Pickleball Court Dimensions & Layout

A regulation pickleball court is 20 feet wide by 44 feet long — the same size for singles and doubles — with a 7-foot non-volley zone (the kitchen) on each side of a net that stands 36 inches at the sidelines and 34 inches at the center. That single footprint is small enough that several pickleball courts fit inside one tennis court.

Knowing the court is not just trivia. The dimensions explain why the game feels the way it does: the compact width keeps rallies close and reactive, the kitchen forces players to stop crashing the net, and the low center net rewards clean, flat drives down the middle. Whether you are painting lines on a driveway, converting a tennis court, or just trying to understand what your coach means by “the transition zone,” this guide lays out every measurement clearly.

The full court at a glance

Here is every key measurement in one table. Every figure is the official regulation size.

The court is the same for singles and doubles

Unlike tennis, where the singles court is narrower than the doubles court, pickleball uses one court size for both. Singles and doubles are played on the identical 20-by-44-foot rectangle. This keeps facilities simple and means you never have to re-line a court to switch formats — only the strategy changes.

The kitchen: a 7-foot no-volley strip

The most talked-about feature of a pickleball court is the non-volley zone, universally nicknamed the kitchen. It is the area extending 7 feet back from the net on each side, running the full 20-foot width. You may enter the kitchen anytime, but you may not volley (hit the ball out of the air) while any part of you is touching the kitchen or its lines. Because the zone is 7 feet deep on both sides, it creates a 14-foot dead zone around the net where the soft game — dinking — happens. Without the kitchen, tall players would simply stand at the net and smash every ball, so this one measurement shapes the entire rhythm of the sport.

Net heights: 36 inches and 34 inches

The net is 36 inches high at the sidelines and sags slightly to 34 inches at the center. That two-inch dip is intentional: it makes the middle of the net the lowest, most forgiving place to hit a hard drive or a low third shot. Good players deliberately target the center for exactly this reason. When you set up a portable net, always measure the center with a tape rather than eyeballing it, because a net that is too high in the middle changes how the whole game plays.

Service courts and the centerline

Each half of the court is divided by a centerline into two service courts, each measuring 10 feet wide by 15 feet long (the 15 feet runs from the kitchen line back to the baseline). The serve must travel diagonally, cross-court, and land in the service court beyond the far kitchen line. There is no service box near the net the way tennis has — the entire area between the kitchen line and the baseline is fair territory for the serve. For the complete detail on the serving motion and where it must land, read our serving rules guide.

How a pickleball court compares to a tennis court

A tennis court is far larger. A regulation tennis court measures 36 feet wide by 78 feet long for doubles, narrowing to 27 feet wide for singles play. Set the two side by side and the difference is dramatic:

Because a pickleball court is both narrower and much shorter, an entire pickleball court fits comfortably inside a tennis court with room to spare. That size gap is the whole reason pickleball is so accessible: less ground to cover means rallies are more about placement and touch than raw speed. If you are weighing the two sports, our pickleball vs tennis comparison breaks down the differences in equipment, movement and learning curve.

How many pickleball courts fit on a tennis court?

Because the tennis surface is so much larger, facilities routinely convert a single tennis court into several pickleball courts. With careful line placement and adequate space between courts, a standard tennis court is commonly striped for multiple pickleball courts at once, which is why so many clubs have added the game without building anything new. If you are only playing casually at home, you do not need a full conversion — you just need the correct 20-by-44-foot rectangle and a net at the right height.

Setting up your own court

To lay out a court from scratch, start by marking the 44-foot baseline-to-baseline length and the 20-foot width, then measure 7 feet in from the net on each side for the kitchen lines and add the centerline down each half. Leave surrounding space if you can — a comfortable playing area allows room to chase lobs and wide serves. If you are buying a first setup rather than painting permanent lines, a portable kit with a net and boundary markers is the easiest route; see our picks for the best pickleball sets. Once your court is measured correctly, everything else — the kitchen game, the serve, the two-bounce rule — falls into place.

The dimensions are fixed, but how you use them is where the sport gets interesting. Pair this layout knowledge with our scoring guide and you will understand not just where the lines are, but why they matter on every point.