Will a pickleball court fit?
Enter your yard or driveway size in feet, add any trees, sheds or other obstacles, and see the largest court footprint that fits, with the run-off you would get behind the baselines and beside the sidelines. Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
Result
Summary in words
Each footprint, largest first
Pickleball court dimensions
A pickleball court is 20 ft wide and 44 ft long, measured to the outside of the lines. The same court is used for singles and doubles. The checker adds run-off around it and compares the total, called the footprint, with your yard.
| Item | Value | Source and note |
|---|---|---|
| Court (width by length) | 20 × 44 ft | Rulebook 3.A.1. 880 sq ft, measured to the outside of the lines. |
| Kitchen (non-volley zone) | 7 ft from the net | Rulebook 3.A.4.c. 7 × 20 ft on each side of the net, measured to the outside edge of its line. |
| Service court | 15 × 10 ft | The area behind the kitchen line, split by the centerline. Worked out from the figures above. |
| Line width | 2 in | Rulebook 3.A.4.e. |
| Net height at the sidelines | 36 in | Rulebook 3.B.6, plus or minus ¼ in. |
| Net height at the center | 34 in | Rulebook 3.B.7, plus or minus ¼ in. |
| Net width, post to post | 22 ft | Rulebook 3.B.2: 22 ft between the inside faces of the posts. The net itself must be at least 21 ft 9 in long (3.B.3). |
| Post position | 1 ft outside each sideline | Rulebook Fig. 3-1 recommends 12 in outside the sideline. |
| Corner-to-corner diagonal | 48 ft 4 in | ASBA/USA Pickleball construction manual (2020), plus or minus ¾ in. Equals √(20² + 44²) = 48.33 ft. |
| Footprint | Size (long × short) | Area | Behind each baseline | Beside each sideline | What the source says |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tournament | 64 × 34 ft | 2,176 sq ft | 10 ft | 7 ft | USA Pickleball recommends 64 × 34 ft for tournament play and for new construction. |
| Recommended | 60 × 30 ft | 1,800 sq ft | 8 ft | 5 ft | USA Pickleball lists 60 × 30 ft as the minimum playing surface, and the ASBA manual calls it the minimum for recreational play. “Recommended” is this site’s label for it; the source’s word is “minimum”. |
| Tight backyard | 52 × 26 ft | 1,352 sq ft | 4 ft | 3 ft | A practical minimum, not an official standard. USA Pickleball does not list this size. |
| Courts | Overall area | Area |
|---|---|---|
| 2 courts | 65 × 64 ft | 4,160 sq ft |
| 3 courts | 96 × 64 ft | 6,144 sq ft |
| 4 courts | 127 × 64 ft | 8,128 sq ft |
The multi-court totals come from the “Overruns – Multi-Court Batteries” drawing in the ASBA and USA Pickleball construction manual, 2nd edition (2020). They work out to 11 ft between neighboring sidelines (65 = 7 + 20 + 11 + 20 + 7); that gap is our arithmetic, not a figure the manual prints. The manual gives no end-to-end spacing. We could not read the 2023 edition, which is sold behind a paywall, so confirm these with a builder.
Which way should the court face?
USA Pickleball says outdoor courts should run north to south so players are not looking into the sun in the morning or late afternoon. The ASBA manual prefers north to south and accepts east to west when the site demands it. If you tell the checker which way your yard points, it puts the court’s long axis north to south whenever the court fits both ways, and says so when only an east-to-west or diagonal layout fits.
Surfaces and rough costs
What goes under the court matters as much as its size. Bands below are US per-square-foot ranges from published cost guides, so treat them as a starting point for quotes. A 60 × 30 ft footprint is 1,800 sq ft; the 20 × 44 ft court alone is 880 sq ft.
| Surface | Cost per sq ft | What the band covers | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New concrete slab | $6–$12 | Poured slab, installed (materials and labor). Materials alone are $3–$7. | HomeGuide, concrete slab cost, dated Feb 3, 2026 | 2026-10-06 |
| New asphalt | $5–$12+ | Standard hot-mix paving, installed. Small jobs often hit a minimum charge. | HomeGuide, asphalt driveway cost, dated May 28, 2025 | 2026-10-06 |
| Interlocking court tiles | $4–$17 | Tiles laid over an existing concrete base, installed. A very wide range; it depends on the tile. | HomeGuide, pickleball court cost, dated Jan 6, 2026 | 2026-10-06 |
| Coating an existing driveway or slab | $1.50–$4 | Professionally applied acrylic court coating. This is tennis-court resurfacing data; cleaning, crack repair and leveling cost extra ($500–$3,000). | Angi, cost to resurface a tennis court, updated Sep 22, 2026 | 2026-10-06 |
Concrete and asphalt are the common bases. Tiles and coatings go on top of a sound base, or on an existing driveway in good shape. A painted driveway is usually the cheapest way to try the game. Whatever you choose, ask your contractor about drainage and slope before you commit; USA Pickleball’s construction page covers construction, lighting and shading in more detail.
