Pickleball Court Dimensions and Net Height
A pickleball court is 20 feet wide and 44 feet long, and it's the same size for singles and doubles. The kitchen is 7 feet deep. The net is 36 inches high at the sidelines and 34 inches in the middle. You need a flat area of at least 30 by 60 feet to play comfortably.
If you're new to the sport, what pickleball is puts the whole game on one page. Here are the main numbers in one place. They come from the 2026 USA Pickleball rulebook, Rules 3.A and 3.B.
Pickleball court dimensions in feet and meters
| What | Feet and inches | Metric |
|---|---|---|
| Court | 20 ft wide, 44 ft long | 6.10 m by 13.41 m |
| Net to baseline | 22 ft | 6.71 m |
| Kitchen (non-volley zone) | 7 ft deep, 20 ft wide | 2.13 m deep |
| Net to the kitchen line | 7 ft | 2.13 m |
| Kitchen line to baseline | 15 ft | 4.57 m |
| Service box (each of 4) | 10 ft wide, 15 ft deep | 3.05 m by 4.57 m |
| Line width | 2 in | 5.08 cm |
| Net height at the sidelines | 36 in | 91.44 cm |
| Net height at the center | 34 in | 86.36 cm |
| Distance between net posts | 22 ft | 6.71 m |
| Smallest playing area | 30 ft by 60 ft | 9.14 m by 18.29 m |
| Recommended for new courts and tournaments | 34 ft by 64 ft | 10.36 m by 19.5 m |
The service box and the kitchen line to baseline figures aren't printed as numbers in the rulebook. They come from subtracting the 7-foot kitchen from the 22 feet between the net and the baseline, and from splitting the 20-foot width at the center line.
What are the lines on a pickleball court?
Four kinds of line mark the court, and all of them should be 2 inches wide.
- The baselines run along each short end.
- The sidelines run along each long side.
- The kitchen line sits 7 feet from the net on each side and runs the full width.
- The center line splits each back area in two, from the kitchen line to the baseline.
The court is measured to the outside edge of the lines. So the lines are inside the 20 by 44 feet, not on top of it, and a ball that touches one is in. The one exception is a serve that lands on the kitchen line. That's a fault, because the line belongs to the kitchen. The serving rules and the kitchen rules explain both, and line calls covers what to do when a ball is close.
Singles and doubles use the same court
There's no narrower singles court and no extra doubles alley. Two players or four, you play the whole 20 by 44 feet, and the doubles rules show how four players share it. The singles rules cover how one player handles that much space. Skinny singles is the one-on-one variant that uses only half of each end of this court.
How high is the net?
The net is 36 inches high at the outer edge of each sideline and 34 inches at the center, so it dips by 2 inches in the middle. A strap at the center lets you tighten it down to the right height. The posts are 22 feet apart, measured on the inside, which puts them about a foot outside each sideline.
A tape measure and the center strap are all you need to check a net before a game. Measure at the middle first. Nets sag.
How much space do you need around the court?
The court itself is 880 square feet, the same footprint as a doubles badminton court. But you also need room to run past the lines. The rulebook sets 30 by 60 feet as the minimum playing area and recommends 34 by 64 feet for new construction and tournaments. A stadium court is larger again, at 50 by 80 feet.
If you're marking a court yourself
- Mark a 20 by 44 foot rectangle and check that both diagonals are equal. If they are, the corners are square.
- Find the middle of the long side, 22 feet from each baseline. That's where the net goes.
- Draw the kitchen lines 7 feet from the net on both sides, across the full 20 feet.
- Draw a center line on each side from the kitchen line to the baseline.
Use lines that are 2 inches wide and one color that stands out from the surface.
How big is a pickleball court compared to a tennis court?
A doubles tennis court is 78 feet long and 36 feet wide, so it covers a bit more than three times the area of a pickleball court. The net is a little lower too: a tennis net is 36 inches at the center against 34 for pickleball. That extra room is why clubs often paint pickleball lines on tennis courts. Padel and paddle tennis are different sports with different courts, and pickleball vs paddle tennis sorts out the names.
To see these measurements in action, the court in Pickleball Game uses the same dimensions. Play a game and look at where the serving boxes sit, or check the diagram on the rules page.
Quick answers
How wide and how long is a pickleball court?
20 feet wide and 44 feet long, or 6.10 by 13.41 meters.
Is the kitchen part of the court?
Yes. Only the volley is banned in it, and you can play any ball that has bounced there.
How far is it from the baseline to the kitchen line?
15 feet.
Are the lines in or out?
In, except that a serve landing on the kitchen line is a fault.