Pickleball court dimensions

A pickleball court is 20 feet wide by 44 feet long — the same for singles and doubles — with a net 36 inches high at the sidelines dropping to 34 inches at the center. The non-volley zone, universally called the kitchen, extends 7 feet from the net on each side.

The full measurements

Why the net sags in the middle

The two-inch drop from sideline to center is deliberate, not slack. It makes the middle of the net the lowest and therefore safest place to hit — which encourages cross-court and down-the-middle play, and rewards accuracy over blasting down the line. Every net sport that uses a center strap does something similar.

If you're setting up a portable net, check the center height with a tape measure rather than trusting the frame. Portable nets sag more than permanent ones, and a net set two inches low quietly changes how the game plays.

The kitchen, measured properly

The non-volley zone runs the full 20-foot width of the court and extends 7 feet back from the net on each side, giving a 14-foot no-volley band in total. You may stand in it whenever you like; what you may not do is volley — hit the ball out of the air — while any part of you is touching the zone or its lines.

Two details catch people out. First, the lines are part of the kitchen: touch the line and it counts as being in. Second, momentum counts— if you volley from outside and your follow-through carries you into the zone, it's a fault even though you struck the ball legally. Our rules guide covers the edge cases.

Service boxes

Each side of the net has two service boxes, formed by the center line and the kitchen line. Each is 10 feet wide by 15 feet deep: 20 feet of court width halved, and the 22 feet from net to baseline minus the 7-foot kitchen.

Serves must be hit diagonally into the opposite service box and must clear the kitchen. A serve landing in the kitchen — or on the kitchen line — is a fault. The kitchen line is the only line on the court that a serve may not touch; landing on any other line is good.

How much total space do you actually need?

This is where people building a home court get caught out. The court itself is 20 by 44 feet, but you cannot play in exactly that footprint — you need room to chase balls behind the baseline and beside the sidelines.

The commonly recommended minimum total area is 30 by 60 feet, which gives about 5 feet of run-off at each side and 8 feet behind each baseline. For comfortable recreational play, 34 by 64 feet is better. Tournament venues use more again.

A standard two-car driveway is often around 20 feet wide, which fits the court width but leaves no side run-off at all — playable for practice, cramped for a real game.

Converting a tennis court

A tennis court is 78 feet long and 36 feet wide for doubles, so it comfortably holds a pickleball court and can be striped for up to four with careful layout. The complications are net height and net position: a tennis net is 36 inches at the center, two inches higher than a pickleball net should be, and tennis net posts sit well outside pickleball's 20-foot width.

Clubs using a tennis court for casual pickleball often just play with the tennis net at its existing height. It works, but be aware the net is high and the ball will clip the tape more than it should. See pickleball vs tennis for the full comparison.

Converting a badminton court

Easier — a doubles badminton court is exactly 20 by 44 feet, the same as a pickleball court, because pickleball was invented on one. The floor markings are already right.

Two things need changing: the net must come down to 34 inches at the center from badminton's roughly five feet, and you need to mark the kitchen 7 feet either side of the net, which badminton lines don't include. Floor tape solves the second. Full details in pickleball vs badminton.

Indoor ceiling height

Often overlooked when booking a hall. You want a minimum of 18 feet of clearance, and 20 feet or more is better. Pickleball has fewer high lobs than badminton or tennis, but a defensive lob still climbs, and a low ceiling turns a legitimate shot into a let or an argument.

Setting up at home

You need three things: a flat surface roughly 30 by 60 feet, a net set to 34 inches at the center, and lines. Chalk works on concrete, and floor tape works indoors; permanent courts use 2-inch painted lines.

Get the kitchen right even if you approximate everything else — 7 feet from the net on each side. Nearly every pickleball tactic exists because of that zone, and a court without it plays like a different game. Our portable net guide covers the net options, and what you need to start playing covers the rest of the kit.