Pickleball court dimensions, in full

The official pickleball court dimensions are 20 feet wide by 44 feet long, the same for singles and doubles. The net is 36 inches high where it crosses each sideline and 34 inches at the center. The non-volley zone runs 7 feet back from the net on both sides.

Official pickleball court dimensions in one table

Measurement	Size	Rule or recommendation
Playing surface, singles and doubles	20 ft × 44 ft	Rule
Non-volley zone, each side	7 ft deep × 20 ft wide	Rule
Service court, each of four	10 ft × 15 ft	Rule
Net height at each sideline	36 in, ±0.25 in	Rule
Net height at center	34 in, ±0.25 in	Rule
Net length, post to post	at least 21 ft 9 in	Rule
Net depth, top edge to bottom	at least 30 in	Rule
Net posts, inside face to inside face	22 ft, ±1 in	Rule
Line width	2 in	Rule
Total playing area, minimum	30 ft × 60 ft	Recommended
Total playing area, preferred	34 ft × 64 ft	Recommended
Indoor overhead clearance	18 ft or more	Recommended

Two things go wrong with a tape measure. Measurements are taken to the outside of the perimeter and non-volley zone lines, so the 44 feet includes both baselines. And every line is 2 inches wide, one color, clearly contrasting with the surface — repeat a 2-inch error across four lines and a "regulation" driveway court ends up short.

Pickleball court layout, line by line

|<--------------------------- 44 ft --------------------------->|
|<----- 15 ft ------>|<- 7 ft ->|<- 7 ft ->|<----- 15 ft ------>|
+--------------------+----------+----------+--------------------+  ---
|   service court    |   non-   |   non-   |   service court    |   ^
|     10 x 15 ft     |  volley  |  volley  |     10 x 15 ft     |   |
+--------------------+   zone   |   zone   +--------------------+  20 ft
|   service court    |(kitchen) |(kitchen) |   service court    |   |
|     10 x 15 ft     |          |          |     10 x 15 ft     |   v
+--------------------+----------+----------+--------------------+  ---
^                    ^          ^          ^                    ^
baseline         NVZ line      net     NVZ line          baseline

Working from the outside in:

• Baselines close each end, 22 feet from the net.
• Sidelines run the full 44-foot length, 20 feet apart.
• Non-volley zone line sits 7 feet from the net and spans the full width.
• Centerline runs from the non-volley zone line back to the baseline, splitting each half into two 10-by-15-foot service courts. It stops at the kitchen — there is no centerline between the NVZ line and the net.

That gives four service courts. A serve must clear the kitchen and land in the diagonally opposite one; sideline, centerline and baseline all play as in, but a serve touching the non-volley zone line is a fault. Full conditions are in the pickleball serving rules.

Pickleball net height: 34 inches at center, 36 at the sideline

The 2-inch difference is deliberate. The net measures 36 inches where it crosses each sideline, and a center strap pulls the midpoint down to 34. Both carry a quarter-inch tolerance. Posts stand 22 feet apart inside face to inside face, roughly a foot outside each sideline, which is why the 36-inch reading is taken at the sideline and not at the post.

Two more specs matter for portable setups: the net runs at least 21 feet 9 inches post to post and is at least 30 inches deep top to bottom, so a small gap underneath is legal. Nets sold without a center strap sag well past 34 inches, so measure the middle, not the ends. That dip is why driving the ball through the center works.

The non-volley zone: 7 feet by 20 feet

The kitchen is 7 feet deep and the full 20 feet wide — 140 square feet per side, close to a third of your half of the court. The lines belong to the zone, so touching the NVZ line during a volley is the same fault as standing inside it. Footwork around that boundary is covered in the pickleball kitchen rules.

Pickleball court measurements for the space around the court

The 20-by-44 rectangle is the playing surface, not the footprint. USA Pickleball's construction guidance recommends a total playing area of at least 30 by 60 feet, with 34 by 64 preferred. Neither is a rule you can be called on; they are build specs.

• Minimum, 30 × 60 ft: 5 feet outside each sideline, 8 feet behind each baseline.
• Preferred, 34 × 64 ft: 7 feet outside each sideline, 10 feet behind each baseline.

Indoors, 18 feet of overhead clearance is the usual floor and 20 or more is better; under a low gym ceiling a defensive lob stops being a shot. Outdoors, run the long axis north–south so nobody serves into a low sun, slope the slab in a single plane rather than crowning it, and plan on 10-foot backstop fencing.

Pickleball court dimensions vs tennis

A doubles tennis court is 78 by 36 feet — 2,808 square feet of playing surface against pickleball's 880. Tennis nets sit higher too: 42 inches at the posts and 36 inches at the center, where pickleball runs 36 and 34.

So a fenced tennis enclosure of about 60 by 120 feet holds four minimum-size pickleball courts at 30 by 60, tiled two by two — which is why conversions arrive in blocks of four. Clubs that still want tennis stripe blended lines for two pickleball courts straddling the tennis net.

The 20-by-44 footprint isn't original to pickleball either. It's a doubles badminton court, borrowed when the game was invented in 1965 — only the net came down.

Setting up a temporary court: what you can compromise on

Taping a driveway, gym floor, or cul-de-sac, treat these as non-negotiable, because getting them wrong trains the wrong habits:

• 20 × 44 feet of playing surface
• 7 feet of kitchen depth on both sides
• 34 inches at the center of the net
• diagonal service courts of 10 × 15 feet

These bend without changing the game: run-off space, line material (painter's tape, chalk, or corner markers), line width, and the 36-inch sideline height if your portable net has no center strap. Surface matters less than level.

A taped court never has a scoreboard, and side-out scoring gets slippery once games run long. Pickleball Scoreboard is a pickleball scoreboard app for iPhone and Apple Watch that tracks match scores, so nobody has to reconstruct the count from memory mid-game; the calling conventions are in pickleball scoring.

FAQ

How big is a pickleball court in feet?

Twenty feet wide by 44 feet long, measured to the outside of the lines. That's the playing surface only — the recommended total pickleball court size, run-off included, is 30 by 60 feet at minimum.

Is a pickleball court the same size for singles and doubles?

Yes. Unlike tennis and badminton, pickleball uses one 20-by-44-foot court for both formats — no singles sidelines, no alleys. Only the number of players and the serving sequence change.

How high is a pickleball net at the center?

34 inches, within a quarter inch either way, held there by the center strap. It measures 36 inches where it crosses each sideline. If your net has no center strap, measure the middle and expect it to read high.

How much total space do you need for a pickleball court?

Thirty by 60 feet is the recommended minimum and 34 by 64 is preferred; indoors, add at least 18 feet of overhead clearance. You can play in less, but chasing a deep ball turns hazardous.

Can four pickleball courts fit on one tennis court?

Yes, if the fenced area is about 60 by 120 feet, which is standard — four courts at the 30-by-60 recommended minimum tile into it exactly. A tennis surface can also carry two blended-line pickleball courts without removing the tennis lines.