How To Play Pickleball On A Tennis Court - Experience Pickleball (2024)

Pickleball has existed for quite some time. It’s a mash-up of sports like tennis, badminton, but also ping pong, while it is also less physically demanding than tennis but also easier to learn for some people.

Even though it has a court of its own, some people do not have access to one, and in cases like that, someone might wonder whether they can play pickleball on a tennis court and if so, how they can do it.

In this article, we will look into whether it is possible to play pickleball on a tennis court and how you can do it, so continue reading to learn more!

Can You Play Pickleball On A Tennis Court?

You’ll be happy to know that yes, you can play pickleball on a tennis court; you only need to mark a pickleball court in the tennis court to be able to enjoy a pickleball game in it.

In fact, pickleball on tennis courts provides participants with far more opportunities to train and enjoy a game than if they did not have access to either of these courts whatsoever.

Additionally, because of the pickleball court’s small dimensions, you can add more than one of them within the tennis court’s dimensions.

What Are The Dimensions Of A Pickleball Court And A Tennis Court?

A pickleball court could be quickly built into a tennis court (Also check out Can You Play Pickleball On Grass?) as the former are smaller in dimensions than the latter.

They are distinct in terms of court dimensions, net dimensions, as well as rules. But let’s examine some of the distinctions between these two sorts of courts.

Court Dimensions

The tennis courts’ dimensions are larger than those of pickleball courts. Pickleball courts, on the other hand, are very comparable in size to badminton courts.

The tennis courts are 78 feet long and feature an 18-foot diameter as a guiding rule, while they are divided into two distinct categories.

The first is for singles games, and the second is for doubles matches, with each of them having its unique size.

A singles tennis court is typically 78 feet long and has a 27-foot radius. The doubles court is also 78 feet long but has extra width.

Pickleball courts span 36 feet across the court and are, on the contrary, only required to be 44 feet in length with a width of 20 feet, while they also do not differ depending on how many people are playing.

Moreover, tennis courts can conveniently accommodate as many as four pickleball courts if need be. However, this is not ideal for players.

Because the mishmash of numerous lines could be tricky and chaotic, it is best to use a tennis court to create no more than two pickleball courts, with one being even better.

Net Height

Tennis and pickleball nets do not have the same height, but in both cases, they are placed in the middle of the courts and are supported by a pole on each end of the court.

The net on tennis courts is 42 inches high, with the middle point sitting slightly lower at 36 inches.

In comparison, pickleball nets are 36 inches tall near the poles with no more than a 2-inch loss of height precisely in the middle, leaving them 34 inches high in the middle point.

Kitchen Zone

The kitchen zone, also referred to as the no-volley zone, exists only in pickleball, so you won’t find it marked on tennis courts.

This is an area in pickleball that is 7 feet away from the net and which needs to exist on both sides of the court.

This is the pickleball area that players should avoid stepping in, but it is also one where the ball has to bounce before they send it back to their opponents.

How To Play Pickleball On A Tennis Court

Bring The Net To The Appropriate Height

The primary distinction between pickleball and tennis courts is their net height difference. As a result, when building a pickleball court, the nets must be tailored.

Adjust the net to ensure that it is hanging 36 inches high off the ground near the poles, and at 34 inches in the middle point.

Change The Players’ Zone

As previously stated, 4 pickleball courts can be formed inside one tennis court, so if you want to do that you need to do the math and split the tennis court into even parts to create two, three, or four pickleball courts.

Draw Or Tape Your Pickleball Court’s Lines

If you aren’t the owner of a tennis court and want to build a pickleball court inside it, you must make sure that the quality of the tennis court is preserved.

Therefore, you must avoid leaving any irreversible marks that could interfere with the identifying marks of the original court. Easily removable tapes or chalk can be used to create some lines.

On the other hand, if you already own a tennis court and don’t mind drawing long-term lines to design your pickleball court, you could use varnish to draw some permanent lines.

In both cases, with your tape or chalk, start drawing or taping your new pickleball court inside the tennis court.

Make sure you have calculated the dimensions correctly, and draw the length and width of your court, as well as the service line and kitchen zone.

The Bottom Line

Surprisingly, a standard tennis court can accommodate a maximum of four pickleball courts. That suggests that even if you have 16 people wishing to play at the same time, you can accommodate their needs.

However, to prevent an uncoordinated game, create no more than two pickleball courts inside your tennis court and enjoy a productive and entertaining time with your friends and relatives!