We could not find a published cost band from USA Pickleball or the ASBA, so none is shown from them.
How to lay out the lines with tape or paint
You need a 100 ft tape measure, a ball of string or chalk line, and a helper. Every court measurement is to the outside edge of a line, so the 2 in line sits inside the 20 × 44 ft rectangle. The checker tells you where the court starts; mark corner A there.
- Mark the baseline. From corner A, measure 20 ft along the baseline to corner B. Pull the string tight between them.
- Square the corner with 3-4-5. A 3-4-5 triangle has a right angle. Multiply by 5: from A, measure 15 ft along the baseline and mark a point. Then measure 20 ft out along the line where the sideline will go and mark a second point. Move that second point until the distance between the two marks is exactly 25 ft. The sideline is now square to the baseline. (A bigger triangle, 30-40-50, is more accurate if you have room.)
- Run the sideline. Extend the sideline to 44 ft from A and mark corner D. Repeat at B to mark corner C.
- Check the diagonals. Measure A to C and B to D. Both should be 48 ft 4 in (48.33 ft). The ASBA manual allows plus or minus ¾ in. If the two differ, shift the far end until they match. Also check that D to C is 20 ft.
- Mark the net line. Measure 22 ft from the baseline along each sideline and join the two marks. The net posts stand about 1 ft outside the sidelines, 22 ft apart.
- Mark the kitchen lines. The kitchen is 7 ft from the net on each side, to the outside edge of the line, so measure 15 ft in from each baseline (22 − 7), put the tape on the net side of that mark, and join the sidelines. Each kitchen is 7 × 20 ft.
- Mark the centerlines. On each side of the net, run a line from the kitchen line to the baseline, 10 ft from each sideline. That makes two service courts of 15 × 10 ft on each side.
The lines total about 198 ft: two baselines (40 ft), two sidelines (88 ft), two kitchen lines (40 ft) and two centerlines (30 ft). A 200 ft roll of line tape covers that with only 2 ft to spare, so buy two. Tape is temporary; paint lasts longer but needs a clean, dry, sound surface. Check the product label for cure times and surfaces.
The 3-4-5 method is a standard builder’s check, not the method in the construction manual, which lays out corners with intersecting arcs. Either way, the 48 ft 4 in diagonal is the check that matters.
What you’ll need
Disclosure: Backyard Court Math may earn a commission if you buy through product links on this page, at no extra cost to you.
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Portable net
Rally Deluxe Portable Net System
$159.99
Steel frame, 22 ft regulation width, carry bag included, about 5 minutes to set up. Price checked 2026-10-06; the page showed it on sale from $189.95. PickleballCentral lists it as final sale, no returns.
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Portable net, lighter
Selkirk QuickSet Net
$120
Steel frame, 21 ft 11 in wide, tool-free setup, about 9 lb. Price checked 2026-10-06. The page showed an out-of-stock notice that day, so check availability before you plan around it.
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Permanent net system
Dominator Pickleball Posts with Net and Sleeves
$564.15
In-ground aluminum posts with sleeves and net included, 36 in installed height. Same price for round, square and surface-mount posts. Price checked 2026-10-06; the page showed it on sale from $699 and drop-shipped within 14 business days.
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Line tape
Outdoor Cloth Court Tape
$14.99 per roll
200 ft by 2 in per roll, in red, white or yellow. A court takes about 198 ft of line, so buy two rolls. Price checked 2026-10-06; the page showed it on sale from $26.99. The maker suggests replacing it after 45 to 60 days outdoors.
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Court tiles
No tiles listed to link
On 2026-10-06 we found no court tiles sold by PickleballCentral or Selkirk, so we show no product and no price rather than guess. See the surface costs above for what tiles run per square foot.
Prices change often. Each price above was read from the product page on the date shown; confirm it before you buy.
Sources and how the checker decides
- 2026 USA Pickleball Official Rulebook, Section 3 and Fig. 3-1: court, kitchen, lines, net and the playing area. Read 2026-10-06.
- USA Pickleball, court construction, lighting and shading: orientation and construction guidance. Read 2026-10-06.
- ASBA and USA Pickleball, Pickleball Courts: Construction & Maintenance Manual, 2nd edition (2020), read through a public copy: run-off sizes, multi-court layouts and the 48 ft 4 in diagonal. The 2023 edition is paywalled, so we could not confirm these against it.
For each footprint, largest first, the checker tries both orientations and every position that touches the yard edge or an obstacle edge, then a 0.5 ft grid as a backup. It keeps a position only if the whole footprint is inside the yard and overlaps no obstacle. Among the positions that work, it picks the one nearest the middle of the clear space and centers the court inside its footprint. If a footprint fails it tells you whether the yard is too short, too narrow, or blocked by a named obstacle. We are not engineers or surveyors; confirm measurements on site and check local rules and setbacks before you build.