down or be moved, and each court needs its own net.

Paint or tape pickleball lines in a color that contrasts with the tennis lines, so players can see which line is which. The planner uses a simple grid. Layouts where neighboring courts share their run-off can sometimes fit more, but they leave less room between players.

Worked example: a 70 × 40 ft backyard

Enter 70 × 40 ft with the preferred 34 × 64 ft area. One court fits, with 6 ft to spare in each direction, so you can add a bench or a path along the side. Two courts would need 68 ft of width side by side or 128 ft of length end to end, so this yard holds one court. With only the minimum 30 × 60 ft area, the answer is still one court.

How to lay out the lines

1. Snap a chalk line for the net line, then mark the two sidelines 10 ft either side of the center point, at right angles to it.
2. Measure 7 ft from the net line on each side for the kitchen lines, and 22 ft for the baselines.
3. Check that the court is square: both diagonals should be about 48 ft 4 in.
4. Draw the centerlines from each kitchen line to the baseline, splitting each half into two service courts 10 ft wide.
5. Set the net posts 12 in outside the sidelines and adjust the net to 36 in at the posts and 34 in at the center.

How we tested

We tested the planner's counting function with Node. A 120 × 60 ft tennis enclosure fits four courts with 30 × 60 ft each but only one with 34 × 64 ft each; the 78 × 36 ft tennis lines hold one court; a space of exactly 30 × 60 ft fits one court and 60 × 29.9 ft fits none. The service court works out to 15 ft deep (22 ft minus the 7 ft kitchen). We also measured the drawings in code: the court's length-to-width ratio is 44 ÷ 20, the two kitchens together cover 14 ÷ 44 of the court length, the dashed area has the 60 ÷ 30 ratio, and the court fills 44 ÷ 60 of the area's length. The tennis enclosure layout draws exactly four courts. Every check passed.