Pickleball Court Dimensions

Lines are 2 inches wide and are part of the court.A ball touching any line is in — with one exception. On a serve, a ball touching the non-volley zone line is a fault, because the serve must clear the kitchen entirely.

Each half of the court is 22 feet deep, and it splits into two regions:

The non-volley zone (kitchen).The 7 feet nearest the net, running the full 20-foot width. Neither player may volley the ball while standing in it or touching its lines. This is the rule the entire game is built around — see what is the kitchen in pickleball.

The service courts. The remaining 15 feet on each side, split down the middle by the center line into two service courts of 10 feet wide by 15 feet long each. Serves are hit diagonally into the opposite one, and they must land beyond the kitchen line.

Add those up per side: 7 feet of kitchen plus 15 feet of service court equals 22 feet, and two halves make the 44-foot total.

The right-hand service court as you face the net is the even court, and the left is the oddcourt — you serve from the even side when your team's score is even. Our pickleball rules guide covers how that drives the scoring.

The net is 36 inches high at the sidelines and 34 inches at the center. That two-inch sag is deliberate, not slack — it's written into the rules, and it's the reason a cross-court dink is safer than a straight-ahead one: you're hitting over the lowest part of the net across the longest diagonal of the court.

Net posts sit 22 feet apart, one foot outside each sideline, so the net spans the full width of the court and a little beyond.

If you're buying a portable net, this is the specification that separates a real one from a toy. Nets that sag below 34 inches at the center change every shot you practice — you learn to clear a height that doesn't exist on a proper court. Look for a center support strap. Our best portable pickleball nets roundup covers which ones hold their height.

This is the measurement people forget. The court is 20 by 44 feet, but you cannot play in exactly 20 by 44 feet — balls go past the baseline and you have to run for them.

USA Pickleball recommends a minimum total playing area of 30 by 60 feet and prefers 34 by 64 feet for tournament play. That is roughly 5 feet of side run-off and 8 feet behind each baseline at the minimum.

For a home court, be realistic about what you have.Many households play on a 20 by 44 court with minimal run-off and it works fine for casual games. What matters most is that whatever is at the edge of the space is safe to run into — a fence at the baseline is very different from a garage door.

A pickleball court is roughly a quarter the area of a tennis court, which is why up to four pickleball courts fit inside one tennis court— the conversion that has driven much of the sport's growth at clubs and parks.

The net is also lower, which changes everything about how the ball must be hit. Tennis converts often struggle initially because their instinct is to drive through balls that a lower net and shorter court will punish — our best paddles for tennis players roundup covers the equipment side of that transition.

Measure the space first, honestly.A standard two-car driveway is often close to 20 feet wide, which is why driveway pickleball works — length is usually the binding constraint.

Mark the four corners, then the kitchen lines.Get the outer rectangle right first (20 × 44), check the diagonals match so it's square, then measure 7 feet in from the net line on each side for the kitchen, and run the center line from the kitchen line to the baseline.

Court markers or tape beat paint.Removable court marker sets and gaffer tape work well and don't commit your driveway permanently. Several complete sets with a net include court markers for exactly this.

If you don't have the length, play half-court.Set the net up and play kitchen-line dinking games in whatever depth you have. That is the shot that decides most points anyway, and it makes a 20-foot driveway genuinely useful — the drills in our dinking drills guide are designed for exactly this.

Outdoor hard courts— concrete or asphalt, usually with an acrylic surface coating — are the most common. They're abrasive, which is hard on shoes and balls. Use outdoor balls and a court shoe with a durable outdoor outsole.

Indoor wood or sport-court surfacesare faster underfoot and gentler on equipment. They need non-marking gum-soled shoes and indoor balls — indoor vs outdoor balls explains why the ball matters as much as the shoe.

Driveways and garage floorsvary enormously. Watch for slope, which you'll never notice walking and will notice immediately when the ball rolls, and for cracks that turn a predictable bounce into a coin flip.