Guides · Court
A pickleball court is small enough to fit in a two-car driveway and precise enough that a line an inch out of place changes how the game plays. This page has every number, from the 44-foot length to the 34-inch net sag, and explains what each line does during a rally. If you are marking out a court in a gym or on a tennis court, or just trying to picture why the far player in a game seems so close, start here.
| Element | Imperial | Metric |
|---|---|---|
| Court length (baseline to baseline) | 44 ft | 13.41 m |
| Court width | 20 ft | 6.10 m |
| Non-volley zone (kitchen) depth, each side | 7 ft | 2.13 m |
| Service box (each) | 10 ft wide × 15 ft deep | 3.05 m × 4.57 m |
| Net height at sidelines (posts) | 36 in | 91.4 cm |
| Net height at centre | 34 in | 86.4 cm |
| Net width (post to post) | 22 ft | 6.71 m |
| Line width | 2 in | 5.1 cm |
| Minimum total playing area (recommended) | 30 ft × 60 ft | 9.14 m × 18.29 m |
| Preferred area for tournaments | 34 ft × 64 ft | 10.36 m × 19.51 m |
All measurements are taken to the outside edge of the lines. The 2-inch lines are inside the 20 × 44 foot rectangle, not added to it. The same court is used for singles and doubles, unlike tennis and badminton, which widen for doubles.
The short lines at each end, 44 feet apart. You serve from behind your baseline: both feet behind it at contact, per the serving rules. A ball landing on the baseline is in.
The long lines, 20 feet apart. A ball on the sideline is in. The sidelines also define the width of the service box for foot placement: the server has to be within an imaginary extension of the sideline and centreline.
Seven feet from the net on each side, spanning the full width. It is the most important line on the court and the only one that behaves differently depending on the shot. For your feet, it belongs to the kitchen: touch it while volleying and it is a fault. For a serve, it is out: a serve landing on it is short. For any other shot, a ball landing on it is in. The kitchen rule guide covers all of it.
Runs from each baseline to the kitchen line, splitting each back court into a left and right service box. It does not continue through the kitchen; the kitchen is one undivided strip. A serve on the centreline is in.
Each is 10 feet wide and 15 feet deep, bounded by the baseline, a sideline, the centreline and the kitchen line. The serve must land in the box diagonally opposite the server, and the server stands behind the box on the right at even scores and on the left at odd, as explained in the scoring guide.
The net is a little wider than the court: 22 feet between posts, so the posts stand a foot outside each sideline. It measures 36 inches high at the sidelines and sags to 34 inches at the centre, held down by a centre strap. Two inches of sag is enough to make the middle the highest-percentage place to hit over, which is why “down the middle solves the riddle” is a coaching cliché. A tennis net is 42 inches at the posts and 36 at the centre, so a tennis net lowered on its strap is still too high at the posts; proper pickleball play needs a dedicated net or a portable one.
The 20 × 44 rectangle is only the lines. You need space beyond them to chase lobs, take an Erne, and stop safely. USA Pickleball recommends a minimum overall area of 30 by 60 feet, which gives 5 feet beyond each sideline and 8 feet behind each baseline. For tournaments the preferred footprint is 34 by 64 feet. On a converted tennis court these clearances take care of themselves; in a gym or a driveway they are what decides whether the court is actually playable.
A tennis court measures 36 × 78 feet inside the doubles lines, with a fenced area usually around 60 × 120. That is enough for one pickleball court across the middle with generous run-off, two side by side, or four with blended lines and temporary nets, which is how most clubs have been converting. A doubles badminton court is exactly 20 × 44 feet, identical to a pickleball court, which is not a coincidence: the sport was invented in 1965 on a badminton court, and the net was simply lowered. The comparison guide has all four courts drawn to the same scale.
Painter’s tape works on a gym floor; chalk or throw-down lines work outdoors. Lines should contrast with the surface, and the kitchen line in particular needs to be visible from the baseline, because it is the line players argue about.
The free online pickleball game here draws the court to these proportions: a 20 × 44 surface, a 7-foot kitchen with the line counted as part of it, service boxes split by a centreline that stops at the kitchen, and a net that is lower in the middle than at the posts. The perspective makes the far baseline look closer than 44 feet; it is not, and deep balls still land deep. What the game does not model is the run-off, since your player stops at the edge of the world rather than a fence.
Keep going: what the kitchen line does to your feet in the kitchen rule guide, and how the court compares with tennis, padel and paddle ball in pickleball vs tennis vs padel.
Or play a match on a court drawn to these numbers.